Developing Ecologically Sustainable Industry or DESI is a Bangalore-based trust that has on its board eminent designers, writers, theatre and film personalities. It was set up with the objective of helping a multipurpose industrial cooperative society called ‘Charaka’ embark on the path to self sufficiency and be able to connect to the urban retail space.

DESI achieved both these objectives by setting up ‘Desi’ – a retail outlet offering the wares produced at Charaka to a market that sees the cause and appreciates quality. The direct beneficiaries of Desi? Members of a now proud and self-sufficient community residing in the Western Ghats running through Karnataka, in a village called Bhimanakone.

Desi is as tucked away in the busy lanes of Bangalore as Bhimanakone is in the mountains – always there yet indiscernible. There is no neon to give the store away and it is hard not to miss this place on any given evening while walking by. It takes a careful peek at the façade covered by a low hanging tree and some curiosity and careful investigation to realize that the hustle and bustle emanating from inside the old-Bangalore house is that of a movement in the disguise of a shop. Desi believes in the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, a fact that is evident from all the pictures of him that embellish the walls, and in that Desi itself is a movement and a philosophy.

As one enters Desi, one sees a room full of books related to the Mahatma. Local food like pickles, fruit concentrates, Raagi or Red Millet flour also catches the eye near the entrance. Handicraft articles, upholstery, stationary crafted from handmade paper and terracotta articles – all sourced from rural artisans – have all been given their own space at the store. And then of course there is the product that Desi commands such a strong patron base for – it’s lovingly hand woven Khadi garments.

Khadi or hand spun cotton is more than just a fabric in India. In the days of the Independence struggle it came to symbolize national pride as Mahatma Gandhi practised and preached spinning cotton yarn on the traditional Indian spinning wheel called Charakha. It helps that Khadi is also best suited to the tropical climate that most of India experiences.

Working magic with this fabric are the artisans of Bhimanakone who use it as canvas and splash colours, delicate embroidery, block prints and other Indian artwork onto it to create an elegant garment that the patrons are glad to pick from the neatly stacked shelves. Buying such a piece of work from Desi is reaffirming the faith of a community in faraway Bhimanakone in the quality of its work – at par with market standards - and the sustainability of its vision. For that reason and more, Desi deserves to be a favorite.