Alizia Kamani

Power in Adversity: an Anthropological Study of the Impacts of Migration on Fisher Women in Kutch, India Alizia Kamani

When Aminamasi and her daughters see the boats coming to shore, there is a spark in their eyes, for now they know their family is safe, and will have fish to sell. The women grab their buckets and walk from their bamboo pole and gunny bag constructed homes to the boat that is floating in the intertidal zone. They quickly begin to fill up their buckets with a variety of fish weighing up to 40 kilograms. They plant their feet in the slippery clay-like mud to find their balance, and gracefully walk back to their homes. Setup neatly on the sand is a large blue tarp where the women drop the fish. One by one, they form a neat circle around the catch, some sitting, others squatting, and they begin to sort. Once the sorting is complete, the drying begins. This process continues all day and everyday for nine months a year. This is a story about the Wagher fisher women, their lives and the roles they play living in a patriarchal society. It further sparks a discussion about how these women find fulfilment and empowerment in an environment that lacks all of life's basic necessities and comforts. This is how Wagher women find power in their adversity.