Monday-Wednesday, March 7-9

Monday-Wednesday, March 7-9

Beach at Kovalum

We weren't disappointed by getting up before sunrise to go to the beach and watch an event that has been played out for most likely hundreds of years. It took us awhile to figure out what was going on but what we saw was not watching the previous evenings boats return with their catch. There were two groups of twenty men maybe 200 yards apart on the beach and one boat with maybe five men in it that worked one fishing net. The net was put in the water maybe a half mile offshore. The very large row boat retrieved one end of the line attached to the net and brought it ashore to one group of men. The boat crew then went to retrieve the other end of the line attached to the other side of the net while the first group of men started pulling in the net. So the net basically formed a bit of a "U" shape. Eventually the other group of men got the other end of the line and they started pulling. These guys must have pulled for easily over an hour before the small floats keeping the top of the net on top of the water could be seen. At the center was one big float to which one guy had been hanging to for the whole time. I guess he marked the center of the net. What they pulled in were hundreds of tiny silver and blue fish about two inches long. I guess they dry them and sell them. They put the fish in these large metal bowls and dumped them on the beach where a group of women in colorful beautiful saris were waiting. The women then put them into another large metal bowl and placing them on top of their heads walked off the beach. I have at least an hour's worth of video of the event. While I was videoing the event one of the men monitored me to join in pulling in the net. So I did. You start at the front of the rope near the water's edge and hold on to one section of the rope and then walk while pulling until you are at guy whose sitting on the beach coiling the rope. You then let go of the line and then walk back to the front and pull again. I made five or six rotations until my hands started feeling the wet nylon rope. It was heavy hard work. None of these guys wore gloves and they were all solidly built as one would expect if you did this every day. None of these spoke a word of English.

We said our goodbyes and heading for breakfast and then a checkout and then a forty-five minute ride to the Ashram.