Kerala on the road to recovery

Chendamangalam is a quaint little village some 30 km from Kochi in central Kerala. Part of the Muziris heritage tourist circuit, pit stops include a centuries-old synagogue and the lovingly restored Paliam palace. But its most famous export has always been Chendamangalam Kaithari, cotton clothes with their own GI tag made by a 200-year-old cluster of handloom weavers. The weavers have been living in the area since Paliath Govindankutty Menon, the last prime minister of the Kochi kingdom, brought them from the Andhra-Karnataka border to introduce a new dress code for the royal family and citizens. Kerala has been wearing the weaves from Chendamangalam's looms ever since.

But 2018 was a bad year for Chendamangalam, like for much of Kerala. In the week-long deluge in August 2018, the village was inundated. The cluster lost everything, houses were washed away, looms destroyed, stocks worth crores kept in expectation of the Onam festivities ruined.

For a while, it looked like it would be an impossible task to revive an industry and a tradition that was struggling even before