Eight year old Nasiya Salam from Thiruvananthapuram is not aware about El Niño effects and climatic changes in the ocean. All she knows is that she is not happy having lunch without sardine fish. Lockdown restrictions followed by trawling ban and the extreme climatic conditions that made fishing impossible have left fish lovers of Kerala a gloomy lot.
For the last few months, availability of fish has been very low.
Nasiya decided to express her concern in this matter through a small poem which social media has since titled 'an ode to sardine'. In her poem for mathi – the Malayalam word for sardine – she personifies her favourite fish.
Where are you sardine, our dear
We get crazy when you play in the sea
When will you come, sardine
Crossing the potholes in a rickshaw,
Blowing the little horns
Aren’t you our sweetheart?
Tired of having rice without fish curry
You came even after Tsunami and Ockhi
Now what happened, sardine?
Are you afraid of corona?
Don’t be scared sardine, and don’t be shattered
Awaiting your visit, we are always on the shore.
Speaking to Asianet News, Nasiya's parents revealed that she is very fond of the fish and would ask for it every day while having food. Her father Salavudheen said that she wrote the poem one day after she got tired of asking for it.
The poem went viral on social media platforms in the last few days as many others like Nasiya had been missing the dish. Even a few celebrities have shared the little girl’s poem. Actor Rima Kallingal has shared the poem appreciating Nasiya.
For the last many years Kerala has been facing a severe scarcity of the state's favourite fish oil sardine. It has also been termed the staple fish of Kerala. The fishermen associations in Kerala have been demanding a fish drought relief due to the scarcity of sardine for quite a long time.
More than 20,000 traditional fishermen in the state are largely dependent on the sardine as it is the common man's staple fish in the state.