Elankadai – Part 2 – the Fish

Father Joseph from the parish in Elankadi is from a neighboring costal village, Manakudy. His father and brother are fishermen; he has 4 sisters married to…you got it – fishermen. Life of a fisherman in costal India is rough. At 4 pm he is out at sea until approximately 3 – 4 am; he then prepares the fish to sell as the vendors come around 6 am. He sleeps 2 – 3 hours, then up at 1 pm to prepare his boat and net to go out again. He takes Sunday off to be with his family. Personally, I would use the day to sleep.
Fr Joseph shared pictures of his brother’s new boat that he blessed 6 months ago! The boat is named “St Andrew”, the patron saint of fishermen. His brother hires 3 – 5 men to work with him daily – same schedule as his.

I love markets – anywhere – so Fr Joseph took me to the local fish market in Elankadai; I was enamored by the hustle and bustle! Fr Joseph said that if the sellers “don’t make noise” that the customers won’t come. Needless to say, there was loud chatter and clatter going on! And Market Life is not easy either…the vendors are up at 3 – 4 am, drive to a coastal town to buy their fish (usually with a two wheeler with 2 -3 baskets of ice on the back), and start setting up their “booths” at 9:30 am. Fortunately the market is over at 12 noon, but not the work to prepare for the next day.

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