Beyond the blue lagoons and white sands, a tale of resilience

The documentary Choora, a collaborative venture between Bengaluru-based filmmaker Anand Ramakrishnan and Mysuru-headquartered NCF, is an attempt to highlight the sustainable ways of people of Lakshadweep

In a profound moment in the documentary film Choora, Abdul Nassar, the protagonist, says - ‘The times have changed, the sea has changed, the people have changed, and so have the fish.’ He looks away and before him spreads the sea like a pall of coral and crimson under the setting sun.  

Nasser, a resident of Lakshadweep islands, touches upon the crux of one of the most concerning problems of our times – climate change. With islands being among the most vulnerable systems to the adverse impacts of accelerated climate change, it’s people like him, often for no fault of theirs, that find their lives and livelihoods threatened. And yet, more than often, islanders have displayed extreme resilience and continued to practice their sustainable ways more or less.  

Choora (which translates to Tuna), a collaborative venture between Bengaluru-based filmmaker Anand Ramakrishnan and Mysuru-headquartered Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), is an attempt to celebrate such lives.  

It’s the first part of a series titled ‘Ways of Life’ that aims to highlight the various aspects of island livelihoods. The team is now getting ready for its next which is expected to be shot by the end of the year or early next year. 

A day in the life of islanders

It’s pitch dark at 4 a.m. in the morning when the movie starts. But there’s a flurry of activities on the beach; Jerry cans are being filled with fuel, a motor is revving in the background, men are getting on a skiff, baskets are being stacked in it, engines are being checked... For the fisherfolks of Lakshadweep, the day has already begun. In their midst, Anand Ramakrishnan zooms in his camera.  

“NCF has been doing research in Lakshadweep for years now and the movie happened as a result of the many conversations we had,” says Ramakrishnan.  

“The idea was to celebrate local life and to see if it could help promote local traditions and cultures that can secure the livelihoods of the island in a sustainable manner,” he adds.  

A large part of the island population is dependent on fisheries and the main fishery resource is tuna. According to the union territory’s official website, other than the Skipjack tuna, no fish is caught on a commercial basis. 

From catching the bait fish to using the unique pole and line technique for tuna fishing to selling the catch to collection boats, Ramakrishnan captures a day of Kauthar, the fishing boat, and its crew, in breathtaking shots in turquoise.  

“In the discussions with the NCF team, it was decided that the first movie should be about fisheries, and the pole and line fishing technique should be highlighted in it,” recollects Ramakrishnan.  

Sustainable fishing 

The Pole and Line is a sustainable fishing method unique to Lakshadweep in the Indian subcontinent.  

Before the break of dawn, the fisherfolks set out on their boats looking for smaller fish that can be used as live bait to catch skipjack tuna. It is considered important to catch the fish after they have laid eggs so that the exercise doesn’t result in the fish populations dwindling. Then, the bait fishes are thrown into the waters where there are high densities of tuna population.  

“They make something called a feeding frenzy which creates an impression of an abundance of bait fish. Water is sprayed from the boats and live bait fish are flung into the sea. At this time, the tuna will bite on anything and everything which moves. As soon as they bite, they pull the line,” explains Al Badush, who has been doing research at the island as part of NCF.  

“There’s no by-catch or wastage. They can decide on how much they want to catch. This way, it’s one of the most sustainable ways of catching fish anywhere in the world. So, we wanted to start the documentary by celebrating this very unique thing and spread the word about it to the rest of the world,” he adds. 

Highlighting resilience

The only coral atolls of India, Lakshadweep is known to mainlanders and outsiders for its blue lagoons and beautiful reefs. The purpose of the movie was to show that it is much more than that. 

“Life and livelihood in Lakshadweep are completely dependent on the health of the reef,” points out Badush. But these reefs are under severe threat of climate change which could impact the island and its people at multiple levels.  

“Lakshadweep is one of those unique systems where the effects of climate change are visible compared to larger ecosystems. It has an easily observable cross-section of a complex and dynamic ecosystem. Climate change will affect anything and everything in islands like Lakshadweep, from freshwater availability to availability of fish to people’s livelihood.” 

But, while the story of Lakshadweep is one of fragility and vulnerability, it is also a story of fortitude and strength of the islands and its people in the face of incredible odds, says Rohan Arthur, senior scientist and founding trustee of NCF. 

“It is critical in my view for us to communicate both these messages so that people are neither paralysed by the scale of the problem nor complacent about the urgency with which we have to address it,” he says. 

“In our years of engaging with our friends in Lakshadweep, we have found that there is a large amount of wisdom inherent in the way people live their lives on these tiny atolls. Lakshadweep has gone through many ups and downs in its long history, and societies have flourished for several hundreds of years despite these hardships.” 

“This long engagement with nature in all its forms gives them a unique perspective on how to live in these oceanic islands. Our idea with these documentaries is to raise this wisdom out into the light. There are lessons here not merely for people in Lakshadweep but for coastal communities everywhere about sustainable ways to engage with nature in a climate change future.” 

No mean task

Choora seems to have done justice to this, and for Ramakrishnan, the movie has exceeded his expectations. However, it was no mean task to bring it out, he notes. The shooting sequence in the boat had to be completed in one day and was carried out single-handedly by him. 

“I was a one-man army; I shot the entire film and handled four cameras. No recce was done because we couldn’t afford to spend a day on the boat only for that as island life is very uncertain. The crew decides whether to go out into the sea or not only in the evening before that. Plans can always change,” he points out. 

Going out into the sea also meant carrying minimum equipment, no charging port for equipment, handling them in an unfamiliar environment, no toilet facilities, sea sickness possibilities and a scorching sun. 

“I had a format in mind. That’s all. Everything else was done on the go. Nothing was staged, it’s their daily life. I had to tune my strategy according to what they were doing,” says Ramakrishnan who notes how NCF team members taking on the administrative side and also helping out with some basic tasks during the shooting made life easier.  

Future plans

According to Ramakrishnan, the upcoming movies in the series would also see a similar raw candid treatment. In Choora the protagonist speaks in Malayalam throughout the film. Ramakrishnan expresses desire to shoot the next movies in Jasri if possible.  

While Choora is among his favourite works so far, one regret remains. He couldn’t be on the island when the movie was being screened for the people there.  

“There have been criticisms that we haven’t gone too deep into the challenges of the people. I welcome those criticisms, but this movie is meant to be a celebratory one, intended to feel like a warm hug. The focus is not on what’s not there, but on what’s there and why.” 

Published - November 18, 2024 09:00 am IST