Pearl Divers

Admiring a conch shell which he had picked up from the sandy beach while walking home, Nallamuthu studied the intricate details and patterns of the spirals and cavities that made the shell beautiful. He found it interesting that something so beautiful was also so fragile at the same time.

Hearing his mother calling him to come down for lunch, Nallamuthu rushed downstairs where the kitchen smelled of delicious dishes from fish molee to masala dosa, all of which were placed steaming hot in the centre of a large table.

As the oldest of his four brothers and sisters, Nallamuthu sat furthest away from the table with his mom and dad, while the younger ones sat closest to the food. Pretty soon, everyone was diving into the food with their hands, picking up pieces of fish and dosa and eating it with relish.

Not every household was as fortunate as Nallamuthu’s family. His father, Achyutam Roa was a pearl diver and had amassed a small fortune selling pearls to jewelry stores and other customers. In fact, the Roa’s were the most affluent household in their neighbourhood, even having a servant keeping guard over their house.

Soon all the food was eaten and the family lounged around, picking at small morsels of food still left behind. The family dog waited patiently before licking the Addaku leaves clean; the leaves that served as plates for the family.

Later on the following night, as the younger siblings retired for the night being tucked in by their mother, Nallamuthu was getting some exciting news from his father. Tomorrow, Achyutam was going to bring him to the scallop farm where they harvested pearls from hundreds of large scallops on the sea bed. Brimming with excitement, Nallamuthu couldn’t sleep that night, thinking of how great it would be to help his father with the family business.

Early the next morning, Achyutam walked into his son’s room and called him, “Nallamuthu. Time to wake up son.” He said softly, so as not to wake up the other children.

Stifling a yawn, Nallamuthu rolled over to the edge of the bed before getting up and putting on his clothes.

“Be sure to bring a towel as well Nallamuthu, we need it to wipe down after we dive into the ocean.” Advised Achyutam.

Grabbing his favourite towel with a depiction of a shark on the middle, Nallamuthu put on his sandals and walked towards the beach with his dad leading the way. Walking together, the sand inevitably got into their sandals, and it was a relief when they washed their feet in the warm, cleansing waters. As a child, he had been down to the beach more times than he could remember, visiting the beach ever since he could walk. It was still early in the morning and the sun was just about to rise, providing amble daylight to see in the clear-blue waters of the Indian Ocean.

Taking a small boat on the dock, Achyutam gestured for Nallamuthu to enter and once in the boat, he was handed a set of oars to help row the boat.

With his son struggling to hold the weight of the oars, Achyutam did most of the rowing, with his son helping as much as he could. Stopping at a floating marker in the ocean, he took off his shirt and indicated to his son to follow his lead. Climbing over the side of the boat, Achyutam treaded water as his son flopped over the side as well.

“Nallamuthu. You need to take a large breath, as much air as you can hold in your lungs and then dive down as fast as you can okay? Put your face in the water and watch me okay?”

Taking a large gulp of air, Achyutam dove while holding onto a line attached to the buoy on the surface. Nallamuthu watched as he descended deeper and deeper till he all but disappeared into the waters below. About a minute or so later, his dad resurfaced with a small scallop in his pouch.

“Now you try and dive as far down as you can alright. Don’t worry, I’ll be by your side the whole time. If anything happens, I’ll save you. I promise.”

Taking as much air as his small lungs could hold, Nallamuthu dove for a few seconds, before rushing back to the surface gasping for air.

“Not bad for a first time! Keep trying!” said Achyutam.

Taking another deep breath, Nallamuthu tried again, going a little further down before coming back up, blinking away the salty water from his eyes.

“Well done my boy! I think you managed to dive ten feet! Not bad, not bad at all!” said Achyutam as he gave him a thumbs-up. “Now we need to climb back into the boat. Be careful now, we don’t want to tip the boat over. Watch how I do it okay?”

Carefully placing one leg over the edge into the boat, Achyutam half rolled inside, quickly balancing the boat to keep it from tipping. Reaching out his hand, he pulled his son inside as well, knowing that Nallamuthu would not be strong enough to pull himself back into the boat.

Taking out the scallop from his pouch, Achyutam showed the pearl inside to his son, letting the sunlight bounce off the shiny surface of the pearl. “This pearl takes two to five years to grow inside a scallop, so we have to be very patient and let the scallop finish the pearl before we harvest it.”

Putting the pearl back, Achyutam decided they should return back home for lunch, as they both had only a small breakfast before heading out to the ocean. Stopping by the local jewelry store, Achyutam showed the store manager his latest pearl and the fat man studied the pearl intently before paying him handsomely.

“This is a nice one Achyutam. You bring me more Grade B pearls like this and I’ll gladly buy them off you for a hundred rupees each.” Exclaimed the manager as he handed him a bill.

