KHAKI Talk 29: #StrandsOfHistory - The Journey of Cotton in India by Meena Menon

Once the envy of the world for its quality and variety, Indian cotton today is mired in uncertainty and despair. Though India is the largest producer of cotton, its farmers are trapped in debt, and thousands choose to kill themselves than face an ignominious fate. Handloom weavers, once proud standard-bearers of the country’s artisanal heritage, are barely able to scrape together a living. To make matters worse, there is the back-breaking competition with artificial fibres. On our Online Talk #StrandsOfHistory, journalist, author and researcher Meena Menon takes us through the fascinating history of cotton in India, examining its illustrious origins, its blood-stained colonial heritage and the events that led to its current crisis, and amid the bleakness, finds a silver lining.

Meena Menon is an independent journalist, the author of three books - Riots and After in Mumbai, Reporting Pakistan and A Frayed History (co-authored with Uzramma) - and a postgraduate researcher in the School of History at the University of Leeds, UK. She was formerly the Mumbai bureau chief of The Hindu.

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