Kalam Khush – Handmade Paper Making In Ahmedabad
By Zalak Patel | Published on : June 26, 2018The paper would make any pen happy.”
-Kaka Kalelkar (Gujarati Literature specialist)
That’s how the handmade paper manufacturing unit of Ahmedabad got its name, ‘Kalam Khush’. Kalam Khush is a place where waste cotton fabric scraps are transformed to create handmade paper. Kalam meant Pen and Khush meant Happy which means that this place manufacture papers that makes pen happy.
Mahatma Gandhi introduced papermaking as a part of Gandhi Ashram’s activities during his stay which turned into a proper handmade paper manufacturing unit in 1956.
In fact, not only papers but this Ahmedabad based handmade paper manufacturing unit creates flower vase, diaries, photo album, dry fruit boxes, bags, invitation cards, covers, portfolios, hand purses and many other products made out of handmade papers. They are selling these products to promote the application of handmade paper.
Their handmade papers are super eco-friendly as they use non-wood raw materials that save energy and water. The process they follow is quite interesting:
The workshop employs 25-30 workers who produce approx 300 paper sheets daily. These sheets are formed into various products as mentioned. Most of the Gujarat Government offices and department uses files and folder manufactured by Kalam Khush handmade papers.
