Even a walk on the mud road with the scorching sun above cannot make the villagers of Keelathenkalam in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district miss the aroma of the hot, boiling meen kuzhambu (fish gravy) from earthen pots burning over coal stoves in every home. The sound of fish gravy boiling in a clay pot leaves stomachs growling for it is fish harvesting day in the village.
A scenic view with a bright sun, the smell of fresh soil as a result of the water meeting land and the straw homes amid concrete buildings making a lane. At the far end of the village, a small pond helps farming activities. This is Keelathenkalam on a usual day, but the village truly comes to life on fish harvest day.
The villagers say they eagerly await the annual event because fish harvesting has become a way of life for the people; a pond coming to life providing them food and then disappearing into a puddle has taught them to live, they say.
Keelathenkalam, meaning ‘south pond’ in Tamil, is located in Tirunelveli. The hot scorching sun in the district has the capacity to melt even hard rocks on a sunny day. So the number of water bodies are limited as water evaporates into the air even before monsoon arrives in the village.
Speaking to TNM, Thangaswamy, who is responsible for the fish harvest, says, “The ancestors living in Keelathenkalam used to dig ponds to serve as a water source for the village and help farming. The ponds will be dug immediately after the monsoon and the aquatic life will begin for the year. For six months, the village will receive water from the pond and then, the water will begin to recede and disappear.”
The lack of water also affected the wealth of marine life leaving many families without their share of fish. “The lack of a constant source was affecting the survival of marine life, leaving few fish in the pond. It was not enough to serve all the families in the village. Hence, the village sat together to come up with the idea of fish harvest that has been upheld by many generations,” he says.
The village has weaved a way of life around the pond and hooked people to the fish harvest day once a year.
Each year, the village collects a tax from the villagers to conduct the temple festival. Once the festivities end, the panchayat head will collect the remaining sum of money and give it to the fish harvester.
The harvester will buy 45,000 fish eggs to renew the aquatic life in the pond. “We will dig a pond every year for cultivating and once the water table recharges, we will let the 45,000 eggs (bought for Re 1 each) into the pond. Once the fish are let into the ponds, the rules will be made stricter and no one is allowed to go for fishing in the pond. The people will follow the rules and everyone will be around the pond laughing away their problems,” says Thangaswamy.
The wait will then begin for the villagers for five or six months. The farmers who cultivate crops by judging the sky and the water table also know when the pond is likely to dissipate. That’s when the villagers will gather and fix a day for fish harvesting.
“The fish will mostly be fresh water fish like Catla or Kendai weighing four to five kg each. We will invite fishing experts to collect tons of fish from the fresh water,” says an elated Thangaswamy.
On the day of the harvest, families will gather before the pond and queue with a pot. Each family will receive a good share of fish that can be kept for three days.
I am from a village called Keelathenkalam. Name means South eastern pond. History says our community dug up ponds to do farming, hence our caste name.
— Rathy (@iRatzzz) June 21, 2020
Our village is on the shores of this Pond. As Hugeeee as a small lake! Every June the water recedes to a mere puddle.
That's a small part of the pond. pic.twitter.com/jzwRBNgmSB
— Rathy (@iRatzzz) June 21, 2020
A resident of Keelathenkalam, Rathy, who shared the story of her village on Twitter, says, “A few families will get a lot of fish and some will get only a small portion. The quantity of fish depends on the vari (tax) we pay to the village. If there is only one person in the village then we will pay one vari. In my home, we are two members so we will pay two vari which is not much more than Rs 20 per person. On fish harvesting day, everyone will enjoy it so much and even the elderly people will enjoy their ‘second childhood’.”
The Keelathenkalam fish cannot compete with the taste of the other fish, says Thangaswamy.
“The family will take the fish home and clean the fish. The fish will then be marinated and made into an aromatic gravy with crushed species with a dash of tamarind and drizzle of curry leaves that will leave everyone drooling till the next fish harvest day,” explains Rathy.
The villagers will also distribute the fish to their relatives in neighbouring districts. As water recedes little further on the next Sunday of fish harvesting day, families will fish out the small fish in the pond marking the end of the pond, says Thangaswamy.
“Aparam kolam azhinjidum (then the pond will disappear),” he says in Tamil.
The village as the pond disappears then continues to live with harmony as rainy days approaches to witness many more fish harvesting days.