Pochampally is a village 40kms outside of Hyderabad. The village derives the name from goddess Pochamma. The famous Pochampally ikkat tie-and-dye weave art has gained Intellectual Property Rights in the Geographical Indications Category (The equivalent of a Copyright or Trademark what Champagne or certain wines enjoy). A major chunk of the economy revolves around weaving, more on it in later posts. It figures in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh which is more drought prone than the rest of the state and lies well inland and hence the significant water body in the area is the Musi River that flows into Pochampally after going through Hyderabad City. As usual the lack of water treatment plants and the indiscriminate addition of pollutants to the river make it totally unfit for direct consumption though a small dam that has been in place for a few decades and forms a reservoir at the edge of the village. This water is used for irrigating the fields in the entire vicinity. As if a curse for the village, even the ground water is contaminated with Fluoride and if consumed it leads to fluorosis. Being the district head quarters and owing to its proximity to the great city of Hyderabad, this village home to about 4000 families, has grown exponentially in the past few years but has still some time to go before graduating to being a full-fledged town. Walking through the main market you could be mistaken you were in any big town or even a city until you walk into any of the small by-lanes seeing the chicken and goats running around and the cattle tied outside houses. The houses seem to be pakka but are small in size. Looking at the livelihoods would help anyone understand the entire dynamics of Pochampally:

    
1. The Weavers:They form the major livelihood community. They call themselves the Padmashaalis and most have been taught by their fathers who were in turn taught by their forefathers. The weaving community forms the majority of the village with 1600 of the 4000 families directly dependent on the weaving business (This excludes shops). They are probably the most skilled in the entire village.

 

2. Small Businesses and shops:The market that you would first enter on arriving at Pochampally gives an almost cosmetic look of affluence to the village. The only migration into Pochampally is perhaps in this sector. During our stay, there was hardly a time when we felt the lack of branded eatables and if you are visiting Pochampally and though there werenrquote t too many restaurants we had the odd sweet shop and we didnrquote t even miss our favourite bakery though we did have to settle with the quality. With shops selling everything from Pochampally handloom and craft products, chicken and meat, footwear, other garments and not to mention the chemists and the general stores itrquote s not surprising that 20% of the village is into such activities.

 

3. Agricultural and Construction Labour:They form a large chunk of the village with about 20% comprising of the two livelihoods. This community has been at the mercy of the landowners, who not surprisingly are very small in number, and even after working for hours they survive on the dismal wages or the pittance they receive from the harvest. The construction labour find little work within Pochampally and quite a few take part in the daily or the weekly migration to Hyderabad. Arguably the poorest of the lot. Hearing about them indepth would be extremely interesting.

 

4. Toddy Tappers:Toddy isnrquote t always associated with illicit liquor. Infact in the true sense toddy is the ferment extract from the palm tree. A seasonal affair, to work a toddy tapper needs to pay a license fee to the government and a small rent to the landowner. The unfermented extract is called Neera and is told to have medicinal properties. More on the toddy tappers in the later posts too.

 

5. Fishing:The Musi reservoir in Pochampally is used by fishermen who fish during the days when the reservoir isnrquote t used for tourism purposes (There is boating facility for tourists). Their boats are extremely innovative and small enough just for one man. Infact they arenrquote t even boats, they are just large thermocol pads packed together to keep the fisherman afloat.

 

6. ‘ Incredible India!’ ?:
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   Pochampally has been one of the lucky few villages chosen by the Government of India as a village where rural tourism would be promoted for which there has been a tourist center that has been built which also houses a live museum where weavers work as you can look at not just the weaving looms but also the weaver working on it. The infrastructure has been backed by extensive marketing by both the state and central government. The idea is probably to market handloom products and rural tourism at one go. What is not surprising is that the administrative machinery hasnrquote t worked in sync to prepare to receive the tourists and I think the odd tourist that did come initially was also taken aback. More on this later.
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7. Miscellaneous:There was the potter who we befriended, or atleast we hope we did (more about this story later) quite a few barbers, basket makers, people providing various services for marriages and thatrquote s about what comes to my mind now.

 

The information is just a brief overview to help you understand the situation in Pochampally before you read about the various insights we gained. The later posts will take up issues in detail and I promise would be much shorter than this.