Every piece of handwoven khadi begins long before the weaver sits at the loom. It begins with a spinning wheel, a pair of patient hands, and cotton slowly turning into yarn.
In a conversation with Pappu ji from Village Sehri, District Barabanki, we learnt that hand spinning was once a common sight in his village. Women spent hours at the charkha, preparing yarn that would later be woven into fabric. Nearly two decades ago, however, the sound of the spinning wheel began to fade. The skill was never lost. It simply stopped making economic sense. When long hours of work no longer brought fair earnings, families gradually moved away from the craft. Pappu ji recalls that while hand spinning has largely disappeared from his village, women in Kudanapur, near Ahmedpur, continue to practice the craft and keep this tradition alive.
The process itself is painstaking. Around 100 grams of spun yarn are needed for every meter of khadi. On a traditional charkha, spinning that much yarn takes nearly two hours. An Ambar Charkha, with its multiple spindles, can produce the same quantity in about an hour, making the process more efficient. Even then, preparing enough yarn for one day's weaving of approximately ten meters of fabric takes close to twenty hours of spinning. This means nearly three days of preparation are needed before one day of weaving can begin.
Pappu ji still knows how to spin and can teach others. The knowledge has not disappeared. It survives in the hands of artisans like him and in neighboring villages where a few women continue to spin yarn, waiting for the right conditions to flourish again.
When we admire a length of handwoven khadi, it is easy to celebrate the loom and the weaver. Yet every woven fabric begins with someone patiently spinning the very first thread. If we hope to preserve handloom traditions, we must remember every hand that contributes to the journey from fiber to fabric.
Perhaps the revival of hand spinning does not begin with another charkha. Perhaps it begins with recognizing the value of the hands that turn it.
Watch the full conversation with Pappu ji here:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbaJO8woOPj/?igsh=MWRydnVyanMzeDZ6OQ==
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