Shark tales

The local fisherman arrived at the back door with a seemingly heavy bucket, Ammu was very inquisitive and wanted to have a good view of inside of the contents. She had just given birth to three kittens and was out for her morning catch.

Rameshan dug his salty , fish scale studded hand into bucket , back in a flash dripping wet with finger sized white prawns that he quickly flung over to Ammu. In a quick dash Ammu was grabbed them and was on her way to the old house with prawns held in her mouth for a family breakfast.

My aunt thanked Rameshan and placed some orders for the next day. I began to wonder how he could catered to this customized order , how he could catch some king fish and some tiger prawns , does he know where find them in the sea ? Do fish of a scale school together too? This kind of home delivery right from the sea and at very nominal prices was something we never get back in the city.

That’s when it struck me.
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We reached the tree lined bank of the coconut tree lined backwaters, just a stones' throw away from my grandparents place. My eyes were sinking in the eternal greenery , the dropping coconut trees, the gentle flow of the river .There was a bit of caution for the grazing white cow which had been tied with a long rope to the wooden stump.

“Will we catch a Shark?” asked Pachu with eyes filled with innocence and determination.
“May be , But how will be take it back?” I asked him.

Pachu ,Appu and Ammu my two little nephews and one little niece were silenced by this question, they got into deep thought wondering how they would get the shark out of the water and get it back home.

I remembered a Tom and Jerry cartoon , where Tom cat went fishing and he used Jerry mouse as the bait. Our fishing equipment was simple. Fishing strings or Tangis about five meters in length, with one end tied to a short stick that we picked up on the way, the other end with a small U shaped metal hook whose pointed end had a smaller wedge to prevent any fish who took the bait from swimming free. We had tied small stone just inches away from the hook, in order to add some weight for us to throw the full lengh of string farther into the river and also to allow it to sink into the water.

Now came the part where we need to take position, fix the bait and swing far into the water for some luck. The fixing the bait part was something I dint like much, as usually the baits used were earthworms, we had to dig up some wet patches and find the wriggly red worms. It always used to give me a very yucky feeling to touch there creatures especially when you needed to pierce their mid section onto the fishing hook. On the other hand the kids enjoyed playing with the freshly dug out worms, sometimes torturing the poor things.

This time round, Appu had smuggled some of the fresh white prawns to be used as bait, saving us the trouble of looking for the farmer’s best friend. Using prawns as bait had never occurred to me, prawns and that too the size we had got today would have burned a huge hole in the pocket back in the city, here it was just a catch away.

All set we flung the stones tied to the Tangis as far as we could into the water. My fishing string was just about two meters in length as I had donated most of the long string to my younger cousins. As a result my fishing area was very close to the rocky bank. The water flowed smoothly just a few feet below from where we were perched.

“Kitti! Kitti! “ Appu exploded in excitement when he felt a tug on his string.

We quickly pulled it up, an empty hook emerged..no sign of the half prawn that was the bait.
Appu showcased a serious look on his face , he quickly reloaded the bait and this time threw the stone even farther into the river. He would avenge the stealth of his prawn.

All four waited again with baited breath. Two fisherman passed by us in their wooden canoe , their swirled with the nets just like in the discus throwers in the National games and cast their blooming nets like spiders web into the river. Appu seemed unmoved by this activity, Pachu however was interested in the kingfisher that had just swooped in the water and was out in a flash with a small fish in its sharp beak. Perched on the rotten branch of a tree, it was preparing to swallow the fish head first. Ammu was getting a bit impatient and was occasionally looking back at the cow that had by now stopped grazing and was rubbing itself against the rough side of a the coconut tree.

“Pambe , Pambe!” screamed Appu as he some snake like creature in the water very close to where my bait ping ponged in the water. It was a snake indeed. A very small one the size of my arm and maybe just an inch wide. It was green and black with a pointed mouth.

All the kids clambered from their seats and rushed towards me. I moved the bait closer to the snake. I felt like a puppeteer using the string to control the prawn in the water. The snake moved very close to the bait, looking for something between the rocks on the bank. And bang! In one quick dash the my prawn disappeared into the snakes mouth. I felt the tug immediately.

“Pull it up, Pull it up!” yelled the kids in excitement.

I moved sideways and one quick jolt the snake was out of the water onto the sandy bank. All wriggly and struggling to break free. It kept twisting and turning so much around itself that I feared it would knot itself. That’s when I realized it was not a snake, it was an Eel.

Appu was all set to beat it to pulp with a wooden stick, Ammu and Pachu we clinging on to me in awe .The shiny scaly skin of the eel was getting dirty in the mud and leaves. The eel was getting ready to give in, unable to spit out its last free meal.

To Appu’s despair I swung the string back into the water. The eel was clean again, then like a miracle it pulled itself free and shot for the gap between the rocks. Its head emerging out , probably cursing us for attempted murder or for thanking lord for its saved life.

The kids were back into action. We wound up in some time, heading back with an empty fishing bag but with the heart full of pride of having caught an eel.My aunt was standing at the doorstep when we returned. Looking at the new breed of fishermen who had returned from their mission, she asked.
“ So where’s the shark ? we have invited the whole village for lunch!”
“We caught a big eel, this BIG” said Pachu extending his arms wide open and eyes almost popping out,” but this Chetan let it go!”.
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