Pochampally saris
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V Ramachandra Reddy, 1951
Robin.David, April 21, 2024: The Times of India
On April 18, 1951, almost exactly 73 years ago, a tall, young man stood up before Acharya Vinoba Bhave, India’s conscience keeper after Mahatma Gandhi, and decided to give away a part of his most valuable asset – 100 acres of fertile agricultural land – to poor families.
That man was a rich landlord from Telangana’s Bhoodan Pochampally village, V Ramachandra Reddy, who accidentally triggered a deluge of giving, a bloodless revolution now known as Bhoodan Movement. Inspired by this accident of generosity, Acharya Vinoba would go on to amass around 45 lakh acres across India by convincing landlords to give up a little bit of earth for the poor. But none of this would have been possible without Ramachandra Reddy, who wanted to keep his word to his dying father.
Revolution Starts Outside Hyderabad
The story goes that Acharya was on a peace march and found his way to Pochampally, about 50km from Hyderabad, encouraged by some Gandhian supporters. He held a gram sabha under a fig tree and many Dalit families told him they were struggling without livelihood, that it would help if he could convince then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to give them some land. Acharya said they were asking for something he did not have. On a whim, he asked the gathering if there was anyone who would like to donate two acres each for the 40 Dalit families of Pochampally.
That gathering also had Ramachandra Reddy and his brother-in-law Ravi Narayan Reddy, who would go on to be one of the founders of Communist Party of India. Ravi Narayan remembered that, on hisdeathbed, Ramachandra’s father Narasimha had expressed a desire to donate some of his 5,000-odd acres to the poor. He reminded Ramachandra about it and that is how on that quiet afternoon in Pochampally the seeds of Bhoodan were sown.
Ramachandra decided to donate 100 acres instead of 80 acres, and this is believed to have given Acharya the idea of reaching out to landlords across India to willingly donate land for the poor. He was convinced there were other Ramachandras in the country.
Rich Gave Away 28 ‘Hyderabads’
To put Acharya’s achievement of amassing 45 lakh acres in perspective, the Greater Hyderabad region today is a little more than 1.6 lakh acres. As many as 28 Hyderabads would fit into Bhoodan lands in the original form.
Today, of course, a very small percentage of the lands are being used for the original purpose of helping the poor, having been usurped and encroached. When Acharya passed away in 1982, a New York Times obituary said much of the land was rocky, barren and uncultivable, “but ultimately more than 1.5 million tillable acres were given to the poor”.
“My grandfather could have given barren lands if he wanted to,” says V Subhash Reddy, Ramachandra’s grandson, who lives in Hyderabad. “Instead, he consciously chose the most fertile lands not far from the village lake. Giving, for him, was not just a symbolic gesture.” Subhash is the regional transport officer for Ibrahimpatnam in Hyderabad and runs a gaushala about 5km from Pochampally.
Interestingly, at least 70-80 acres of the original donation is still a lush green field with paddy. This stretch of land has held out against land sharks, with many of the original recipients merging their lands and sharing the earnings.
Talking to Subhash it becomes clear that to understand Ramachandra’s motives, one must understand his father, V Narasimha Reddy. Close to the Nizam’s family, he educated all his six sons, allowed two of them to marry outside caste despite the attached taboos and started a movement against untouchability. “My great grandfather would never even check his earnings from the lands he owned,” Subhash adds. “Dharam se jo aya woh sahi. He ran a business on trust.”
Brave Man’s Last Wish
There is a fascinating legend about Narasimha Reddy and how the family came to control vast lands. When he was 18, a tiger is believed to have attacked a herd of cows. While the cowherds ran away, Narasimha took on the tiger by wrapping his hands with his turban and killed the beast barehanded. When the Nizam found out about this feat, he gave Narasimha a jagir of eight villages along with two Arabian horses. “The Nizam also offered him lands in Hyderabad, but he refused, unwilling to leave Pochampally,” Subhash adds. “It was his wish just before he passed away of tuberculosis that lands be donated.”
He adds that when Ramachandra offered his 100 acres, Acharya Vinoba refused to believe him. “My grandfather immediately called the patwari and got documents made to hand over the lands.”
Ramachandra’s desire to donate did not diminish with this. Pochampally’s ikat weavers may be famous today, but there was a time when they were struggling, barely making ends meet. In 1960, Ramachandra donated 25 acres for the weaving community and even built houses for them. He also sent them to Coimbatore, an established weaving centre at the time, for training. He was also known to give away land at just Rs 25 if he felt that a particular family needed it, besides giving away 13 acres for a school and a tourism centre at the village.
Today, land rates in Bhoodan Pochampally are close to Rs 2 crore an acre. In Deshmukh village, now part of Greater Hyderabad, where Ramachandra donated around 80 acres, the rates are close to Rs 10 crore an acre. Subhash insists he has never regretted his father’s big heart. “I am always aware of my family’s legacy,” he says. “Legacy decides my actions.”
