The story behind 'The Last Fisherman of Bombay.'

I have previously been the director of the Karanja Fisheries Co-op Society Ltd. for over six years.

Since it is one of the largest societies in India, we’ve had to deal with drastic changes ranging from reduced catch to unfavorable government regulations and policy.

It made me feel like my generation and peers might be the 'last fishermen' who are proud of their lineage and willingly became a part of this trade.

The average age of the directors on the

board of the society was over 50 years old.

There was an obvious generational gap of almost two-decade with the younger population working at the harbour. It feels like the industry has already started dying. The future looks uncertain.

The younger population is missing from these spaces, so I rarely get to socialize with any of them.

A few years ago, I saw a poster story about the lost Kolis in city at an art festival in Colaba, which stayed in my mind because it wasn't too far from becoming a worrying reality.

Our Koli community goes back hundreds of years. Historically, all the seven islands of Mumbai were fishing islands, but today we don’t have a place for ourselves in this city. We can’t even say that the houses we have are ours, because we can’t register those houses.

Currently the entire trade industry is controlled by the middlemen (agents) making it highly unpredictable. The youth is not fishing or participating in the functioning of the supply chain.

It is moving towards the end of our legacy.

I wanted to work towards creating awareness about this among a larger audience outside the docks and Maharashtra, so I changed my Instagram account handle to 'The Last Fisherman of Bombay' and use the platform to talk about the industry to a global audience.

Since then, it honors and represents the Kolis, along with other fisherfolk.