The Best Means of Growth Comes from Within

A failed plan, a fabric no one wanted, and one unexpected blend that sparked an entire industry in the mountains. A story of defeat, improvisation, and insight.

 It was around six on a cold winter evening by the time we started on our drive back to Ukhimath, from Chinka a village in Chamoli, Uttarakhand populated largely by Bhotias. The Bhotias are an indigenous community who practice a culture and customs that draws largely on their Indo-Tibetan heritage. The community, before the war with China in ’62, subsisted on trade with Tibet. They are now settled as agriculturists largely in Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi, and are best known for their skills in weaving and handicrafts. The carpets and woolen apparel they handweave are known and sought after by tourists visiting the state.

It was their skills in weaving that had brought us to their village, from the neighboring district of Rudraprayag, where I then lived and worked for an organization that had pioneered the production of tasar silk in the Himalayas. The initiation of commercial production of silk yarn, that would have ensured success and survival of the initiative, was stymied by the fact that smuggled Chinese tasar, was available at a third of our production costs. In short there were no takers for our yarn, in any of the large tasar silk weaving clusters in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh.

The only possibility of survival for the project was to move up the value chain, and better the quality of tasar silk fabric, coming out of clusters in Central India. Even that was a long shot. Actually, a massive, long-shot. The higher raw material costs meant that we would have to find takers at higher prices. The logic for the effort to seek out weavers in Chinka and switch to sales of fabric, was that we would be able to establish a distinct Himalayan identity that would differentiate us from the (essentially), Bhagalpur made products. And that the identity and brand value would allow us to claim a premium.

The disappointing drive back from Chinka, was because, this possibility was ruled out. The weaver in fact warned us never to show our face again with the tasar yarn. He declared that the material was impossible to work with. It was clear that weavers used to working with wool would not be able to transition to weaving tasar silk. Not easily.

On the drive back I was clutching on to the sample fabric feeling morose and defeated. My colleague was prodding me to respond on what I though could be potential applications for the rather poorly woven material. `A silk pocha’ (mop), for the super-rich was my cynical response. The experience of the day seemed an endorsement of the many naysayers, who had advised that mastering weaving silk, took generations, not years. Perhaps this endeavor was destined not to be.

It took the simple insight of a colleague, whose mother was adept at weaving woolen blankets and the Pangdhi, (a black woolen garment, preferred by elderly women of Garhwal), on her back-strap loom. Bhagat Singh, without informing others, experimented with blending handspun woolen fibre with tasar silk. He set the woolen yarn as the tana (the warp) and used our silk on the bana (the weft). The result was magic. The golden tasar thread stood out on the coarse black wool. It did not take an expert to tell us that we were on to something here.

With this one innovation we were on the way. The product was unique and distinct from what competitors in Central India could produce. The use of wool gave it a distinct Uttarakhandi identity. And, most importantly, it brought down our cost of production to approximately 40% of what it was. The endeavor has never looked back. It has spawned an entire industry in the state. The next time you are at a FabIndia store, ask for a shawl or stole in a silk-wool blend. Most likely, it would have been woven in some mountain village of Uttarakhand.

This outcome was achieved after months of frustrating efforts of dealing with `experts’ and designers with huge reputations, large egos and even larger consultancy fees. The lesson drawn from the episode has been repeated many times during the course of my working life. It applies equally to that most elusive and vital resource – people.

This lesson is best described through a slogan, made popular by ITC Limited, back in the 70’s when they were looking for avenues to expand and grow beyond their tobacco business and cut their moorings from their foreign masters. They had no hesitation in advertising their belief that the best means of growth, comes from within’. It has been an idea that has paid the company rich dividends. 

The learning has seldom failed me. Give it a thought, perhaps you too have similar stories to recount.