Our evening at Sarve was flowing along as we chatted about our lives, our work, our worlds and our universe ... a full 42 conversation. the lazy flow of the evening was interrupted when Mr. Sabir asked us to get ready for the activity of the night - fishing!
Something Fishy ...
We accompanied him as he went to check on his net that he had cast neat the shallow pools. Wading through knee deep water, we made our way to the net. There was a fish, locally called ‘hausa’, which was caught in the net. It has a sharp dorsal fin equipped with a sting that hurts like that of a scorpion’s. Mr. Sabir carefully untangled it from the net and kept it on the dry rocks nearby, while we continued onward to inspect the rest of the net.
Here we found a few crabs and one water-snake which were also caught in the net. Mr. Sabir gave us a lesson crab-catching. The only way to safely catch a crab is by gently pushing the head so that it just stops in its tracks and then carefully bundle the claws in. In such a position they are mostly harmless.
We returned to the house with our catch - ‘hausa’. That fish would fetch about Rs. 150-200 if sold to the Kunbi casts people. Kolis and Muslims will not pay even Rs. 10 for it, we were told.
Gooovindaaa re Gooopala ...
We had a light vegetarian dinner after which we made our way to Mr. Kifayat’s house, where we were to spend the night. His house was at the other end of the village and the short walk almost seemed like a guided tour of the village itself. Another relaxed session of chatting ensued - this time our religion and beliefs were added to the general mix. This session lasted till almost midnight, when we again left the house to attend the Janmasthami celebrations at the village temple.
We made our way to the temple and were greeted by the Sarpanch and other elders. The ex-Sarpanch sat with us and gave a brief account of the village conditions and customs. A quick cup of black tea was served as the puja began with the priest narrating a dramatic account of the birth of Lord Krishna. The fervor of his pitch steadily rose as the time of Lord’s birth drew near. The main aarti started sharp at midnight. This was followed by a short procession of village kids dancing along to ‘goooooooovindaaa re goooopaalaaa …’.
We joined the fun and were quickly drenched as the villagers threw bucket after bucket of water on the kids and by extension us too.
After a while we excused ourselves and returned back to Mr. Kifayat's house for some much needed rest after a long but fun day.
© Kapil Pilankar
Something Fishy ...
We accompanied him as he went to check on his net that he had cast neat the shallow pools. Wading through knee deep water, we made our way to the net. There was a fish, locally called ‘hausa’, which was caught in the net. It has a sharp dorsal fin equipped with a sting that hurts like that of a scorpion’s. Mr. Sabir carefully untangled it from the net and kept it on the dry rocks nearby, while we continued onward to inspect the rest of the net.
The Hausa
Here we found a few crabs and one water-snake which were also caught in the net. Mr. Sabir gave us a lesson crab-catching. The only way to safely catch a crab is by gently pushing the head so that it just stops in its tracks and then carefully bundle the claws in. In such a position they are mostly harmless.
Crab catching
We returned to the house with our catch - ‘hausa’. That fish would fetch about Rs. 150-200 if sold to the Kunbi casts people. Kolis and Muslims will not pay even Rs. 10 for it, we were told.
Older catch - hausa and boi - now frozen
Gooovindaaa re Gooopala ...
We had a light vegetarian dinner after which we made our way to Mr. Kifayat’s house, where we were to spend the night. His house was at the other end of the village and the short walk almost seemed like a guided tour of the village itself. Another relaxed session of chatting ensued - this time our religion and beliefs were added to the general mix. This session lasted till almost midnight, when we again left the house to attend the Janmasthami celebrations at the village temple.
We made our way to the temple and were greeted by the Sarpanch and other elders. The ex-Sarpanch sat with us and gave a brief account of the village conditions and customs. A quick cup of black tea was served as the puja began with the priest narrating a dramatic account of the birth of Lord Krishna. The fervor of his pitch steadily rose as the time of Lord’s birth drew near. The main aarti started sharp at midnight. This was followed by a short procession of village kids dancing along to ‘goooooooovindaaa re goooopaalaaa …’.
We joined the fun and were quickly drenched as the villagers threw bucket after bucket of water on the kids and by extension us too.
After a while we excused ourselves and returned back to Mr. Kifayat's house for some much needed rest after a long but fun day.
© Kapil Pilankar
Hey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.
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