ABOUT CALICO

Today, khadi is defined as hand-spun, hand-woven fabric made of cotton, silk, and/or wool, or any combination thereof. The most common hand-spinning wheel used in villages today is the more efficient Ambar charkha, while some works remain committed to spinning with the single charkha. There are also cases where polyester-blend “poly-khadi” or machine-spun, machine-woven fabrics are also traded as “khadi”—fabrics that drive the village economy.

With such confusion, we reserve the term “khadi” exclusively for natural fabrics in which both the warp and weft are hand-spun and hand-woven. This does not mean we deny other forms of textile practices. What truly matters is that the work continues—that the cycle of craftsmanship endures as each maker quietly strives to preserve and pass on their particular tradition.

The hope Gandhi entrusted to khadi was not merely to achieve total self-sufficiency; rather, it was about—even if only indirectly—supporting a system of production that relies on traditional methods and maximizes the use of natural resources, all within an economic framework where participants fulfill mutual roles, trust one another, and offer each other support.

Even today, khadi stands as a symbol of resistance against the easy path and of inner self-determination; wearing it is an expression of a mindset that refuses to lose oneself.