In coastal Gujarat, Brahmins are the new catch

“Their number is not significant but the concept is,” says Bhanubhai Badani, a member of the organising committee for the December 10 celebrations which will be attended by eight lakh devotees from both sides of the Narmada.

“Had it not been for the movement, we would have never got to speak Sanskrit, leave aside (read) the Vedas,” says Arjunbhai Mangela, reeling off a couple of couplets from The Gita.

Lakhs of fishermen from Okha to Goa have joined the movement since 1969 when Dada, as Athavale is called by his followers, held his first meeting in the coastal town of Daman. Now there is not a single coastal village between Okha and Karnataka where fishermen are not part of the movement.

Athawale began by giving a new name — Sagarputra — to fishermen. He asked them to give up meat, vices and old social dogmas. Many families have become totally vegetarian though they still cast the net for their livelihood. “More than anything, he gave us dignity. How else could we have even thought of taking to the Vedas and Sanskrit, which we believed only Brahmins by birth were entitled to,” says Mangela.

Who can become a Bhukant? “Only those who have studied and understood the Swadhyay philosophy and mastered Sanskrit and the ancient sacred books,” says Santosh Lakshman, a 24-year-old Sagarputra from Umbergaon who has given up meat and liquor.

Sagarputras with potential are trained in rituals at Tatvadnyan Vidyapith run by the movement in Thane. After a three-year stint and a small ritual, a Bhukant wears the sacred thread and can perform rituals.

The Bhukants will recite Purushakth from the Rigveda on December 10. They will stand before a huge kalash erected in the middle of a bridge made of fishing boats. A temporary bridge of 120 boats has been built by the Sagarputras to allow devotees to reach the celebration site.

The Dada is revered by the fishing community so much that by the time the bridge is dismantled, they would have sacrificed nearly 15 days of fishing. They are all camping on the river bed.

Not all of it is just symbolic. “It has reduced fights in the coastal villages. Even if fishermen fight, they settle the dispute by arriving at a compromise without involving the police,” says a community elder.

Every fortnight fishermen who are part of the movement keep aside a day’s earning. From this amount, the movement has purchased 101 boats which carry the common name of Matsyagandha. The money earned by this fleet is used for welfare activities, like giving loans to the unemployed and helping out the needy. The Sagarputras in Gujarat call their fishing boats Tartu mandir (floating temple).

On the 19th day of every month — Dada was born on October 19 — the womenfolk perform an abhishek. They buy diesel from their savings and pour it into the fuel tanks of the Matsyagandha, an apt offering to a man who has given them self-respect without belittling their means of livelihood.