“I am a fisherwoman,” Shweta Hule tells me, her voice crisp and urgent. My first guess is that I am delaying her from commencing her day’s work. But, as she explains, fishing is not on the agenda today. She is taking a group of tourists for a boating ride through the Mandavi Creek in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg. This is a welcome change in routine.
Belonging to the fisher folk community of the area, a majority of Hule’s day would be spent casting her net into the water. But, on the way back, she and the other fisher folk would allow themselves a short break during which they would sit back in their boats and revel in the beauty of the creek.
In the evenings laden with baskets filled with the fresh catch of the day, the women would make their way back to the shore. It was during those moments of appreciating the beauty of the coast and its outlining mangroves that Hule began harbouring a dream.
“I thought it would be lovely to bring tourists here for…