Fishermen, farmers wait for ‘Chithra Maasa Puyal’

Every time the skies turn dark, fishermen who use traditional craft watch the seas intently.

They eagerly wait for the Chithra Maasa Puyal, a cyclone that comes during the Tamil months of Chithirai and Vaikasi (corresponding to April- May).

“Such a cyclone is usually short but brings in fish from the deep seas to the shore. We would get good catches of shrimp and Vanjaram fish,” explained Joseph, a fisherman from Nettukuppam.

As the 45-day ban on mechanised fishing is in force, those who fish on catamarans and ‘vallam’s look forward to the Kodai Mazhai as they can make a killing. However, fishermen say that after the tsunami, it hasn’t rained much this time of the year. Kalaivanan, another fisherman, said that only last year it rained for about four days. “It wasn’t a cyclone,” he added.

For the farmers, heavy rains are good, said Ranganathan, an organic farmer of Kelambakkam.