The post talks about the life of a small weaver and the challenges faced by weavers in Pochampally from the inside. Through the post we have also tried to give insights into the process of making a saree and the organization of the weaving business in Pochampally. We hope it makes an interesting read for all of you who want to know about the famous weavers of Pochampally.

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 Team of Grassroutes fellows write about the livelihoods of its residents.

I was expecting change too and probably that is where I went wrong. Neither changing the village, nor the people, but myself. But realized that is not possible till you actually live their life. Its only when you have to live it, is when you change. All I could gain is awareness, which is necessary. Staying in Pochampally for 8 days, understanding how the village works, how the money flows and how humanity still exists (unlike in metro cities) was a breathtaking experience for me.

Before I begin with the tale of 6 of us in Pochampally wanted to clarify a common misconception that most people had -
Demystifying Fabulinus :
In Roman Mythology, Fabulinus is the Lord of Education and Offerings were given to HIM when a child spoke its first words because he was the god that taught children to speak. The word is not a rip off / modified version of fabulous, and since our video for the Grassroutes application was on girl education and hence the team name so.
As Udaykiran  has mentioned in …

It has been a wonderful and enriching experience for all of us over the past 2 weeks road-tripping in the villages of Pochampally in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh. We went there to primarily understand the hardships faced by the weaving community. Even though Pochampally is a world renowned brand and it does millions of business both in the domestic and foreign markets, the weavers are facing so many problems and are not able to meet their daily expenses. We wanted to find out the reason for this and try to solve some of the issues.

“i usta cuDn’t speL enjinere, noW i ar wuN”
Oh well, that line sums our engineering lives. We might not be dyslexic but engineering did make us feel that way. Now after four years of engineering, four computer engineers decide that they should stop being geeks and change the world for the better and no semester exams and vivas can stop them!
We are bubbling with energy, over-flowing with enthusiasm and bursting with innovative ideas (or thatrquote s what we said in our respective company interviews at least : P) But jokes …

The fabulous Fabulinus team consists of Abhishek(Ana), Abhisikta(Abhi), Akhil, Nakul(nacool), Namita and Uday Kiran(Udki). Its been pretty awesome so far working on our video. We learnt a lot about women’s education and about video making.
Amazingly some of the team members have never met each other! Its our common friendship that ties us all together.
I’m very excited about going to the villages of Pochampally and see where the exquisite designs of the sarees my mother loves are made. Textile has been one of the oldest industries of India and its easy …

About Pochampally:
Pochampally is a mandal in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh and is popularly known as Silk City of India. Pochampally is an interesting collage of tradition, history, heritage and modernity. It is surrounded by hills, tanks and ponds, and lush green fields, spread-out silk warps, neera tapping from palm trees, mat-making women, open-sky chatrashala houses, a perennially full tank, hills, temples, Vinoba Mandir - Bhoodan Ashram and cultural complexes.
Market Assessment:
The weaving cluster in Pochampally has around 10000 weaving families in over 100 villages. Pochampally weave is popularly known as …