Black prawns of the salt pans

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Trombay Koliwada is situated in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai. Behind the dense basti of neighboring Cheeta camp, past thedilapidated mandir of the sleeping devi at 5 in the morning, silhouettes of fisherwomen from Trombay are seen sieving overthe salt pans, to fish for Kala kolim during October to February in the dark, foggy early morning, a scene quite unexpected inMumbai.

When the other fisherwomen were wondering what a person like me was doing here, Indubai, the most experienced and senior woman of the group wasn’t very happy to see me. “She’s not here to buy my kolim, she just wants the recipe of my work”, she said. “Who is taking responsibility for you in this risky neighborhood you followed us to?” she asked.

I apologised to her but kept walking on the dykes between the salt pans to discover a world of fisherwomen selling this lucrative species called kala kolim – the tiniest prawns I had ever seen.

Once the sun starts to emerge in the sky, the water tracks of the salt pans look like molten rays reflecting and dispersing the sun’s golden light.

Indubai and many such women who fish for kala kolim fold their sarees upto their knees, and tie a small plastic basket tied behind them on their waist. They walk along each lane of the salt pans engrossed in sieving the floating kala kolim using a net called jhila over the surface of the knee-length water.

The long lanes of salt pans stretching into the horizon look nothing more than plain water to my untrained eyes. Its only when the fisherwomen lift their nets in the water for the kolim to slide into the pocket at the tail of the net that this small black prawn is seen.

A little kolim is collected with every movement in the water. Unlike dominant forms of fishing by boats, the kala kolim collection is done after the high tide fills the saltpans and subsides- after ekadashi. The first thing Indubai does after arriving here and before dawn breaks is to rub a little misri (roasted tobacco) on her teeth. ‍

“Are you chewing misri?” I asked, “Of course, won’t I be frozen in this chilled water otherwise?” she laughed, reminding me that the winter arrives in some parts of humid and smoggy Mumbai too. While posing for a photo, she told me to go see how the kala kolim is washed.

‍

Play Sound

The sun is up and about by now. Women have completed foraging for kala kolim and are preparing to wash it.

They spread the net over the water, and start pouring the kolim over the net swiftly cleaning the kolim of mud and other organisms caught along with it.

Foraging Kala kolim is mainly done by women fishers but when I saw a few men joining the women of their family I asked Mira, who was busy cleaning the kolim, “Oh, some men have also come to fish kolim with you?” “They have only come to collect the kolim, hand it over to their mothers and wives, and leave. The real hard work is cleaning and selling it” she said.

The kolim is a perishable fish, it has to be cleaned and sold as soon as possible after harvesting it.

The women, who are moving gently in the water while collecting it, suddenly pick up speed while cleaning the kolim. They carefully tie it all together in a bunch called “unda” in their thin nets fashioned out of muslin cotton sarees. They come out of the water with mud-laden feet, tie their chappals behind them, at their waists, and walk towards the markets of Trombay at a rapid pace.

On the way they halt at a small pond to wash their feet and wear their chappals.

The morning wholesale market, which usually starts at 6 in the morning, waits till 8.30-9 am for the kala kolim sellers to arrive.

The Koli who make patties and the Christians who make pickles out of the kala kolim are waiting to buy this delicacy. Each unda of kolim earns around 500-700 rupees.

Every year, these fisherwomen come here to practice their unique fishing inherited from their mothers and grandmothers.

But the salt pans and the kala kolim are being choked by the industrial development of nearby ports the pollution discharged in tidal waters, and the raging appetite for developable land.

“If you want to see this site, go soon, because the metro shed also has its eye on this livelihood site of fisherwomen.

Go tell everybody that such a category of fisherwomen exists in Mumbai– until the corporates, the corporators, the BMC, and the fisheries department of Maharashtra are forced to notice this beautiful site so that the livelihood producing kala kolim pickle never goes extinct!”

Once the sun starts to emerge in the sky, the water tracks of the salt pans look like molten rays reflecting and dispersing the sun’s golden light.

Source : Plan to convert Trombay jetty into eco-tourism hub | Mumbai News - Times of India

Black prawns of the salt pans

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.