Mangaluru: The Kadike Trust Karkala had organised a six-day workshop on ‘Natural Dying’ as part of its Udupi Saree Revival Project recently.

The workshop was conducted at Talipady Weavers Society, Kinnigoli by Gandhian Dr. Sanghamitra Desai Gaadekar of Vedchi Gujarat. Dr. Desai, a staunch follower of Gandhian ways, is the granddaughter of Mahadeva Desai who was the personal secretary of Mahatma Gandhi.

She left her lucrative job in the United States to follow the path of her grandfather and father Narayan Desai, the founder of Sampoorna Kranthi Vidyalaya which trains youngsters in Gandhian practices. Her husband Dr. Suren Gadekar is an anti-nuclear activist.

Dr. Sangamitra has been practicing Khadi weaving and natural-colour dying for decades. At the workshop, she taught the participants about dying cotton yarns from locally-available materials and waste materials like used marigold flowers from Kateel Temple, pomegranate peels from local restaurants, jackwood sawdust, bark of Malabar Kino, Golden Shower tree, roots of Noni and Madder etc.

She explained the importance of extracting dyes from local materials in a sustainable way without harming the environment.

Santosh Kaulagi of Janapada Seva Trust Melukote, Sachidanand K J Artist from Mysore, Vasudeva Shettigar Dyer from Talipady Weavers Society, permaculturist Sachin Kumar and many others participated in this rare programme.

The event was co-sponsored by Ananda Tulasi Vana Trust Adamaru Mata Udupi.