Love Affair of Pearl Spot

AI-generated

I am not fond of fish. Fish doesn’t taste like fish, that’s the reason. We get adulterated fish most of the time. In Kerala, my state, traders are reported to use formalin for preserving the freshness of fish. Formalin is used for preserving dead bodies by embalming.

You will find me in a fish stall once in a while, though. My cats want fish occasionally, that’s why. Not that they are particularly fond of it. For a change from the regular pellets and packaged wet foods, all delivered promptly by Amazon. Even cats love a change. Most of the time, the entire fish that I buy is consumed by my cats. So much so, Maggie and I have come to think that fish is cat food, not human food.

People may have different reasons for not eating any particular food. One of the most endearing reasons I heard recently is that fish is a symbol of the voiceless. People commit atrocities on fish, this person said [I forget who – I read it a couple of weeks back on Magzter]. They suffocate it to death, skin it, cut it up in all sorts of ways, fry it… But no one raises a voice against all that cruelty. Unlike in the case of dogs, for instance. Or elephants, tigers… even snakes.

Do you know why? He asked. His answer: Fish have no voice. They cry but their cry is never audible. When your cry is not heard, no one comes to your defence. 

Pearl Spot

The Modi government which is pure vegetarian and perfectly Brahminical has decided to permit deep-sea mining off Kerala’s coast. Kerala government has passed a resolution against it because such mining will endanger Kerala’s coastal areas. Kerala’s coasts are already experiencing immense damages due to the impacts of climate change. Deep-sea mining will eat into the coastal region much more.

There’s another aspect that should be considered too. Deep-sea mining will destroy a lot of fish. The habitats of fishes will be destroyed totally by the process. There will be sediment plume pollution, noise pollution in the ocean, and release of toxic compounds that will kill marine organisms which in turn will lead to irreversible damage to unique and fragile deep-sea ecosystems and their inhabitants. In other words, this decision of Modi is totally non-veg and absolutely un-Brahminical. At least for that one reason, he should revoke it. I know he won’t care two hoots for the people of Kerala. But his magnanimous heart ought to care for the voiceless, marginalised, Dalit, fish in the Arabian Ocean.

 When I expressed this view of mine to a friend, Joe (not his real name), yesterday evening over a drink, Joe said something that went straight to my heart.

“Do you like pearl spot fish, കരിമീൻ?

“No,” I said. Pearl spot is the brand ambassador of Malayali cuisine. It comes in infinite variety like the savouriness of Shakespeare’s Cleopatra. It is treason to say that you don’t like pearl spot if you are a Malayali. But Joe is no patriot, let alone nationalist. He is a fan of Arundhati Roy, citizen of the cosmos.

“You don’t, really? Why?” Joe was surprised in spite of his lack of patriotism and nationalism.

“It has more bones than flesh,” I said. Joe appreciated the sheer pragmatism of my gustation.

“I stopped eating pearl spot because of their romance,” Joe said.

This is one good thing about drinking. It brings out the romantics in people’s hearts.

What Joe said then was rather tragic, however.

Pearl spots are more monogamous than the most conservative Indians, Joe said. They don’t mate with anyone and everyone. Only single partner. That’s why they are not seen in other parts of the world except Kerala’s water bodies. They are very possessive of each other, just like Malayalis. When the spawning season comes, the male pearl spot goes in search of food for the entire family. The female waits. Waits until her mate returns. If he doesn’t return, she will refuse to eat. And she will die waiting for her mate.

I was stunned listening to Joe. I sat in absolute silence for a while because the image of a pearl spot waiting on a coastline for her mate and dying of starvation in the end froze my imagination. I wouldn't ever want that mate on my dinner plate.