Paper tiger

IN 1938, a chemist at the Indian Cotton Oil Mill at Navsari in Gujarat wrote to Mahatma Gandhi, seeking permission to use electricity for a ...

IN 1938, a chemist at the Indian Cotton Oil Mill at Navsari in Gujarat wrote to Mahatma Gandhi, seeking permission to use electricity for a process he8217;d devised to mechanise the making of handmade paper. Gandhi gave him the go ahead.

K.B. Joshi set up the Handmade Paper Institute HPI in Pune to promote the craft which was almost on the verge of extinction. What could have been lost in time, instead kept pace with changing times. Fire resistant handmade paper or paper compatible with desk jet, laser as well as offset printers, paper boards as hard as plyboard8212;the institute8217;s list of products goes over 1,700.

The method behind this profusion8212;a focus on research and development for which the Maharashtra Khadi and Village Industries Board allocates about Rs 30 lakh every year. Sanjiv Shewale, chief scientist at HMI says, 8216;8216;Give us a concept and we will develop it.8217;8217;

The latest innovation is a letter pad which has seeds embedded in it which will bloom if planted in a pot.

The production plant of HPI, which was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru on August 1, 1940, now has an annual turnover of Rs 1 crore and sustains its operations without government grants. 8216;8216;We can do much better,8217;8217; says Nityanand Patil, HPI8217;s director.

Pulp to paper

Every month six tons of cotton scrap is brought in from Tirupur in Tamil Nadu and shredded. It is then mixed with water and made into pulp. It is poured into racks fitted with wire mesh, which filters out the water. The wet paper is then pressed to drive out the moisture content. The final phase involves drying out the paper.
This craft was the forte of the Kagazi community spread in Maharashtra Junnar, Aurangabad, Uttar Pradesh Kalpi and Rajasthan Sanganer. They used to supply paper to the Mughals as well as other rulers. The British discouraged the use of handmade paper, resulting in near extinction of this craft in India.

Making handmade paper employs a different process from mill-made ones8212;it doesn8217;t use synthetic chemicals for one. It is made from cotton fibre and so is stronger. Says Patil, five trees can be saved every year if one person starts using handmade paper.

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8216;8216;This variety of paper has 96 per cent alpha cellulose content because of which the paper can last for more than 100 years and can is more resistant to wear and tear than mill paper,8217;8217; says S.B. Naik, a lecturer in HPI8217;s training centre.

Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Vijaya Raje Scindia are among the institute8217;s more famous patrons. In fact, paper from this institute was used for Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi8217;s wedding invitation card.

THE institute8217;s track record is impressive. There8217;s a big demand for its products like watercolour canvases in Europe, Australia and the US. Orders from abroad received a boost after Osho set up his ashram in the city and his western followers popularised handmade paper.

The institute makes about Rs 12 lakh in exports every year. It received the best export house award by the Maharashtra Department of Industries in 1996-97 and 1998-99.

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At present, it8217;s working on a project with University of Pune to recycle the water used in the manufacturing process. Once commissioned, 5,000 litres of water will be recycled and used.