The Kolis have faced many adversities in the last one year but the one aspect of their lives, which Mumbai’s resilient fishing community doesn’t compromise on, is food. “Every member, from children to old people in our community across the city, is a lover of fish. We eat them twice a day without fail and cannot do without it. Every meal is literally a feast for us as it has at least two to four dishes,” says Manoj Koli, a resident of the Khar Danda fishing village near Bandra. 

Though they have been celebrating the gift of life with food, Covid-19 did upend their routines. Just as it took away the source of livelihood for many on land last year, the pandemic also managed to do that for the Kolis who depend on the sea for their income. They had fewer months to go out in the water and sales were lacklustre. “We didn’t enter the sea earlier, then the lockdown posed different kinds of challenges. Even if we had the catch, we did not make sale because of the restriction in market timings,” explains Harsha Tapke, from the Versova koliwada fishing community, who has been selling the fish in the market for a long time.