the mussel divers of Vizhinjam
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The mussel divers of Vizhinjam
I am in Vizhinjam, a small fishing village 20 km south of the Keralan capital of
I decided to take Ali’s invitation to see how he makes
his living. Took my first morning walk in days since I sprained by ankle. Early morning is the only time to walk around due to the intense humidity. I must have walked 3 km to the end of the cove and after passing by the squalor of a settlement heavy with the heady smells of goats and human poo I come to this absolutely stunning headlands. I watch in a
mazement as thin scrawny men with nothing more then ancient snorkelling masks, a hook and some netting jump off the cliff into the raging
The see is rough and that’s an understatement. When the surf breaks on the rocks it shoots up 30-40 feet at times! The backwash must be a huge and very dangerous undertow that leaves a huge hole.
I watch as this man comes up to the edge of the cliff, sizes up the waves….waits for the correct wave to hit the rocks and he jumps into the back wash. A spit second mistake means that he either crashes his skull against the rocks or gets sucked into the hole created by the backwash.
I met Ali two nights ago as I was whiling my time away taking to my new found friends in front of my backpacker guest house that I stayed in. He had about 4 teeth and was easily 60 years old. He said that he can still free dive 10 meters!! A feat I did not believe being a former scuba diver. But watching these guys in the morning I now believe. Ali tells me his younger brother can free dive 15 meters! That’s amazing considering that even when you free dive about 2 meters you will need to equalize the pressure and imagine equalizing, diving and hacking off stubborn mussels off rocks in very rough water without oxygen. A feat of human endurance and conditioning.
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