Bengal'10

It's not a tale of impressive deeds or some fairy story, its about two persons discovering something unusual in some seen and some unseen parts of one of the most poverty-stricken and densely populated state of India,West Bengal. Well the season was not appropriate to visit WB as the monsoon was approaching with full pot of moisture and summer was about to end with max temp. around 45 C. Scarcity of money and time and plenty to explore.

way to Canning

Our journey from Kanpur started with a jam-packed train, we were having confirmed birth else it would have been such a tedious job to find a place to rest your butt. It was marriage season, people use to migrate a lot that's why train was that crowded. Anyhow we reach Howrah(although 7 hrs late)
Let me give you the first impression of Howrah station on me. All new faces looking like the same living a Karim's wasted life, crowd and crowd and more crowd, busy in nothing, no purpose, no place,no rest, no time to think about themselves. Well time spent and we were at one of partner's friend residence in Barra Bazar thana, an industrial area in the city of joy(Kolkata).

Next day our destination was to reach sunder ban,we've been told that we might require permit to visit that place but WB tourism office told us nothing required. Don't know its their generosity or really nothing required anyhow we moved. We catch 10:30 local for Canning(named after Lord Canning). High humid climate, we were sweating a lot viewing world's most fertile rice fields We found some very good friends during our travel to Canning, unable to understand each other's language but still we converse anyhow.We  reached Canning and then starts our unimagined journey to this tide country, they say that you are alive here only because of goddess Durga grace, tiger, snakes and crocodile you have all diversity of fauna to live with you and most of all the biggest danger is from the tides they not only harm you they will destroy your fields, making the saline, they will destroy the eco-system of ponds and rivers making the non-saline fishes to go away.

Well from Canning to Sunder ban it was really adventurous travel, from Canning to Doughbagh through boat next bank was some200-300mts far on the other side with deep muddy river flowing between the two islands, we reached Chunar khali there we took three wheel motorized vehicle to reach the other end as it was the only means of transportation available, this goes on for next three islands and finally it was 5'o' clock when we reached Chotta Mulla Khali which has relatively bigger and beautiful river bank. All around the way we saw the green fields all around left unused because of the salinity brought by the inward spiraling winds i.e. Aila cyclone. Well this area of closed circular fluid have embarked deep impact on the economic structure of the place, rich become poor and poor some thing else.

Chhota Mulla Khali River bank

In between we also noticed the lifestyle of peoples out there, small mud houses with little greenary of vegetables and fruit trees round it and a small pond to collectively store water from near around. Poor misguided abused misused people sitting all around.with some hidden satisfaction of what I found later. They say self help is best help, here I found self sustainability, these idealized the principle of why to change,this itself can exist and sustain let it go the way it is going. On the name of technology they use a bulb, a fan and a motor to drive their three wheeled vehicle or boat or other purposes, in the name of cleanliness and sanitation nothing but govt. made two-three scavenging free twin-pit pour flush toilet  and nothing else whatever I notice. On the way I also saw some school children coming back from their schools accompanied us for some distance, I feel satisfied that might one day the spark of real resistance, knowledge based society would reach here in spite of those hypocritic communist ideas, might these young lamented piece of organic matters one day understand that goddess might save them here in these tidal islands but she's not gonna save you everywhere, you have to make your wisdom rule your life, rule your decision, rely on reasoning, might one day come out of this tide country make something important of their life, may this young potential does not die a premature death. May this young caliber and intelligence not be wasted like drainage water into the sea may. Hope they is a disastrous, I say hope is good in fact the best of all.

I was witnessing one of the finest sunset of my life at the bank of some distributory of river Hughly. There at the bank we met a guy named Kali who use to buy chicks from Kolkata and sell those to these islands. From him  we come to know that those regions are not suitable for fishing these days and their market have been captured by south Indian and MP fishing companies. Cool breeze blowing with little humidity in them and whole environment was slowing down, shops getting closed, peoples movements in the streets were decreasing. We were in a distant place at a distant time taking our dinner with a news that someone is admitted nearby health centre injured by the attack of tiger, with a choice to meet him if we want so, but we were not that excited. We decidedto take some rest, after 50 mts of muddy lengthed by bricks we entered a half made half destroyed by cyclone house , there was a mosquito net as due to cyclone hygienic condition was not good and there was always a danger of diseases. Night ends we were again at the bank to witness the finest sunrise of our life. There we hired a boat for ride through the Sunder ban.