I spent my childhood on the beaches of Kerala, but I was far away during the great floods. In 2018, I was teaching in Uttar Pradesh. In 2020, I was teaching in Kashmir. Both times, I watched from a distance as the fishermen—the "Beach Boys" I grew up with—became heroes. They took their boats into flooded streets to save people trapped in their homes.
When I finally returned from Kashmir during the pandemic, I wanted to tell their story. Even with the COVID-1s restrictions, I began documenting the lives of these men who protect our coast.
I first exhibited this work at Deserted Village, an open-air art exhibition I organized to use art as a way to talk about climate change. This is a long-term project for me. It is not finished yet, but I plan to return home to complete it after I finish my Ph.D.
