E-book Stories

Name	Description	Comments	Due
Amali: Life history of a Maldive fish processor and producer association leader (Dilanthi Koralagama and Nireka Weeratunge)	This life history is of Amali, a female maldive fish processor, in her early 60s from Southern Province, Sri Lanka. She has been a processor for nearly 40 years and organiser of the maldive fish processing association in her village for four years. Her story illustrates the history of the maldive fish processing industry in Kottegoda, a leading location of this industry, over the past decades. It provides information on the fish varieties utilized, the main technological changes, as well as the opportunities, constraints and vulnerabilities of producers. As the president of the fisheries society and organiser of the maldive fish processing association, she also gives insights into the governing structure and functioning of community-based producer groups.	2022-01-19: Dilanthi is recovering from illness; will submit the manuscript but needs more time. 2022-01-18: Asked Nireka, who will check with Dilanthi and replay about plans for the Sri Lanka contributions.	--
A woman in a strange place (Wae Win Khaing)	It is about a 30-year-old woman living in her husband’s village with challenges in her life with two little children, and how her life was culturally restrained. Her husband had troubles with alcohol and gambling. She worked several jobs to provide her children and also her husband by working at her sister-in-law’s fish processing business, sometimes by selling dried fish and seasonal vegetables. Although she had been living in the village for more than ten years, she was identified as a stranger by her peers. She worked as a processor by earning more than the average of her peers and still she was described as not being empowered. The life story is based on the interview with the woman in 2020 in Maubin Township, Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar.		--
Dawn to Dusk: A day in the life of a dry fish vendor (Dr.M.Sai Leela)	Women from the fishing community in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, are the marketeers of the fish- both fresh and dry- who walk through the streets calling out the names of the fish they are ready to sell. The women step out of the house in the wee hours most days, procure the material from various sources and head for selling the same in designated localities.The women deem it a privilege in selling the fish and put in hard work in performing this traditional occupation. The article is an insight and reflection of the socio-economic aspects based on one typical day in the life of a dry fish vendor (woman),who strives from dawn to dusk to fulfill the dry fish needs of the households.		--
SECTION INTRODUCTION: Stories of dried fish			--
Local stories of the global Anthropocene: A one-day “adda” with the dry fishers of the Sundarbans Delta (Jenia Mukherjee and Raktima Ghosh)	The recurrent cyclones (Bulbul 2019, Amphan 2020 and Yaas 2021) on the Bay of Bengal have caught optimum attention of natural scientists, particularly interested to enumerate environmental implications within the larger context of the global climate crises. Amid this hue and cry to protect the Sundarbans – the globally renowned largest mangroves delta, the habitat of the Royal Bengal Tiger and most importantly, the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve the local saga of vulnerabilities and resilience remain unheard. Recently, plans of relocation of local communities have gained acreage within national and international debates and discussions. But what do the locals want; how and why? How do they perceive, experience and encounter these natural disasters? With the larger conviction to tap the local knowledge-base on reclamation of, relocation from and resilience in these ‘volatile’ island archipelago, we engaged in a one-day informal in-situ conversations (known as adda in the Bengali dialect) with the dry fisherwomen of the Frasergunj Village, Namkhana Community Development Block. The village – a famous dry fishing hub and auction center was hard hit by Cyclone Bulbul that led to damage of worth 5 crores INR in Frasergunj and Sagar Islands (https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/natural-disasters/bulbul-more-dangerous-than-aila-affected-people-67805). The adda will carve out storylines addressing the local ecology-economy interface and how this complement and contradict with global discourses on the climate catastrophe.	2022-01-15: Raktima requests 4-5 extra days	2022-01-22
Chronicling Coastal Lives: An Interview with Vishnu Bhaliya, Boat Owner, Dried Fish Processor and Writer, Jafrabad (Tara Nair with Vishnu Bhaliya)	Apart from his being active in fishing and dried fish processing, Vishnu Bhaliya is a short story writer and novelist who has chronicled the lives of Kharwas, the dominant community of fishermen in Gujarat, in about 10 literary works. He says, “for us Kharwas, boats, seas and fish are our lives and livelihoods. Literature on the lives of fishermen is scarce in Gujarati language. I cover these lives in my stories. Some stories will take your breath away, some will blow your mind”. We would like to make a short contribution on Vishnubhai and his literary contribution. The unique experience of being a writer and a fisherman, we believe, would reveal distinct dimensions of the dried fish matters.	2022-01-16: Message from Tara The ebook write up draft is ready. I have not been able to work on it further as, finally, COVID has caught up with me. Was completely thrown off work and life for a week. I am getting back to my routine now. Will mail all the deliverables in a week’s time.	2022-01-24

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