“I have always wondered why more women don’t come forward to do hand-loom weaving which is a skill meant for both men and women. The majority of women handle only pre-loom works such as preparation of the yarn, tying and dying, etc. Thankfully, that was not the case for me as my husband always encouraged me to weave in the handloom.

I come from a small agricultural family and was married at the early age of 15. After my marriage, I moved to my husband’s place in Boodhan Pochampally town. He belonged to the weavers’ community and was a weaver. Pochampally town is known for its ikat style of hand-loom weaving but I knew nothing about it. Fortunately, with the help of my husband, I was able to learn the skill within a year and I started weaving along with my husband. It’s been more than 25 years now and I am proud to say that I am a ‘Pochampally handloom weaver.’

My priorities were clear-I wanted to work hard and support my family so that I could provide good education to my children. But the journey was not easy. It used to take two months to complete one warp during those days and each warp had seven sarees.

Every morning, I would wake up, cook, get my children ready for school, and then start weaving at home.

Things went down south when my husband passed away due to a heart attack in 2012. It was an extremely difficult phase as my children were still studying and it was a crucial period for them- one that could make or break their careers. Overnight, all the responsibilities fell on my shoulders but I was determined to work hard to take care of my family. I started to weave all alone and fortunately, because of the increase in demand for hand looms in the recent past, I started getting more work and I somehow managed to send my children to good engineering colleges.

All my hard work has paid off, and now my daughter is working in a reputed MNC. My son is pursuing his higher studies and I hope he settles down soon. Handloom weaving is a skill which I learned from my husband and I will work as a hand-loom weaver till my last breath.”
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