National Handloom Day 2023 | Uzramma and the fabric of the nation

Uzramma on her lifelong passion for handspun cotton and democratising its production

It’s a world that’s long disappeared: the tall cotton trees in Gujarat that Marco Polo admired; clothes, finer and whiter than flax spotted by Alexander’s admiral in 327 BC; muslin that could be drawn through a ring; entire villages engaged in the making of cotton. The industrial revolution spun cotton into a coveted commodity and mechanisation made it a mass produced fabric. This imagery of a lost world is revived in A Frayed History, a book Uzramma, 80, co-wrote with journalist Meena Menon.

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There are two kinds of people: those who flit on the surface from interest to interest, dabbling in whatever catches their fancy and those who dive deep into an all-consuming devotion from which there’s no return. No prizes for guessing which category Uzramma, founder of the Malkha Marketing Trust (which was set up in 2008 to produce a handspun fabric that derives its name from the traditional mulmul and khadi) belongs to. “As time passes, if you’re really interested in something, you discover more and more about it,” she says.

Uzramma emphasises the importance of diversity. She tells me that countries such as China envy this Indian quality. “The Chinese are convinced that democracy is dependent on diversity,” she says, adding that she wishes India would use this to its benefit rather than “iron out differences”. “It’s a great gift and we are throwing it away,” she says.

Uzramma, whose Malkha initiative was born from a dream of replacing large spinning mills with small units located close to cotton farms and weavers, is talking about the diversity of homegrown varieties of cotton and how the introduction of American cotton in the 1970s killed this heterogeneity. But in a country that seems determined to crush its multicultural history, I find the parallels to present-day politics startling.

When I point this out, Uzramma, who goes by one name, agrees. “Diversity is a good thing whether it’s in politics or in the way people live,” she says. “Now everyone is trying to get into one mould. It’s very frightening.” Mostly though, she prefers to discuss her lifelong passion: cotton and democratising its production. Hyderabad-based Malkha, along with its long-time collaborator Centre for Sustainable Agriculture just suggested that the State create a Telangana brand for the cotton it produces. South India’s leading cotton producer is home to many popular handloom varieties.

Uzramma believes that the struggle between large companies and small cotton farmers — who are still the main growers — to control farming practices is the modern-day iteration of the battle between the East India Company and 19th century cotton farmers.