K.S. Naushad, 47, from Mattancherry in West Kochi has been working at the Thoppumpady fisheries harbour as a helper for about 30 years, rising at 4 a.m. to be at work in half an hour, when the life begins where land meets water. He would bring freshwater and provisions to boats travelling out to sea for a few days to a month, ferry ice for a fresh catch, and run small errands for any of the transporters or exporters in the harbour.
In the 1990s, when Thoppumpady was referred to as the ‘Gulf of Kochi’, work was aplenty and the pay was good. He was on the cusp of adulthood, and things, he believed then, could only get better. Now, he wonders about the future. “The fish catch has fallen drastically in recent years bringing down the volume of work at the harbour,” says Naushad. Workdays are no more than a few times a month, with employers now picking from a pool of workers.
The scarcity of work has forced Naushad to switch to selling cooldrinks to make a living and look after his family of four. His co-workers stop by his scooter at the gates of the harbour, ordering fruit or lemon juice or curd-based drinks. “I still find occasional work at the harbour, it is not enough for my family’s daily requirements,” he says, the dozens of high mast halogen lamps dimming with the daylight.
