The Koli woman draped in a lugra has her hair neatly tied in a bun that is decorated with a jasmine garland. She is selling a pile of fresh pomfret on Harnai Beach, located near Dapoli in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district. A buyer, after a but of bargaining, buys them. Nearby, a fisherman is weighing a kingfish with a handheld weighing scale for a couple who have driven from Mumbai to buy fresh fish at the open-air fish auction on the beach.
Harnai Beach, or Harnai Bunder, holds one of the largest open-air fish auctions in the Konkan region. It is organised daily: one at 7am and the other at 4pm. Bargaining is common, and the beach gets quite crowded and loud during the auctions. Fresh seafood is brought from fishing trawlers and unloaded into bullock carts that carry the catch right onto the beach for the bidding. The seafood includes pomfret, kingfish, squid, mackerel and lobsters. The out-of-town buyers who take the fish back have the option of buying ice boxes to keep the fish fresh for a day or two.
I stand amid the hustle and bustle of the fish auction, watching the flurry of activity of fisherfolk, buyers, and visitors. I can see the fluttering Indian flags of the boats in the backdrop. The morning auction is for selling the catch of the fishing trawlers that have docked at night, and the evening auction is for the ones that have been catching fish during the day.
After the conclusion of the fish auctions, the fisherfolk continue to sell the remaining seafood on the beach. The fish is stacked in plastic baskets and containers. While some sell only one variety of fish, others stock a variety ranging from tiger prawns and crabs to squid. Fresh and dried fish are both sold. I am able to identify some of the dried fish. There is a favourite in the Konkan region, which is sukat, a small dried shrimp. Dried and flattened Bombay duck that is locally known as dry bombil sits alongside sukat in a bamboo basket.
After experiencing the active bidding, I walk to the rocks near the beach to see fish being sun-dried. There is also a fisherman mending his net, and I chat with him about life in coastal Maharashtra. Seeing so much fish and listening to stories about fishing makes me hungry, and I head back to my accommodation at SeaFORT Beach Resort Murud-Dapoli, which is Dapoli’s only pet-friendly property. I relish Konkani cuisine at Konkan, the aptly named restaurant. There is fresh seafood, curries, vegetables prepared in local spices, and the digestion-aiding solkadhi. Some of the aromatic spices used in the kitchen, like cloves, bay leaf and cardamom, grow in the property’s organic garden.
On other days, I relax under mango and coconut trees, as butterflies flutter around and birds welcome me. I read a book, then simply close my eyes and let nature take over. Bird calls replace mobile ringtones and indoor and outdoor games make evenings meaningful.
