Documenting The Resilience Of Communities...At Sea!
By Gajanan Khergamker
The Sea and Seven Villages delves into the lives of communities residing in the seven villages of Satabhaya in Kendrapara District, Odisha. The film, shot over a period of two years and concluding in 2022, takes a non-fictional, documentary-style approach to narrate the stories of displacement, resilience, and hope in the face of environmental challenges.
The documentary was recently featured in the ‘Non-Feature Films’ category of the Indian Panorama, alongside 20 other films at the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) held at Goa, in November 2023.
The documentary unveils a poignant tale of environmental challenges – erosion, cyclones, mismanagement of coastal land and the displacement and resilience of ‘climate refugees’ along the Odisha coast.
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| Director Himansu Khatua during the making of the documentary |
Stark statistics from the Forest, Environment, and Climate Change Department reveal that 36.9 per cent of the coastal area in Odisha continues to grapple with sea erosion.
The film harks back to the 1971 cyclone, a pivotal event that instilled fear of sea erosion among the villagers when three of the seven villages were washed away destroying agriculture land and entire settlements. In response, they migrated inland and established new settlements.
Satabhaya, literally meaning ‘seven brothers’, comprises seven villages and becomes the focal point of the documentary, narrating the stories of the displaced communities.
The director, Himansu Khatua, captures the emotional journey of the people, revealing their ongoing struggles and the tenacity with which they cling to hope, guided by their Goddess.
A notable choice by the director is opting for an old-fashioned approach to document the plight of the impoverished villagers. Khatua personally ventures into the retrenched land and rehabilitation colonies to authentically capture the narratives of the native agrarian communities, primarily farmers and fishermen who have been displaced over time.
In the initial days, Satabhaya was a prosperous land. The villagers enjoyed a self-sufficient life growing diverse varieties of rice. However, their lives took a drastic turn following their displacement, leading to increased expenditures and a shift in their traditional way of life. The state began the rehabilitation process in 2012 and by 2018 the villagers were rehabilitated in Bagapatia in Kendrapara.
The film highlights the profound connection between the villagers and their Goddess, a spiritual anchor that has accompanied them through their resettlement in Bagapatia.
When the sea engulfed the village, the temple, that was once in the middle of the village, now stood at the 'new coast'. The villagers moved and took their goddess along. One man, however, stayed back to offer prayers and milk to the goddess. He says his family has been offering milk to the goddess for decades and there was no question of him abandoning the seat of the deity. "So what if the idol is not here, this is where the goddess sat," he says as he pours milk on the stone where the goddess once rested, and in the temple that is at the verge of collapsing as the intruding sea waves cut into the soil beneath it.
Dependent on Okilapal Bazaar for their needs, these communities have adapted to new challenges, demonstrating resilience in the face of adversity.
The film features an elderly man, who once owned 16 acres of land in Satabhaya, and now finds himself without food. Although the government has provided homestead land, the lack of farmland exacerbates the villagers' plight. His children work elsewhere to send money back home, reflecting the economic hardships faced by these communities.
Although, the villagers were settled in Bagapatia in 2018, challenges persist. The absence of farmland, the delay in receiving land rights records, and the financial burden of constructing houses create a complex web of difficulties for the displaced families.
The seven villages face the repercussions of climate change, turning them into ‘climate refugees’ as the director describes them. Bagapatia emerges as the rehabilitation colony, attempting to provide solace to the displaced.
The documentary sheds light on the historical significance of Satabhaya, once a prosperous harbour in the 12th century with trade links to Kolkata.
However, the last 50 years have witnessed a decline in prosperity, rendering the region impoverished. The loss of a protective sand dune, once a formidable barrier against tides and erosion, and the disappearance of Casuarina forests further expose the villages to environmental vulnerabilities.
The challenges continue with low-lying lands left unfilled, hindering rehabilitation efforts. The financial burden of constructing houses becomes an insurmountable obstacle, especially for the economically disadvantaged villagers.
The documentary serves as a powerful testament to the indomitable spirit of these communities, struggling against the forces of nature and bureaucratic challenges, yet persisting with hope and determination.
]The film highlights the plight of Charigharia’s villagers in Kendrapara District, distinct from the seven villages in question, where 120 families yet await the allocation of plots in Bagapatia. Wild boars are known to eat up the paddy crop, and it’s near impossible to transport the rice cultivated elsewhere. The villagers here had arrived sixty years ago from Kanhupur and Mohanpur owing to the 1971 cyclone that washed away their homes. They refuse to leave Charigharia, that stands on forest land, unless they’re given alternate land.
The documentary sheds light on the struggles faced by these families prevented by law to ‘live’ in forest land, the formidable presence of crocodiles in the zone, lack of infrastructure such as bridges impossible to build in forests, and the government's apparent indifference to their predicament. The narrative takes a chilling turn with the mention of a crocodile consuming a buffalo, underscoring the dangers faced by the villagers in their daily lives.
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| The lone villager offering prayers to the seat of the Goddess |
The director provides valuable insights into the filmmaking process, emphasising the ethical considerations in portraying the lives of the impoverished without exploiting their situation. There is an attempt to add authenticity to the documentary and maintaining a raw and genuine portrayal of the villagers' experiences.
The documentary captures the economic challenges faced by the communities, with saline soil rendering farmland useless. The sea's encroachment, now 5 km within land, has further exacerbated their difficulties. The villagers resort to alternative means of livelihood, such as fishing, raising ducks, hens, and goats.
It’s only the elderly, to care for the homes, and the very young, to study in schools, who stay back while the employable youth migrate to various parts of Kerala where they work in cotton mills, fish processing factories, brick kilns, and other sectors reflects the desperate measures taken to sustain their families. Ironically, the locals in Kerala, leave their homes and migrate to countries beyond India, like in the Gulf.
The Sea and Seven Villages is a moving exploration of the human spirit's resilience in the face of natural disasters and displacement.
The director's investment of emotion and commitment to capturing the authentic experiences of the villagers results in a thought-provoking documentary that raises awareness about the ongoing struggles of these communities.
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