Living in trust with Sea

 Photo credits: Raju D. Tandel

For some, the sea is a tourist spot. For some, a beautiful background for a photo.

But for a fisherman, the sea itself is his mother, the sea itself is his God, the sea itself is his life.

3 o'clock in the morning. When the whole village is in deep sleep, the light is on in the fisherman's house. His wife packs a small bundle of rice and a bottle of water. His children, still half-asleep, say "Papa, come back soon." He touches his child's forehead, folds his hands to God, and walks into the darkness towards the sea.

He has no degree in his hands, no crores of property. He has only one thing - a torn net, an old boat, and a chest full of courage.

The sea never gives a promise. Today the net may be full of fish, tomorrow he may return empty-handed. If the waves get strong, the boat may sink. He risks his very life and goes, not just for himself. When we see fish on our lunch plate at noon and push it aside saying "it's not tasty", we forget that for that one plate of fish, a father has mortgaged his life to the sea.

A fisherman is never greedy. All he wants is for his children's stomachs to be full today. Worrying about tomorrow, he fights with today's wave. Even when there is a cyclone warning, he goes back into the sea to repay a loan, to pay his daughter's fees. Because he has no other way.

We sit in an AC room and complain that "fish has become expensive". But we don't see the price of sweat behind that expense, the salt of tears, the anxiety of a wife who stays awake all night.

How many times have the waves of the sea washed away his dreams, how many times have they shattered his boat. Yet the next morning he stands again in front of the sea with folded hands. That is his strength. The stubbornness to get up even after falling, to cast the net again even after losing - that is what makes him a true hero.

A fisherman is not poor. He is rich. He has patience that we don't have, humility to bow before nature, and a big heart that sees hope for tomorrow even in an empty net.

Next time you go to the seashore, don't just look at the waves. Look at that small boat seen far away. The one sitting inside it is not just a fisherman, he is the provider who risks his life to fill our stomachs.

Let us give him respect. Let us value his hard work.

Apeksha R. Tandel