Mr. Chinthakindi Mallesham, a Padma Shri awardee, transformed the handloom industry with his invention, the Laxmi Asu machine. This Mother’s Day, he shares how his journey was, above all, a promise made to his mother.

“I was born into a humble weaver family in Sharjipet, a small village in Telangana. My parents worked tirelessly just to ensure we had two meals a day. My strongest memory from childhood is of my mother spending long, grueling hours on the Asu process—a vital part of making Pochampally ikat sarees.
To prepare the yarn, she had to stretch her arms thousands of times a day, winding thread around pegs. By evening, her shoulders and elbows would be in constant pain; all she could do was apply a little balm and try to rest before doing it all again the next morning. Watching her suffer was painful. I decided then that I had to relieve her of that burden.

I was a school dropout with no formal training in mechanics, yet I challenged myself for her sake. I spent hours observing the specific movements of my mother’s hands, breaking the process down into parts. It was a long, difficult road that took seven years of persistence, from 1992 to 1999, to finally bring the invention to life.

There were times when my family thought I was wasting my life chasing an impossible idea. Later, I moved to Hyderabad and worked various small jobs while learning technical skills. I saved every rupee from my daily wage to buy tools and discarded machine parts. With no engineering background, I taught myself basic electronics, mechanics, and machine programming to improve the machine and make its movements accurate. During this journey, the encouragement and recognition I received from Brigadier Ganesham Sir and Palle Srujana were instrumental in keeping me motivated.

After years of struggle, the day finally came. The machine was ready. It could complete in ninety minutes what had previously taken my mother six hours of physical labor. The moment I saw it work, I broke down and cried. I thought of my mother and the thousands of other women who would no longer have to endure that physical toll.

In 2017, I was honored with the Padma Shri, but no award compares to the pride I saw in my mother’s eyes when she realized she would never have to suffer through the Asu process again. My journey was later captured in the film Mallesham, and seeing our life on screen felt like a tribute to every struggle she faced for us.
Today, I continue to innovate from my workshed in Alair, supported by the Government. My goal remains the same: to make every step of weaving easier so that the people who keep our traditions alive can live with dignity and health.

My journey began with a mother’s aching shoulders. Today, it stands as a testament to what a son can achieve when driven by the simple desire to see his mother smile without pain. To me, true innovation isn’t about degrees—it’s about love and solving the problems of the people we care for most.”