“It is good doing business with you Meyappan. See you tomorrow.”

Heading back home with his son, Achyutam continued teaching him about the proper procedure of pearl diving, stressing the importance of safety, awareness and caution.

“You sometimes have to read the weather, prepare for storms or know to carry enough water with you for the day, especially when it’s hot. All these things are important if you want to be a pearl farmer.”

Soaking in all the information like a sponge, Nallamuthu tried his best to learn as fast as he could, eager to make his father proud.

The next day, they were out in the ocean again, and this time Nallamuthu managed to reach fifteen feet, holding his breath longer and longer each time he practiced.

“Son, you’re nearly half-way there! Our scallop beds are mostly forty feet below the surface, so if you keep working hard at it, I know you’ll be a good diver like me in no time.” Reassured Achyutam, encouraging his son to keep trying.

Diving once more, Nallamuthu reached nearly nineteen feet but rushed back up as he needed to breathe. With air bubbles escaping his mouth as he tried to cry out, he began to swallow the salty water, panicking as he floundered still ten feet below the surface. Suddenly a strong pair of arms grabbed him by his chest, dragging him upwards to safety where he coughed out water and breathed in gulps of air.

“Are you alright son? You nearly drank all the ocean there in one go! Here cough out that sea water and you’ll feel better soon. I think we should rest for the day, okay? Now stay on the boat, I will collect a few more pearls before we return home.”

Still in shock over his near-drowning ordeal, Nallamuthu simply nodded his head in acknowledgement, unable to speak yet for the time being. After what seemed like an eternity, his father popped back up, with a pouch containing four scallops, which he shucked to reveal four pearls varying in sizes and luster.

Back at home, Achyutam was being scolded by his wife over how he let his son nearly drown in the ocean. “How could you let him have an accident like that? You were supposed to be watching him closely!”

“He’s just fine Aabha! He just drank a little water, just like I did when my father taught me to dive.” Said Achyutam calmly.

“That little bit of water could of drowned him! We should wait till he gets older before continuing his diving lessons.” Shouted Achyutam’s wife.

“No, I am in charge and I say he is ready to learn. He’s already diving to over nineteen feet and it’s only been a week! He’s a good diver, he’s my son and I know what’s best for him.”

Wagging a finger at her husband, Aahba warned him one last time; “If our son dies in the ocean, I will never forgive you for your complacency. You understand?”

Four small heads poked out the bedroom to listen in on the fight, while Nallamuthu lay in his bed, trying to ignore the argument downstairs. Somehow, he thought it was his fault that his dad was in trouble, and that if he didn’t have that accident, they wouldn’t be arguing. Hearing the door to the bedroom slamming, the kids all knew their father would be sleeping on the couch, giving their mom some time to rest and calm down by herself.

The next day, Nallamuthu was up bright and early, and hearing his father enter the room, he sprung up and presented himself as ready for another day of learning.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to go yet Nallamuthu, considering what you went through yesterday, but if you do want to come, I won’t stop you.”

Nodding his small head eagerly to rejoin his father, Achyutam smiled and led his son towards the beach, to practice the art of diving once again. Getting in the boat, they headed for deeper water and stopped at a buoy marking a section of scallops that should be ready for harvesting. But before he would harvest the pearls, Achyutam would watch his son carefully as he practiced his diving once again. Dunking his head underwater, he watched as his son swam deeper and deeper into the ocean, nearly vanishing from view before rushing up to the surface for air.

“How did I do father?” Asked Nallamuthu, as he regained his breathing.

Smiling fondly, Achyutam told his son the truth; “I think you’re almost ready to harvest your first scallop. Give it another week or two and I’ll bet you’ll find your first pearl. I can’t be more proud of you, my son.”

Back at shore, Achyutam collected five hundred rupees for his pearls and headed back home where he proudly boasted of Nallamuthu’s progress in learning how to dive. “Aahba, you should have seen him! He nearly swam down forty feet in under a minute! Oh and here is money for the food and groceries” said Achyutam as he handed his wife half the money he just received.

Thanking her husband before quickly turning back and working in the kitchen, Aahba was still upset over Achyutam’s carelessness but her anger had simmered down drastically from yesterday.

“Yeah, I could almost see the scallops beneath me! They were so close I could almost touch them! Another couple feet and I could reach one!” Said Nallamuthu as he told his siblings all about his lessons.

“When I’m thirteen, I’m going to learn to dive too like you Nallamuthu!” Shouted his younger brother.

“You’re lucky that you are a boy Nallamuthu, mother would never let us girls dive in the water like you and father.” Said his sister who looked crestfallen and curious.

“Well, you get to learn how to make yummy delicious food. I wish I could cook too you know.” Admitted Nallamuthu.

“Really? You do? Mother’s only teaching us to make roti right now, but I still accidentally burn them from time to time.”

