The markets of Eastern Venice

Fishing in the backwaters. Image courtesy: Tony de Connick

The district of Alappuzha is home to some who have made seminal contributions but are hardly ever remembered or discussed by generations today. Shankar, creator of the famous Shankar’s Weekly and most well known as India’s foremost political cartoonist was born and raised here. Today, many are aware of the Shankar’s Doll Museum in Delhi or the Children’s Book Trust which were his own projects but Alappuzha as his home district is hardly ever discussed in wider public spheres. Take another instance – Vayalar Rama Varma, who wrote the most expansive volumes of modern poetry and lyrics in the Malayalam language and voiced the genuine grievances of the peasantry and the poorer populace in Kerala. Numerous felicitations and honours later, his legacy and the surroundings within which he grew up to challenge the dominant public discourse in Kerala, is hardly a signifier of Alappuzha’s identity. 

On the contrary, it is through the lens of Lord Curzon, infamous for his role in famine relief during the tragic famine at the turn of the twentieth century as well as his role in the partition of Bengal in 1905 that Alappuzha refers to its own identity and significance today. The district’s official website for governance proudly cites Curzon’s description of, what was named Alleppey by the British, as the “Venice of the East”. Many other websites on Alappuzha follow suit and the metaphor of Venetian prosperity perpetuates itself. But the district has a lot more than what this metaphor can capture and nothing short of a visit to its lagoons, waterways and markets can give an accurate description. The district has its own flavours and its own delights for the traveller. Mostly known for its coir-making units and the large fishing villages that have existed for centuries now, this district and its central towns also pack together culinary specialities of prawn as well as a vibrant spice economy. 

The streets of Alappuzha

The markets of Alappuzha are busy spots of trade, exchange and other forms of socialisation. Coir’s importance in the region is evident from the National Coir Training and Designing Centre and the famous Coir Research Institute in the district. A visit to these places can provide valuable information into the lives and livelihoods of the thousands of families dependent on coir production in the district. The district’s backwaters serve as key elements in the transport of the green coconut husk to strategically located coir units and workshops. Spinning coir is often also done domestically by household-based units which then supply it to larger units making finished products. Support prices and other government aid has helped the coir industry grow significantly but at the same time, the recent migration of coir processing units to neighbouring Tamil Nadu could be worrying signs for the Alappuzha economy.

While coir gets its name from the Malayalam word for green coconut husk and duly so, there are specific commodities that markets across Alappuzha are well known for. The spice markets are one such example. Given the massive output of rice from the district, and specifically Kuttanad, every year, the spice production as well as import keeps the culinary balance in good place. Green pepper, Black pepper, cumin, ginger, cardamom and turmeric line the spice markets which have a longstanding significance in the history of global spice trade. Since Chera rule, Allapuzzha is believed and recorded as having been a crucial spice port on the western coast of the Deccan with strong flows of exchange across the Indian Ocean. For any visitor to the district today, the historical significance of its location and its crucial service as a port town should be of great interest. 

Black pepper in Aleppey

In recent times however, the spice market has slowly shifted focus towards the production of spice-based oils and oleoresins. Black pepper oil and ginger essence are two of the most widely available local spice-based oils. Rama Varma, reigning as the Prince of Travancore in the late nineteenth century, was one of the important reasons for the organisation of the spice trade. He firmly believed in the ideas of ‘modernisation’ of the original head of the Travancore kingdom, Marthanda Varma. He made financial and commercial organisation crucial to the spice trade and established legal norms to the functioning of the spice market which helped in sustaining the strength of the spice economy as a whole. Culinary practices with seafood and the corollary market for prawns and shrimps also find growing space from the end of the nineteenth century.

Other specific economic units include the growing umbrella manufacturing units with the brands John’s and Joji’s becoming runaway successes in the whole southern belt for producing strong and sturdy affordable umbrellas that have made Alappuzha a big export hub for the commodity. Umbrellas are a key part of the average Malayali person’s attire given the tropical weather and the frequent changes between hot and rainy weather.

Of coconuts and backwaters in Aleppey

All these markets and their internal economies are connected through the canals and rivers of the district which provide the visitor to Kerala with a unique co-dependent mash of the ‘natural’ linkages and the socially created ones. But sadly, noticeable natural phenomena in the backwaters are also an important cause for concern. Massive growth of water hyacinths along many canals indicates the gradual stagnation of the water in the canals, the reasons for which are yet to be identified. Such stagnated water could potentially be very harmful for the rural populace living around the canals as the dangers of water borne diseases like cholera would increase. Interestingly however, the stalk of the stronger Hyacinths found in Thailand are used by the local crafts industry for production of portable furniture and this is still one other creative economic opportunity yet to be explored in those incredibly unique backwaters of Alappuzha.