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STORIES
“No Guarantees” – A Family Ponders its Future
Ambati Simanchal and Ambati Ankama are a young married couple from the Bada Arjyapalli region of the Ganjam district of Odisha. Ambati Ankama is 25 years old, while Ambati Simanchal is 28. Simanchal, his wife Ankama, and his two sons comprise the family. Simanchal is...
Waiting for my son
A. Achamma, is now 70 years old. Frail and crippled, this fisherwoman lives in the coastal village of Sana Nolia Nuagaon, abutting the Bay of Bengal, a part of Odisha’s Ganjam district famous for the large proportion of migrants. Achamma speaks of the five people who...
Struggles of an old couple in a fishing village
It had been four years since her husband, D.Mukodu, passed away. One day, at sea, during high tide, waves lashed at his boat, causing him and his crew to have an accident. Mukodu sustained several injuries due to this and passed away during his treatment back onshore....
The wife awaits her husband’s return
Lakshmi, is a 23-year-old homemaker from Odisha's Nua Podampeta fishing village in the Ganjam district, Odisha. S. Lakshmi married S. Shanker six years ago. She has two children, and her husband, a fisherman, has recently taken up migrant work as a fisherman working...
Shells to the rescue of the old and frail
Surukulu Potamma and Surukulu Shriram hail from the Podampeta village in the Ganjam district, Odisha, and belong to the fishing Noliya caste. In their younger days, both were active fish workers. Potamma was a fish vendor who used to travel from village to village...
Life in a cage
Gareya had followed the norm of his forefathers, of remaining in his coastal village and setting out each day from his settlement for fish in the waters of the Bay of Bengal. Over the last few years, he could barely provide food for his family for two or three days...
We are not Daughters; We are our Parent’s Sons
Aarti Behera and Bijaya Behera are sisters. Hailing from a fishing family in the coastal village of Purnabandha, in the Ganjam district of Odisha, theirs was originally a large family. It included their father, mother, five sisters (including Aarti and Bijaya), and...
The story of a girl who sacrificed her smile
She returns to her village for a month, only during the vacation granted by her company during Dussehra. At eighteen, Seema ought to be living with her family in the coastal village of Purunabandha in Ganjam district. Still, circumstances have brought her miles away...
From hauling fishing nets to lifting cement bags
“Lack of income from fishing in Purnabandha has taken me away from my family.” Purna Chandra Behera had taken up fishing in his village in the Ganjam district of Odisha. Like several other small-scale fishers, he too experienced the impacts of declines in fishing...
The burden of the family is on the shoulders of a young girl
A year has passed since Sujata's father died. His body failed him slowly, day by day, due to regular heavy drinking. When he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, the doctor prohibited him from consuming alcohol. For a while, Sujata's father complied but soon resumed...