“You’ll get the hang of it sis.” Said Nallamuthu, patting her on the back.

Dinner that night was like always, a delight. Not only was there Kerala chicken curry, but there was also Khara Pongal, a rice dish made of lentils, cashews, chilies and coconut. Using the roti that Nallamuthu’s sisters had proudly made, they used it as a vessel to scoop up all the sauce of the curry and the rice as well. Everyone was extremely careful not to spill anything, knowing how hard the girls worked with their mom on making dinner.

Aahba was still not fully restored in her contentment with her husband, but they had stopped arguing and she allowed Achyutam back into the bedroom.

As everyone was finishing up eating, Aahba proudly took out a pot of payasam, which was a creamy coconut milk dessert with mango as a garnish. While the parents only had a spoonful to taste, they let their brood have the rest of the dessert, warning them to not be greedy and to share with their siblings.

After dinner, the kids retired to their beds, and listened to the cacophony of raindrops pounding the roof above their heads. It was the beginning of the monsoon season, which meant muddy streets and flooded fields for most of the inhabitants of the area.

Waking up the next morning, Nallamuthu soon found out that after diving into the salty ocean, the rain rinsed their bodies clean of the salt. It was refreshing to feel the cool raindrops splatter on his face and body, making the day more bearable than the dry summer heat.

Diving once more, having almost reached a scallop shell, Nallamuthu pulled himself down with as much strength as he could, reaching forty feet below the surface and finally touching his first bivalve since he started training a couple weeks ago. Safely swimming back to the surface, his father congratulated him and gave him a thumbs-up, with a glow of pride emanating from his smile.

A couple days later, the monsoon rains continued to flood the region, and Nallamuthu was following his father on the sea floor looking for a scallop ready for harvesting. Seeing his father pointing at a particularly large shell, he picked up the scallop and put it in his pouch. After they collected a few more, they resurfaced and put their baskets on board before crawling into the boat.

Watching his dad shuck one scallop, Nallamuthu was just as surprised as the first time he saw his dad do it, revealing a medium sized, perfectly round pearl. After shucking a few more, they held seven shiny pearls which Achyutam carefully placed in his pouch, before rowing back to the beach.

At the jewelry shop, Achyutam proudly showed the pearl his son had harvested, to which the fat man promptly congratulated the young novice diver. “Well done boy! One day, perhaps, you’ll be just as good a diver as your father!”

Giving the fifty rupees from his son’s pearl to Nallamuthu, Achyutam watched as his son’s face lit up seeing the money his father was giving him. “Since it’s your first pearl, I want you to have the rupees we sold it for. So, what will you spend your rupees on my son?” Said Achyutam nervously as he awaited his son’s answer.

“I will save it for my school costs father,” said Nallamuthu to the relief of Achyutam.

“That’s a good boy, I’m very proud of you son, very proud.” He said patting his son’s head.

Back at home, Nallamuthu put away his fifty rupees into a glass jar where he kept his meagre savings. All around him, his siblings looked on, shocked at how much money their brother had collected in one day.

“Bro! Can you buy me a lassi! I really want one! It’s only twenty-five rupees!” Pleaded his younger brother.

“Sorry, I’m saving up all my money for school. You can try asking Mom to buy you one.” Suggested Nallamuthu, putting away his jar in the cupboard above his bed.

As Nallamuthu fell asleep, content with his new work helping out his dad, his younger brother was wide awake, glaring at Nallamuthu for not buying him a lassi. With greed in his eyes, it was only a matter of seconds as he opened the cupboard, took the jar and removed the rupees before returning the jar to its place. Smiling mischievously, he hid the rupees in his pocket and went to sleep, dreaming of a sweet chocolate lassi that he would buy tomorrow.

“Mom! Someone stole my rupees!” Shouted Nallamuthu. “It was you brother! I know it was you. You just wanted a lassi so you stole my rupees!”

Pouting his lips, the younger brother denied the allegations, even emptying his pockets out to show he didn’t take it. “Did not! Stop blaming me for everything.”

Taking Nallamuthu privately, Achyutam quietly told him to let it go as they prepared for work, winking at him and whispering that mother would look into it when they were gone.

Turning with his back faced to his brother, Nallamuthu missed the smirk that formed on his brother’s face, that revealed that he indeed was the thief.

While in the boat, Achyutam assured his son that his mother would get to the bottom of things. “There’s nothing in the house that escapes the notice of your mother. She is extremely perceptive and pays close attention to details. If your brother stole the rupees, she will definitely find out.”

Back at home, Nallamuthu’s younger brother had just finished drinking his freshly bought lassi and he threw away the cup so there wouldn’t be any evidence of his thievery. Suddenly his mother appeared around the corner behind him and questioned him about where he was just a moment ago.

