Featured in PM’s Mann Ki Baat, Faridkot’s Nav-Trinjan is reviving Punjab’s khaddi craft

When 10-year-old Shinder Kaur first watched a woman in her neighbourhood weave cotton yarn on a khaddi (handloom), she immediately wanted to learn the craft. Decades later, she is practising it and teaching it to other women as well through Nav-Trinjan, an initiative recently highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat broadcast.

In Punjab’s Malwa belt, where cotton has long been part of the agricultural landscape, an old tradition is finding new life. What began as an effort to create a market for indigenous cotton has grown into a movement connecting farmers, women artisans and a craft slowly fading from memory.

For Rupsi Garg, who heads Nav-Trinjan, the initiative is the outcome of a journey that began over nine years ago when she joined the Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM), headquartered in Jaito, Faridkot, as an intern. While the recognition is encouraging, the larger challenge is ensuring that the khaddi does not become a relic of the past.

Nav-Trinjan draws inspiration from the traditional Punjabi trinjan — gatherings where women spun charkha, wove, sang and shared stories. These were spaces where skills and traditions passed between generations. As handmade weaving became harder to sustain, the practice gradually disappeared.

With KVM already working to promote organic farming in Punjab, Garg saw an opportunity to address another gap — the lack of a market for indigenous cotton — by linking farmers with traditional weavers.

For nearly four years, she travelled through Faridkot, Muktsar and Barnala, looking for weavers willing to take up the craft again. Many were reluctant. Gradually, she brought them on board with persistence and economic support. The artisans began spinning yarn and weaving from their homes, breathing life into a tradition that had nearly disappeared.

Shinder, who was already running a weaving business at her home, was among those discovered by Garg. “I learnt weaving when I was 10, and I never gave it up, not even after marriage. When Rupsi Garg approached me, I was happy that somebody finally cared about this craft,” she says.

In 2023, Nav-Trinjan established Bunkar Pathshala, where women and young people learn weaving. The Pathshala-cum-workshop now works with around 20 persons, while other artisans weave from their villages.

Today, Shinder’s seven-year-old granddaughter has begun taking an interest in weaving, helping her grandmother after she returns from the Pathshala. For Shinder, this is perhaps a more meaningful measure of revival than public recognition.

“People come to the Pathshala and, when they see us weaving, they remember their mothers and grandmothers doing the same thing. That is what makes this work special,” she adds.

Nav-Trinjan’s work extends beyond preserving weaving techniques. It seeks to rebuild the local value chain around indigenous cotton. The initiative works with non-Bt indigenous cotton grown through natural farming practices. The cotton is procured, processed and converted into yarn, which is then woven into khes, shawls, stoles, dupattas and handloom fabrics.

KVM executive director Umendra Dutt says Punjab’s agricultural challenges require a wider perspective. “Chemical-intensive farming, groundwater depletion and rural livelihoods are interconnected, and we need alternatives that address these concerns together,” he says.

“Sustainability is therefore not limited to the ecological benefits of natural farming. It also means preserving traditional knowledge, developing skills and creating dignified livelihood opportunities,” Dutt adds.

Take the case of Gurmeet Kaur. She had never seen a khaddi before enrolling in Nav-Trinjan’s 45-day training programme. “There were only six khaddis at the centre when we began, and 25 women were trained. We were given everything we needed, and nobody discouraged us when we made mistakes. That helped us learn,” she says.

Her family was initially sceptical, believing she was learning an art that had already died. Today, their attitude has changed. “I am a farmer’s wife, and farming does not guarantee a stable income. Earlier, when I was not working, I would worry about household expenses. Now I earn on my own, and that has eased worries,” says Gurmeet.

For Rekha Rani, the change has brought recognition as well as income. “Earlier, we would just sit at home. Now we come to the centre, work through the day and feel proud when we hear that a product has done well,” she says.

Despite its progress, Nav-Trinjan faces limited resources, inadequate design support and weak market linkages. Its products are sold through a dedicated website, exhibitions and at the centre, but finding buyers remains difficult.

The initiative receives little to no government support and sustains itself through product sales and donations. “We have built this initiative largely through passion, but sustaining it requires financial resources, better infrastructure and stronger marketing,” Garg says.

However, she believes the growing gl