“Swaraj without Swadeshi is a lifeless corpse and if Swadeshi is the soul of Swaraj, Khadi is the essence of Swadeshi”, said Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 101 years ago. Khadi or hand-spun cloth was an act of defiance, promoted so that Indians would shun the machine-made cloth from England and hit the country invading India, monetarily.

A potent symbol of self-reliance, even nationalism, long before Make in India became a catchphrase. Khadi has now vanished from India’s streets from the wardrobes of the masses. On this video, we go in search of khadi to understand the prevalence and importance of the fabric in contemporary India.