been a favourite of mine for many years. Every time I went fishing with my Shimano
fishing-gear and returned without catching even a single fish, I would be reminded of
this saying because I would see other fishers reeling in catch by the minute with just a
home-made fishing rod.
And day-before-yesterday's incident sort of proved the whole theory right. Being X'mas vacation, my sisters had come down with their family and my niece Divya had been after
me to take her fishing. The Shimano was not an option, since the rod had broken some
months ago and I did not get a replacement.
So, I fashioned out a fishing rod/reel using a bamboo rod, a piece of straw (for the float).
I ofcourse have the hook and string stocked at home. And off we go fishing. My plan was
to go to our plot of land near the river, where we had just recently reclaimed some of the
land that we had lost to the river over the years. This strip of reclaimed land was a good
option to fish from. But to our disappointment, the water is covered with hyacinth and
thus not a good place to fish because the hook would get entangled.
We move to the neighbouring plot which belongs to my Mom's cousin. He has built a series
of concrete steps leading down to the water & cleared a small patch of land where one could
sit and fish or read a book, watching the river flow by silently with the occasional fishing
canoe pass by.
We start fishing and Divya is all excited, but while the fishes cleverly eat the bait without
getting caught, she learns an important lesson in fishing - patience. And then I reel in our
first fish - nothing very big, but not that small either.
Divya fishing on the banks of the Achankoil river :
Now she is excited and wants to try her hand at it. I hand over the fishing rod to her and
take over the job of putting bait on the hook and throwing the line for her. In 15 minutes,
she reels in 3 fishes. Her joy knows no bounds - it is her first attempt at fishing & she has
already caught 3 fishes.
We would have loved to spend more time fishing, but it was getting late and we needed
to get back home. Since I have never returned from fishing with any fish, people at home
are not expecting this time to be any different. So they are surprised to see us return
with 4 fishes. The four fishes we caught - all of the same kind, known locally as "Paral".
The bigger of the 4 fishes.
As usual, my wife has the last word as she says tongue-in-cheek, "Given that Divya was
able to catch fishes so easily with a home-made fishing-rod, should you not have jumped
into the river out of shame?" Referring to the fact that I could not manage even a single
fish with the fancy Shimano.
Well, it sure is a little bit the fishing gear, but lots more who wields it. And ofcourse throw
in lots of luck.
