About Malkha

Once upon a time ….

before the Industrial Revolution, the making of cotton in the Indian subcontinent was a vibrant process, deeply woven into the colorful and diverse fabric of local life. Back then, cotton making was a robust and resilient industry that had already flourished for millenia.

Then the big machines came ….

with their daunting focus on making as much cotton as possible, as fast and cheaply as possible. The giant spinning mills and power looms took away the livelihood and dignity of the artisans, with their inherent disrespect for the individual, the society and the earth. They required the fluffy, bouncy, soft cotton to be beaten into bales. They even changed what cotton we grew in India, replacing our diverse local strains with an American strain that the machines liked better.

The big machines changed everything.

 

Malkha’s mission is to present
an evolved alternative to
this industrial model of making cotton.

 

(r)evolutionary cotton - restoring local economies and the earth

So named to evoke the heydey of malmal and the revolutionary power of khadi, Malkha’s mission is to present an evolved alternative to the industrial model of making cotton. We harness technology on behalf of the producers, rather than productivity.  We eliminate unnecessary steps in the journey from plant to cloth to preserve the earth and the intrinsic properties of cotton, rather than please the behemoth machines.

The Malkha model of producing handloom cotton revives the local nature, vibrancy and diversity of the cotton making process and native cotton species. It seeks to restore handloom cotton to its pre-colonial days of glory. Most significantly of all, it aims to restore dignity and livelihood, and ultimately financial and functional independence, to each producer in the cotton making chain.