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Khadi Story in Tri-Colour Palette
The New Indian Express Madurai
|August 24, 2025
Keeping His Family Legacy Alive, A 58-Year-Old Tailor Crafts National Flags in Khadi in Chidambaram, Not for Profit But to Revere the Very Spirit of Independence
“The wearing of khadi replaces the conventional idea of wearing clothes for ornament by that of wearing them for use,” Mahatma Gandhi wrote in Young India in 1924. Nearly a century later, the words still echo in Chidambaram. Behind the clatter of a sewing machine, tailor P Nandhagopal bends over strips of saffron, white and green, keeping alive a family tradition that has outlasted shifting fashions, collapsing tailoring businesses, and a tide of disposable flags.
At 58, Nandhagopal is a part of the second generation in his family to craft national flags from khadi, a legacy started by his father Perumal over two decades ago. For him, the act is not mere work, but a mission — to honour khadi as an emblem of independence and an environmentally-conscious choice.
This story is from the August 24, 2025 edition of The New Indian Express Madurai.
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