“Uhh, I was playing with a friend Mom. You know, our neighbour?” He said lying.

“Which friend? I’d like to have a chat with them and ask them something.” Said Aahba’s tone, with a hint of menace in it.

“Oh um, no, on second thought, I went to play by myself! The swings were so much fun!” Said the boy, nervously backing up from his smiling mother.

“So tell me son, where did you get that chocolate smudged on your face? I don’t recall making any chocolate drinks for anyone today.” Said Aahba as her eyebrows furled in strictness.

“Oh, haha, the milk man gave it to me. He gave me a lassi!” Said the boy, who was getting deeper and deeper into trouble.

“Okay, let’s go see the milk man, and I’ll ask him nicely why he gave you a lassi.” Grabbing the boy by his ear, they walked to the milk parlor and asked the man why he gave the boy a lassi.

“Well, he bought it from me, that’s what happened. Gave me a fifty rupee bill too, don’t see many boys with that much money you know.”

Groaning at being caught, the boy walked silently back home with his mother holding tightly to his arm. He knew that there would be blood and vinegar when his dad came home to discipline him, as he always did when one of the children misbehaved.

“I’m sorry Dad, sorry,” Cried Nallamuthu’s brother as he was hit with a belt.

“Oh don’t just say sorry to me. Say sorry to your brother,” Whack “to your mother who you lied to” Whack “and to me for embarrassing me in front of the family.”

Three small pairs of eyes watched as the little boy was hit on the behind over and over, while Nallamuthu walked up to his brother and forgave him. “Brother, when I officially become a proper pearl diver and earn lots of rupees, I will buy you many lassis. Just don’t steal again, okay?”

Nodding his head through the tears, his brother hugged Nallamuthu tightly, clearly sorry for what he did and pledging that he would not steal again.

About a month later, Nallamuthu and his dad rowed to the scallop beds, in clear weather that was untypical for what normally happens during a monsoon. Reaching a part of the ocean where the scallops had not been touched or harvested for over three years, they dived repeatedly into the ocean floor and collected as many scallops as they could.

On about their seventh dive, Nallamuthu saw a dark shape getting closer and closer to them by the minute. At first, it seemed like a monster from a horror movie, but as it got closer, Nallamuthu knew it was a shark heading straight at him. Achyutam, seeing the grave danger his son was in, swam to him as fast as he could, putting himself between the shark and his son. As the shark closed in, it crunched down on Achyutam’s leg, and he let out a stream of air, screaming in pain in the water before belting the shark on the nose with his fists. As crimson blood filled the waters around them, the shark left, having been hit on its sensitive nose, but not before the damage was done.

Achyutam was slowly drifting into unconsciousness, but Nallamuthu grabbed hold of him and swam up as hard as he could. Finally reaching the surface, he kept his dad afloat while struggling to push him into the rocking boat. Thankfully a pair of fishermen saw them struggling and threw them a line to be pulled onto their ship. As Achyutam was hoisted into the fishing vessel, his pouch tore open, scattering scallops and pearls into the water, sinking back to the beds where they came from.

Back on dry land, Achyutam was rushed to a hospital where he was in critical condition, from the loss of blood and damage to his leg. When they were finally allowed to visit, the family looked from a distance, not wanting to believe what they saw. Nallamuthu tried to avoid looking, but his gaze was drawn to the stump where his father’s leg should have been.

Aahba tried to hold back tears, but they streamed down one after the other as she cried over her husband’s injuries.

“He will survive, but we could not save his foot or leg, due to the damage from the shark’s teeth. He needs lots of rest and we have put him on antibiotics to prevent any infection. He’s currently sedated but he should wake up around tomorrow morning. If you want to talk to him, we suggest seeing him tomorrow.” Said the doctor as the family thanked him for saving Achyutam’s life.

The next day, all the family except Nallamuthu were at the hospital, speaking with Achyutam to see if he was okay. When he asked where Nallamuthu was, they shook their heads, not knowing where the boy went.

A couple hours later, Nallamuthu arrived at the hospital room, much to Achyutam’s relief. Indicating for his son to come towards him, Nallamuthu cried as he thanked his dad for protecting him. “That shark was coming for me, and you saved me Father.”

“I’m sure you’d do the same if it were your son. I’m glad you are alright.” Said Achyutam.

Digging into his pouch, Nallamuthu took out five small pearls and two large ones, which he proudly gave to his father. “You dropped these when you were pulled aboard the ship. I collected them back for you Father.”

“You’re a good son, and you’re a good pearl diver as well. Promise me you will take care of your mother, me and your siblings as you take over the family scallop farm?”

Nodding his head with tears streaming down, Nallamuthu gave his dad a large hug, as did everyone else, glad to have one another for the precious time they still had left together as a family.

The End