'Women weavers are hardworking, open to learning, resilient.'
'They finish their cooking, housework, puja, then they come to weave.'
'They care about design. They care about beauty.'
Sometimes the most meaningful journeys begin with a simple idea.
For Geeta Patil, it began with the innocent dream to "revive the legacy of the khana and ilkal textiles" that were once popular in northern Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The founder of Kubsa Handcrafted, whose handwoven ilkal sari was worn by Director Mira Nair at her son New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's victory rally, tells Divya Nair/Rediff how she used her knowledge of design to train and empower the weaving community, especially its women, and lead a quiet revolution to change the socio-economic status of the community that is losing its identity.
Finding her purpose
Geeta grew up watching her aunts drape ilkal saris as they worked in the fields.
Those early impressions stayed with her -- the texture of the pure silk khanas, the deep reds and greens, the pride with which rural women wore their heritage.
Her love for art led her to the Chamrajendra Government College of Visual Arts, Mysuru.
Her love for textiles inspired her to join the National Institute of Design where she completed her master's degree in textile design in 2008.
Geeta spent the next several years travelling across India, working with NGOs, training weavers and conducting design workshops.
Every visit to northern Karnataka reminded her how her childhood memories were slipping away, how a craft and culture that defined the identity of a community was slowly fading.
"Northern Karnataka wasn't getting the attention it deserved. Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh had support, designers, awareness... but here, the craft was deteriorating. What I saw were polyester blends, rayon... not the pure khana and ilkal I grew up with. And they were being sold for Rs 1,500 or less," she shares.
Starting Kubsa as a revival movement
Geeta had never imagined starting something of her own.
But watching her beloved textile being reduced to cheap blends changed something inside her.
"People always associated ilkal with older women or with women working in the fields. But I had a personal connection to this textile. I wanted to elevate this craft. I wanted everyone to want to wear an ilkal sari or a khana design," she says.
One of her first experiments was taking the khana fabric, traditionally only 30 inches wide, and converting it into a sari.
"I had never seen a pure handloom khana sari. So we made one. Then, there was no looking back," she remembers.
Suddenly, people were seeing ilkal and khana with new eyes, something that is luxurious, sophisticated and contemporary.
From zero weavers to 100
When Geeta first approached a defunct cooperative society and told them what she was trying to achieve, the response was dull.
"There were 20 to 25 male weavers. No women. Plus there was very little interest. Out of 25, only three to four male weavers took up the challenge. Today, just one remains. The rest gave up."
Geeta further explains what led to the decline of the weaving community.
"What has happened is that most of the weavers are at an age group of probably 45 and above; their children are now working in and around Bengaluru. They send their earnings back so there is no pressure on their parents. And, of course, there are so many government facilities -- be it monthly rations or medical facilities.
"If they have a house, their needs are very limited. Surprisingly none of the younger generations have learned to weave or been taught to weave. They have gone to school and, today, they are doing something else. They don't mind taking up plumbing and other odd jobs but they don't want to weave."
Besides, back in those days, these weavers worked under the master trader system. "The traders had all the power and made a lot of money while the weavers would be paid very little so they never made any money or profit from the profession."
So, she turned to the women.
And the craft began to breathe again.
"Women weavers are hardworking, open to learning, resilient. They finish their cooking, housework, puja, then they come to weave. They take festival breaks but they return and make up the time. They care about design. They care about beauty."
At first, only one woman weaver existed in the cluster.
Geeta recalled a lesson from her earlier project with Bagalkot weavers in Kamatagi (also in Karnataka). "In India, you can't run a loom without women. Men do the basic weaving and take the credit. But the patience, the precision comes from the women."
So she promised the women: "If you work with me, there won't be a single day when you don't have work."
And Kubsa kept that promise even during Diwali.
"Earlier they got Rs 100-Rs 200 as incentives. We paid them based on creativity and effort. Some got Rs 3,000, others Rs 6,000. They were shocked."
Kubsa also gave them health insurance, interest-free loans and financial independence.
In one year, Kubsa trained 60 to 65 artisans, the youngest aged 30 and eldest 55.
In Guledagudda (Karnataka), their quilting project Tavaru now employs nearly 100 women.
Empowering women, one sari at a time
Over the years, Geeta's mission has gone beyond reviving heritage textiles.
"I come from a village. I've seen how women are treated. I'm not talking about abuse; I'm talking about intellectual empowerment. Women don't realise they have the power to improve their lives."
Last year, film-maker Mira Nair visited the Hampi-Badami-Aihole-Pattadakal circuit.
Along the way, she stopped at Kubsa's workshop and met the weavers.
"She loved the contrasting colours. The sari she chose was from last year's collection."
Months later, in Delhi, Mira asked Geeta for a special blouse to match.
Kubsa wove one on the loom, using the ilkal technique.
When Mira wore the sari at son Zohran's victory rally in Brooklyn on November 4, 2025, people noticed and congratulatory messages started pouring in.
Today, Kubsa produces saris in cotton and silk that cost between Rs 12,000 to Rs 70,000.
"With Tavaru, we have home furnishing and accessories like bags and notebooks ranging between Rs 1,500 to Rs 25,000. We have quilts as well; each take three to four months to make.
"We work with handloom and repurposed tailoring waste.
"Mira Nair's sari cost approximately Rs 26,800," says Geeta.
The future
The brand has a studio in Bengaluru and currently generates revenue through exhibits and pop-ups.
"We want to be able to have a better system for collecting textile waste, working with factories that have this kind of textile waste and seeing how we can set up an infrastructure for us to be able to use that in a better way.
"We are also doing pop ups at different stores like Amethyst in Chennai.
"We have served approximately 500 customers but we want to scale up further."
The challenges ahead
Highlighting the roadblocks, Geeta says, "We did a survey in northern Karnataka and there are some weavers who said, 'We don't have access to raw material. We are going to stop weaving if we can't find that raw material'."
When it comes to dyeing fabrics, she says there is no treatment facility for water.
"Simple things like access to raw material, processes and water can hike the manufacturing cost. We have to take our yarn all the way to Maheshwar (Madhya Pradesh) to dye because there is not a single dyeing unit in Karnataka.
"These are huge projects that I cannot take up as an individual unless I have that kind of money and privilege," says Geeta.
"Even with cotton, earlier there were so many cotton spinning mills in north Karnataka, in the Hubli, Dharwad area. Now we have to get our cotton all the way from Tamil Nadu, which is not sustainable.
"If the government or corporate organisations don't fix these problems, the production cost for handloom will remain high in India and the weaving community and designers will be affected."
Advice to young designers
Geeta's advice to aspiring designers is to find a purpose and support responsible, sustainable fashion.
"Be responsible. Understand why you're doing what you're doing."
"What is the purpose? Is there a need for this? These are basic questions to ask yourself. These answers will guide you and you'll know what to do."