THE USES OF KHADDAR

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Gandhian Scholar

Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09415777229, 094055338

E-mail- [e-mail];[e-mail]

 

 

 

THE USES OF KHADDAR

 

 

While the swadeshi movement is going forward by leaps and bounds and Mohammedans are taking it up as enthusiastically as Hindus, it is well to consider the best method of promoting swadeshi. The veriest tyro in swadeshi knows that we do not manufacture enough cloth to supply our wants. If therefore we merely use mill made cloth, we simply deprive the poor of what they need, or at least increase the price of mill-made cloth. The only way therefore to encourage swadeshi is to manufacture more cloth. Mills cannot grow like mushrooms. We must, therefore, fall back upon hand-woven and hand-spun yarn. Yarn has never perhaps been as dear as it is today and mills are making fabulous profits out of yarn. He, therefore, who hand-spins a yard of yarn, helps its production and cheapens its price. How to spin yarn and weave cloth is then the question. I know from personal experience that it is possible to flood the market with hand-spun yarn and hand-woven cloth if the standard cloth comes to be recognized as fit for wear. This cloth is called khaddar in Upper India. It is called khadi in the Bombay Presidency. Thanks to Sarladevi, she has shown that it is possible to make even saris out of khaddar.

She thought that she could best express herself during the National Week by wearing khaddar sari and khaddar blouse. And she did it. She attended parties in her khaddar sari. Friends thought it was impossible. They thought a woman who had never worn anything but the finest silk or the finest Dacca muslin could not possibly bear the weight of heavy khaddar. She falsified all fears and was no less active or less elegant in her khaddar sari than in her finished silk saris.”If you do not feel awkward in that sari of yours, you may go anywhere and to any party and you will find it would be well with you.” It was with some such words that her great uncle, Sir Rabindranath Tagore, blessed her when he saw her in her khaddar sari. I relate this sacred incident in order to show that two of the most artistic people of India found nothing inartistic in khaddar. This is the cloth I venture to introduce to the cultured families of India, for on its use hangs the immediate success of the swadeshi movement during its infant stage. To me khaddar is any day more artistic than the finest Dacca muslin, for its association. Khaddar supports today those who were starving. It supports women who have been reclaimed from a life of shame or women who, because they would not go out for work, remained idle and quarreled among them for want of occupation. Khaddar therefore has a soul about it. It has individuality about it. The wearer is able to trace all the processes of its manufacture to the respective manufacturers. If our tastes were not debased, we would prefer khaddar to sticky calico even during the summer season. Let those who are now using it certify, if they will, to the truth of my statement. This khaddar is now being stocked at the Satyagraha Ashram. And I have accumulated a stock which is beyond the capacity of the space at my disposal. I therefore ask the readers of Young India to come to the rescue by introducing khaddar in their own homes.

Needless to say that the Ashram makes no profits from it. Any margin left is devoted to recouping the loss incurred in the initial stages or in reducing the price of khaddar received from districts where the cost is heavier than elsewhere, for the cost is not the same all over. In inducing weavers to take to their original occupation, I am obliged to pay enough to support them and for the present. Khaddar can be used for making underwear, even if one is disinclined to use it for the outer costume. But even if one is not inclined to use it for personal wear, it can be used for making caps, towels, wipers, tea-cloths, satchels, bed-sheets, bedding, hold alls, carpet pieces, cushions, covers for furniture etc. I am having it dyed Turkey red in swadeshi dye. It then becomes more durable and looks less dirty when it is used for carpets or mattress-making or upholstering. I would advise those who wish to support this industry of the poor and the neglected to send for the khaddar by corresponding with the Manager, Khaddar Department, Satyagraha Ashram, Sabarmati.