Play By The Sea
This story starts at the break of dawn - While the city lies in a slumber, a few houses by the coast stir, and out come the Kolis (the fisherfolk), setting out to brave the sea. Perhaps the longest inhabitants of Mumbai, Kolis are believed to be the original settlers from when the city was a mere collection of islands. Today, they can be found in smaller vibrant communities lying at the heart of dense neighborhoods. These urban villages are in fact a small world within a world, exploding with energy, color, texture, tradition and magic.
Abutting a sandy beach and a long jetty, one such Koliwada (a fishing community) sits on the western side of Bandra and Khar Road and has been around for centuries. At the mouth of this village, is a vast open space where Rishab Gawde sits with his fellow men, knitting fishing nets and sharing stories. “We leave at the latest by 5 in the morning to fish and come back by 10:00 AM. After sorting the fish that was just caught, we take it to the market and by noon we are free to spend our day with each other,” explains Rishab. This vast open space with a raised plinth used for unloading and sorting the daily catch transforms from a bustling space in the morning to a laid back one during lazy afternoons when these men gather after their hard day’s work and spend the rest of their day in each other’s company. Their recreation mainly comes through stories as they work through the task of knitting their gigantic fish nets. “Each fisherman has to change their nets every season, so we have to work on them in our free time,” says Rishab, as he swiftly works on his 140-meter long net along with his friends.
As the day turns to night and the sun starts lowering, naked feet and peals of laughter float by as the children of the community come out to play. Some with their cricket bats and balls occupy the space by the plinth while some head down to the beach with their footballs along with abandoned sticks and old fishing nets that are transformed into makeshift stumps and goal posts. Others invent their own games, using abandoned tarps as makeshift sleighs and drag each other around in the soft, warm sand of the beach. Adjacent to the open community space is a newly constructed public park which is a common hangout for the womenfolk of the community. While some occupy the gazebos, others can be seen lazing around on the grass with their toddlers, often with a small packed picnic.
A space of business in the morning and a haunt for leisure by the day, this community space is also leased out to the residents of the Koliwada for festivals and marriages. “Our community has deep rooted traditions and we come together every year to celebrate. One such festival is the Narali Purnima celebrated in mid-August. It marks the beginning of a new fishing season for us,” explains Rishab. With offerings to the God of Sea, this festival is celebrated with much pomp and zeal among all the fishing communities in the city and becomes an annual source of recreation. The entire community comes together as one in preparation for the new season, speeding up the days leading to the festival. “We paint our boats together, making them look as good as new and get them ready for the coming days,” states Rishab. Yet another festival important to this community is Holi, where both the young and the old come out to play with vibrant colors, much like the rest of the city.
Once the torrential rains of the monsoon season hit the city, their season of fishing ends, and the bustling activities of these villages slow their pace. “We cannot take our boats out for fishing in this season. The tides don’t favor us and since it is the breeding season the catch isn’t plentiful. It is neither safe nor economical for us to cast our nets into the sea during this time. But we don’t sit idle during these days off. Most of us are highly devotional, so we like to take this time to go on various pilgrimages. You will find a large portion of the village packing up and taking a trip to the famous Vaisnodevi during the monsoon season,” says Rishab.
Yet another fishing village, the Worli Koliwada, sits at the tip of the Worli peninsula and is a vibrant community of colorful houses and winding alleyways. Bursting with activity along its main road, one can easily spot fishermen exchanging stories over a game of cards, women stopping by to share gossip while running errands, and groups of children playing gully cricket. While the people of Khar Danda flock together for leisure in their communal space, the residents of the Worli Koliwada are spread out in small groups throughout their village. The winding lanes open up to various small courtyards and openings that serve as mandals, some paved, some with little stages for performances and some of them used as small grounds by the children for games such as kabaddi. When the tides are low, the fringes of the village leading down to the water also become a spot of recreation for the children. Often the compounds of the two large temples – Hanuman Mandir and Golfa Devi Mandir, become a place to play catch for the young ones accompanying their parents to the mandir.
10-year-old Sukanya and 11-year-old Rohan are two such children who find joy in the alleys of Koliwada. “We have a group of 12 kids, and every day after the sun goes down we come out to play. One day it is cricket in the gully, another it’s hide and seek and sometimes it’s just plain old pakdapakdi (catch) and once we start playing, we cannot be stopped; sometimes going on till 9:30 at night!” explains Sukanya in excitement. On asking them, how do they monitor themselves in this vast maze during hide and seek, Rohan pitches in, “Oh, we have set rules for all games. We usually set a perimeter for ourselves during hide and seek and everyone has to hide within that boundary. If anyone ventures out, they are automatically disqualified!”. According to Sukanya, their tight knit group of 12 don’t waste their mornings by sleeping in during weekends and summer vacations. “We come out bright and early and spend the entire day playing, taking occasional breaks for food and golas.” And if you believe for a second that the monsoons would deter these children from their playtime, then think again because Rohan laughingly says that they have a solution for that as well, “We simply play in our raincoats!”
