Rashmi | Writer-Researcher fellow, Tamil Nadu

A teacher in a school in coastal Chennai, Rashmi noticed how environmental changes and overfishing affected her students’ lives. Since then, she has travelled along Tamil Nadu’s coast to understand these challenges more deeply. Trained in Geographical Information System (GIS)  and environmental law, she hopes to work with fishing communities to map their resources, with a focus on women’s labour, seafood markets, and collective action.

What do you hope to learn through this fellowship?

I am looking forward to observing my surroundings with intent and to writing stories that foster allyship and solidarity with fisher movements. Fishwork continues to be relatively understudied compared to agrarian work, despite being one of the oldest trades known to humankind. While I have written in the capacity of a researcher in academia, I want to learn to write my stories personally and persuasively, so as to amplify them to a larger audience. 

What film or writing would you recommend we read to understand more about women farmers in your region, and what did you love about it? 

I would recommend Breaking the Nets, an oral history series on The Wire by journalists Shamsheer Yousuf, Monica Jha, and Sriram Vittalamurthy. In the form of an anthology of stories from across India, it locates the roles of caste and gender in fishwork. Another favourite is the documentary Daughters of the Sea made by my friend Madhan Kumar US, on DW. Set in Rameshwaram, it highlights the skills and resilience of the female fishers in the region without romanticising them. It also offers insights from experts to create a deeper understanding of why women remain invisible in fisheries. 

What is an ingredient and an associated recipe from your region that you hold dear? 

Not specific to where I come from, but I absolutely love Murungai Keerai Poriyal. My mother makes it with a mixture of moringa leaves and groundnuts, finishing it with a seasoning of mustard, chillies, and split urad dal. It is perfect to pair with curd during summer.