14 September 2006

Cotton Mill


A newly-built AKCT Cidambaram cotton mill was recently opened at Mangalam village, Tiruvannamalai District. Which is very good news both for the industry and local employment, however one hopes stricter standards are observed to prevent nasty water pollution which is often the result of the cloth dyeing process.

Cotton prices and financial disincentives caused such a serious slump in the local industry that several mills were forced to shut down. However, a recent relaxation in taxes on power looms, handlooms and spinning mills and also the scrapping of excise duty in the industry have now successfully reversed the slump.

We love our cotton. People quickly learn that no matter how sheer or light-weight a man made fabric may be, nothing beats the comfort and coolness of cotton during the hot season. I remember one summer I insisted on wearing cotton-mixes (synthetic plus cotton) and ended up with dreadful heat boils on my face and body. When I went to the skin specialist the first thing she told me was, 'Wear cotton!'.

Thereafter I was a radar for noticing other peoples heat boils and I observed that in every single instance the person was wearing cotton-synthetic mix outfits. Wearing synthetics in India during the hot season is like going out in a plastic bag. So, if you are planning on coming please bring lots of cotton clothing, you will be glad you did!

3 comments:

Divyakka said...

Great advice! I always wore only cotton in rain and shine while there, and was always comfy with healthy skin, because of it.

Meenakshi Ammal said...

I remember you in your cotton. Yes, cotton so much more comfy but of course very often one ends up looking like a crushed envelope, all those wrinkles from sitting down!

Divyakka said...

Yep I was going to add that in my post but didn't want to discourage others from wearing cotton! ;-) There are types of cotton that don't wrinkle though - usually more expensive.