MYSURU: It was around 4pm on January 5, 1934, when residents of Thagaduru decorated their village with flowers to welcome Mahatma Gandhi. Hundreds of people gathered from nearby villages to just get a glimpse of Bapuji.
For he was moved by the Quit India Movement in the village led by freedom fighter Thagaduru Ramachandra Rao, M N Jois and T S Subbanna among others. Gandhi was also appreciative of their efforts to promote khadi.
After Gandhi’s visit, Rao collected `5,000 and bought a 3.5-acre land to build a cottage industry. He started Thagaduru Khadi Institute in 1959 and it started with mats and handloom items. They earned `1.5 lakh profit in a couple of years by selling their products to the khadi board. Today the firm is taken over by Karnataka Sarvodaya Sangha and Rao’s family members continue to monitor it.
The sangha has now put up 40 units with six reeling and handloom machines. Rao’s daughter Shylaja, who is based in Mumbai, visits the firm annually to look into its functioning. Sundramma, a worker, said, “My mother Puttathayamma was a Gandhian and she too worked here. I am following her footsteps and work here for `3,500.”