Catamaran



New Indian Express photo by R. Ravindran


Chennai is on the coast. Fishing communities live literally on the edge, squeezed between the city and the sea. Catamarans co-exist with mechanised trawlers, and with huge container ships waiting to enter the Port.

Catamaran is a Tamil word. See Hobson-Jobson: Tamil kattu, 'binding,' maram, 'wood.' A raft formed of three or four logs of wood lashed together...