Mumbai: When Chitra Nadkarni crossed the finish line at the end of the Texathon, it was an emotional moment for her. It wasn’t winning a running prize at the age of 54 (she finished third in the over 40 category) but the memories that overwhelmed her. Ms. Nadkarni had run in memory of her father, who had been a worker in the National Textile Corporation. “Participating brought back millions of memories and love from the families of textile workers. I feel this was the only way I could have given back to the community, to my father.”
Texathon is the world’s first textile community run, and it was organised by the Sasmira Alumni Foundation (SAF) in association with YouTooCanRun. Its purpose, said Sharad Tandon, SAF’s president, is “to get life back into the textile industry and to increase the student-institution interaction in the sector. We have received a fantastic response from the farmers, runners, students, alumni of this association, the family members of the forgotten textile workers, star runners, and more who came together for the heritage run.
The 10-km run started and ended at the Indu Mills, looping around Century Bazaar and the erstwhile Mayor’s Bungalow. It brought together 1,600 participants from all areas of the city connecting the entire value chain right from producers to manufacturers to consumers.
Among the runners were people often forgotten when thinking about textiles: the growers. 50 cotton-growing farmers joined in, two each from 25 villages in the Marathwada and Vidarbha areas.
SAF also took the farmer-runners to Sasmira’s Centre of Excellence for Agro-textiles at their Worli campus, showing them the latest trends in technology, A panel headed by Suresh Kotak, chairman of Kotak Commodities, and Manish Daga, Founder of Cotton Guru, advising them on methods of improving productivity.
“Textiles is a very huge industry,” Mr. Daga said. “However, farmers were never considered a part of it. We want to give them their due place in the cotton textile supply value chain. These farmers hail from small villages with little or no access to information. But they are progressive-minded people who want to get educated.”
“It was a very informative and an insightful learning experience,” said Guljarilal Chandra (62) who, with his brother Aghorilal Chandra (69) had come from Jharkhand to be a part of the event. “We discussed the various problems faced by the farmers, which couldn’t be understood by anybody but a farmer.” Asked about the run, he said, “I’m very happy to have been a part of the Texathon. I will encourage people in my village to practise fitness too.”
The event showcased environment-friendly fabrics as well. Volunteers and participants wore T-shirts made from recycled polyester; there were also bags made of jacquard material, and the winners’ medals were specially designed with reusable fabric and hand embroidery.
Also part of the event was a clothing collection drive to promote SAF’s No Naked Child movement in association with the NGO Goonj. The collection yielded 15 kg of clothes.
“It is awe-inspiring to see,” said Kavita Gupta, Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles. “This one-of-its-kind occasion has brought our attention to two key aspects: the cause of No Naked Child, and physical fitness, which takes a backseat in this otherwise glamorous world. Texathon brought these two energies together, making the happening a memorable one.”
