Autobiography of Son of a Fisherman

Autobiography of

“ son of a fisherman “

I born in a coastal village Odadar from State of Gujarat, near Porbandar , the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi. My village was very small. We were from fisherman community and my parents and all other villagers were earning their livelihood from fishing activities. We had a very small hut to live in and most of the people in village were very poor.

We had a small roving boat. My father used to go for fishing along with fishing net to the sea and I used to think that the sea is as big as sky. I used to keep waiting for my father for his return and keep looking at the bouncing waves of the sea and thinking that one day I too will go along with my father and bring so many fish.

I was studying in the school in village. It was a small school and had the facility to study up to 7th standard. I was never interested in studies but my mother insisted me to attend the school regularly. I wanted to become a fisherman like my father.

One day when I was 12 years of age, waiting in the evening at sea shore for my father. It started getting dark after sun set. Most of the villagers boats have come back but there was no sign of my father’s boat. An elderly person from village to whom we used to call Chacha came to me and hold my hand and taken me to my house. He spoke to my mother and that was the most devastating moment in our lives. Now I know that my father will never come back. His boat has capsized in bad weather and other fishermen who were along with him , could not find his body either.

Deep down in my mind I know that I have to play the role of my father as an earning member of the family and have to take care of my mother and my younger brother who is just 8 years of age. My mother unwillingly allowed me to join my uncle and I started going along with him to catch fishes from deep and vast sea.

It had become a routine for me to go to sea in the morning and returning in the evening with catch of fishes. But I was...