On a Friday afternoon, Yusuf, my primary field collaborator at Perumathura, a coastal village in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, took me on his scooter, saying, “We are going to meet a “Sraanku” so that we could sort your sea journey”. “Sraanku”- I have heard this word multiple times before, but I have never met one. Yusuf told me that a Sraanku is the leader of the fishers who go on the mechanised trawlers and is the one who steers such boats in the sea. “So, the captain of the Boat?” I asked. “Yeah, more like an “Aashan” (mentor). He replied. That immediately took my train of thought to Kannan Sraanku, the iconic character played by Salim Kumar in the Malayalam movie ‘Mayavi’, in which he was a retired Sraanku and the Aashan of the protagonist.
Since it was off-season and late-night vettam vekkal (light) fishing was the only available means to venture into the sea with fishers, according to Yusuf, I had to convince the Sraanku to join the fishing fleet. On the way to the Sraanku’s house, I deeply pondered about this curious word “Sraanku”. It struck me that it is one of the rare words in Malayalam that begins with “Sra” (സ്രാ), and it interestingly rhymes well with Sraavu (സ്രാവ്), the Malayalam word for shark. I was quite sure that the word would not have a Dravidian origin, and I immediately googled to find that it, in fact, derived from the Persian word sarhang سرهنگ ( meaning “commander”), and it also has an English variant “Serang”, which is historically used to refer to the native boatswain or the lascar captain in the Indian Ocean, and is not just confined to South Asia but also prevalent in Southeast Asia! That reminded me of “Serang of Ranangangi”, a short story written by A.J Cronin which I studied in my 11th grade English textbook about a selfless “serang” named Hasan who courageously and sincerely treats his subordinate lascars on the ship Ranaganji when they were diagnosed with severe smallpox.
When we reached Sraanku’s house, a newly built cottage near the beach, we came to know that he was sleeping after returning from last night’s fishing which would have lasted till noon. I conveyed to Yusuf that we should come later at a better time, but he was steadfast about meeting the Sraanku citing he is a good friend of his. As said, the Sraanku, without any hesitation, woke up from his bed knowing Yusuf and his friend had come to talk to him. Contrary to the images of an elderly man in my mind, the real Sraanku here was a cool young man in his early thirties wearing a silver-coloured chain and sporting long shoulder-length hair. After hearing I hail from Malappuram, he told me about a few fishers from Malappuram district’s coastal towns like Tanur and Tirur who work here as Sraankus. That was a bit surprising for me. So, he quenched my curiosity saying that they were brought here earlier as they were better equipped with the knowledge of handling ‘large motor boats’. Then, I told about my work there and my unfulfilled wish to go to the deep sea with the fishers. He patiently listened and told me about the challenges and complexities of late-night vettam vekkal fishing- a method reliant on artificial lights to lure fish and also requires small accompanying boats. As he spoke, I couldn’t help but realize the potential complications I, as a newcomer, might face. I realized that if I got seasick, it would be troublesome for the fishers who are risking their sleep, fuel and energy for a venture with uncertain outcomes during the off-season. He promised me he could take me at any time during the regular season when they get more fish and I could have a better real-life experience of it.
After drinking tea from the Sraanku’s house, I and Yusuf went to the beach in front of it. Watching the sea waves getting a bit turbulent, I thought of a Sraanku bravely steering the boat in the deep sea with his fellow fishers. Inspired by the moment, I played the “Kappal pattu” song written by Anwar Ali and sung by Shahbaz Aman about an adventurous voyage of a Sraanku and his encounter with a mermaid, on my phone! The lyrics synced well:
“Haadi sraanku kandu nikke aazhi perum paravayaayi
Vellikkomban sraavu pole pallirimbanu thirakal Allah!”
(As Hadi Sraanku watched the sea, it suddenly became a large fish
Like the whale shark the waves gnash its teeth Oh Allah!)
