Seaweed Women of Rameshwaram (Raajadharshini)

Inside the lives and labor of Rameshwaram’s women seaweed farmers, Raajadharshini, WePresent by WeTransfer, photography

“Despite the adversities, seaweed farming has been exclusively practiced by women in this region for generations, many of them assisting their mothers since childhood while the fathers were out fishing in the deep-end. Their day starts at 4am, when they wrap up household chores before embarking on a long walk from their village to the coastline, having moved further inland after the disastrous 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Their seasoned palms, calloused as they may be, hold decades of resilience and strength. The first thing these women do when they step into the water is very ritualistic, Raajadharshini tells me. They pray quietly to the ocean and splash water on their forehands as a gesture of respect for the place that sustains their families.”

Short film: Sisters of the Sea (Raajadharshini and @abyinaav)