Step into the beach and it hits you with a force that threatens to sweep you off your feet. Sit close to the shoreline and you can hear it, calm yet insistent, entwined with the sound of the waves — wind. Crucial to a fisherman, the wind decides his fate at sea. It’s the first thing he takes stock of the moment he steps out of home.
“We can hit the sea even if it rains; but not when it’s windy,” says 70-year-old Boopalan who works at the harbour. “Heavy winds create turbulence and tend to topple the boat,” he explains. The speed of the boat is related to the speed of the wind. If a fisherman takes to the sea despite heavy winds, the sea talks to him in a different language. She feels different; acts different. “Boat paanju paanju pogum ,” says fisherman Patturasan of sailing on a windy day. “The water will hit us hard and pull our net,” he adds.
A fisherman has his own way of describing winds from various directions. These terms are unique to the community’s rich lingo, and have been in existence for generations. The most commonly used terms for winds are vaadai kaathu (south-bound), sozhavam (north-bound), kondal (west-bound) and kachhaan (east-bound).
“Kachaan eeram is moist wind that hits us from the sea,” explains Boopalan. The ‘ eeram ’ (wet) suffix is attached to winds that carry moisture. The kachaan and kachaan eeram create favourable conditions to go to sea, says Patturasan. “The waves are moderate and we can sail smoothly,” he says. “ Kodai and vaadai kaathu tend to push the boat around making it difficult for us to manage a good catch,” he adds.
Sahitya Akademi Award-winning writer Joe D Cruz says that “Great navigators such as Vasco da Gama, Captain Cook, and Columbus were thorough with the nature of wind and water current.” Known for his works such as Korkai and Aazhi Soozh Ulagu that revolve around the lives of the fisherfolk of Thoothukudi, he is currently the president of a shipping company in the city. “When we look at the sea, we see just a water body. But it is made up of waves, tide, water current, and ripples,” he explains. Waves and ripples, he adds, are the result of wind.
A fisherman tailors his occupation around wind conditions. “If it’s windy by the Lighthouse, we head to Kasimedu or elsewhere,” says Boopalan. However, there’s one particular type of wind that the community fears — the kunnodu kaathu . “It signifies a storm,” says Boopalan, his tone grave. His eyes widen as he adds, “It comes from the vada-merku (north-west) direction in the tenth month of the year. That’s when none of us enter the sea. The flag will go up in the harbour warning us of its arrival. This wind is dangerous,” he pauses. “It can uproot even the heaviest of anchors and flip the boat about like paper on the sea. She is something else when the konnodu kaathu hits her,” he shakes his head.
Winds dictate the amount of catch a fisherman returns with; but with years of experience, he learns to work with it and use even unfavourable winds to his advantage. This is because he sometimes has no choice. “If there are heavy winds along the direction we predict a good catch, we sail on, nevertheless,” says Patturasan. “We have to feed ourselves don’t we?” The direction they frequently take? “That which gives us a good varumanam (earning).”
