Sasmira alumni hosts heritage run in Mumbai

The run was organised for the cause No Naked Child, a unique initiative which aims to provide clothing to under privileged children across the country.

Kavita Gupta, textile commissioner of India, flagged off the event and said, "I am really very happy that SAF has put together this first of its kind event in the world which throws light on two key aspects, one is the cause of No Naked Child which means clothing for the under-privileged through the run and other is the physical fitness which takes a back seat in this otherwise glamorous world. Texathon has thus aimed to bring two energies together making it a memorable event for the textile fraternity."

Texathon was run at distances of 10k, 5k and 3.5k. The run traversed through scenic parts of Mumbai. It commenced and ended at one of the heritage mills of Mumbai, Indu Mills Compound. The 10k run was won by Swapnil Sawant. He was followed by Sachin Grote and Ashish Sapkal. In the women’s race, Varsha Bhawari came 1^st, followed by Simta Sharma and Shweta Gawade. Aghorilal Chauhan (69) and Gurzarilal Chandra (62) two farmers came out to support the cause. Former National champion in 10,000 metres, Leelamma Alphonso also participated in the veteran women’s section which she won.

"It’s a proud moment for us, since, we, the textile fraternity could curate this beautiful thought of Texathon. The team over the last few months has been working religiously towards Garment Collection Drive and has managed to raise a sizeable amount of clothing and still counting. Also the farmer community support has been a boon to us all and most importantly the heritage venue of Indu Mills by NTCC has been the icing on the cake. We look forward to many more seasons and years to come," said Sharad Tandon, president, SAF.

The event also saw participation of 50 cotton growing farmers from Marathwada and Vidarbha areas of Maharashtra. The whole idea was that the entire value chain right from producers (farmers) to manufacturers (textile industry) to end users (community) participated in the run. The event thereafter saw the farmers being exposed to latest trends in technology serving the growing textile industry. SAF facilitated the visit of this farmer community to the Government of India designated, 'Centre of Excellence for agro-textile' at the Sasmira campus in Worli.

Manish Daga of SAF and coveted as CottonGuru said, "First time ever in history of any race of any size, CottonGuru is able to initiate and mobilise 50 genuine and progressive cotton farmers to participate without any complaint and demand with the sole intention of getting them accepted as an integral part of the cotton textile supply chain."

SAF has reached out to many helping hands to give their surplus clothing to the No Naked Child cause, the contributions of which will be given to Goonj, a national NGO founded by Anshu Gupta. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India