Surabhi Sharma, Director

One chanced upon the story of the turtle people while filming a series on children, in Kerala. The bare story was one of a fishing community engaged in the conservation of the endangered Ridley Turtle, begins Surabhi Sharma as she speaks about Aamakaar – The Turtle People – a film that explores how the destinies of the people of Kolavipalayam and Olive Ridley turtles are bound together.

Kolavipalayam is a little fishing village along the coast of North Kerala. A thick cover of coconut groves hides the village that is spread along a narrow strip of land between the Kottappuzha river on one side, and the Arabian Sea on the other. The northern extreme of the strip ends at an estuary where a beautiful sand bank keeps the sea tides from flooding the river. This sandbank is at the centre of a conflict that threatens the existence of the village, and of the Olive Ridley turtles that nest here every year.

Some years ago Surendra Babu, a local autorickshaw driver, read about Olive Ridley turtles being an endangered species in the local newspaper. He realised almost immediately that the turtles, which arrived at the Kolavipalayam beach every year, were the same species. Olive Ridleys have been coming to the Kolavipalaym for as long as Surendra could remember and he even recalled eating turtle eggs, considered a delicacy, several times in the past. The chance reading of the newspaper however changed all that as Surendra Babu and a few friends decided to help conserve turtles. During the nesting season -- spread over four winter months -- they patrolled the beach at night looking for turtle nests. The eggs had to be protected from predators, human and animal. So, freshly laid eggs were carefully dug out from their original nests and re-buried immediately in a makeshift hatchery. Fifty days later when the hatchlings struggled to the surface, they were gently released into the sea. Soon the news of the conservation programme spread rapidly. An informal network of sympathisers brought news, and sometimes even the eggs, of a nesting event miles down the coast. Every year the group released as many as 2000 hatchlings into the sea. They began to be called "The Turtle People".

The beach at Kolavipalayam was over a kilometer wide not many years ago. Today it has been reduced to a narrow strip, rapidly shrinking. A wide, sandy beach is a must for turtles to nest, but, perhaps more importantly, it is integral to the economy of a fishing village -- a vital common space that sees myriad activities through the day. The people of Kolavibelieve their beach, and their village, is threatened because of illegal sand mining at the estuary sandbank.

Ironically, the state government because of its adverse environmental impact bans sand mining. In a scenario where the returns on cash crops like rubber, coffee, and areca nut have been consistently declining, sand is one of the few commodities that has an assured market, and price. Sand mining is also a highly unionised, and highly profitable activity with a large number of members and the support of powerful politicians. Thus every day tonnes of fine sand from the sandbank are taken away to be used for construction work, land- filling, and so on. The sea, in turn, carries away sand from elsewhere and re-deposits it in a desperate attempt to maintain the sandbank. Consequently, every year, the sea eats yet another portion of Kolavi's beach, slowly and inexorably making its way to the village.

The turtle people are clear about their demands. "Stop the sand mining, and save our beach," they say. "The turtles need the beach to nest. If it disappears, they will find another. But what happens to the people? If the village is swallowed by the sea, where will the people go?" Thus the struggle to protect Olives has grown into a struggle to preserve the existence of the village, and its resources. Turtles still occupy centre-stage -- the night vigils, collection of eggs, release of hatchlings, education programmes continue -- but the turtle people know they cannot isolate conservation from larger issues like gobalisation, and their right to a livelihood. And thus began a series of little agitations that brought them together in the first place. At the core of every struggle the issue was the same -- an external authority imposing decisions on the village, and a subsequent loss of control over local resources.

We, all the members of the crew, have always been drawn towards film projects exploring and engaging with development issues. Here we came upon a narrative that delved into basic development and environmental issues. But here was a narrative that denied a simplistic look. The articulation by the villagers was a challenge to the "neat" categories of ‘environment’, ‘development’, ‘struggles’, says Surabhi.

The film was shot over three schedules in the months of October 2001, December 2001 and July-August 2002 over a period of nine months. The film has already had screenings in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai besides a Malayalam version being shown in Calicut, Alwaye and Kovalipalayam. The screening at Kovalipalayam was most interesting says producer Sunil Shanbag. We screened the film at exactly the same place as the opening sequence of the film, which showed the villagers watching slides. Also, on going back to Kovalipalayam one felt that with time the morale of the villagers seemed to have taken a bit of a beating but on viewing the film and watching their struggle unfold through the eyes of the filmmaker, they seemed to have regained their courage and enthusiasm. In fact many of the key issues addressed in the film were met with loud cheers from the villagers themselves.

Preserving the endangered turtle, this simple and yet brave project, has enveloped within it basic, universal developmental issues. A poor fishing village, already a victim of national and global policies, finds itself struggling for survival -- a common enough story across the country. But in the avtaar of the turtle people, their story becomes special … uncommon and consequently so does the film.