After becoming the first woman in
the country to get a deep-sea fishing licence, Rekha Karthikeyan of Thrissur district was on Friday felicitated by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) for excelling in what is conventionally a male domain.
At a function in the MPEDAs headquarters here, Rekha was given a memento and a pair of life-jackets besides a financial package of Rs 6.6 lakh jointly contributed by Accelerated Freeze Drying Co Ltd, Tasty Nibbles Group and Seafood Export Association of India.
MPEDA chairman K S Srinivas, while praising Rekha for her grit and determination, expressed happiness over women entering vocations that have traditionally been male bastions.
These days, she fishes in the deep sea, covering 50 nautical miles daily on an average, he added.
All that, without the mariner's compass or even a lifejacket.
Rekha, 40, who lives with her husband and four children at their house in coastal Chettuva, south of Guruvayur, recalled that it was 12 years ago that she, without knowing how to swim, first ventured into deep sea with her husband K V Karthikeyan.
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While the sea is expected to be choppy, resistance awaited me back on the shores too. For, society kept saying fishing cannot be a females profession, said Rekha, who originally hails from Koorkenchery in suburban Thrissur.
Women must not be indifferent towards injustice. We need to take up challenges boldly, she added, citing experiences from personal and professional fronts.
Notwithstanding the initial hiccups, Rekha and her husband, of late a heart patient, would take their boat in the small hours (around 3 a.m.) to fish.
She also learned swimming and later applied for a licence to fish deep in the sea.
Authorities refused to give her the document until the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute intervened and arranged to grant Rekha the licence in early 2019.
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