Sunday, March 30, 2008

Weekend activities

Yesterday was a hectic day, taking care of dozens of pending work but enjoying an old friend's company at the same time. In fact, this friend was a colleague of mine but both of us have moved from where we met at first. I went to her house yesterday, ate lunch and had a hearty and long adda session with her. Needless to say that listening to some words of wisdom from her made me feel at ease and I could feel a heavy burden off my shoulders and breathe easy after a long long time. Really, my friends mean a world to me....each different and special in their own ways.

Anyway, that was how yesterday breezed past. Today, got up early to participate in a Probhaat Feri organized by Ramakrishna Asram, opposite my house where a 3-day festival is going on, called Ramakrishna Dev er Abirbhab Utsob. However, the procession started quite late (@7 a.m instead of 6 a.m) and was going at a slow pace. I didn't complete the rounds and came back mid-way (was getting a boring affair for me). However, I intend to visit the asram in the evening to hear some words of wisdom from Swamijis (from Belur Math) who would be coming to grace the occasion on the last day.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Friday, March 28, 2008

Legend of Netidhopani

During my recent Sunderban visit, I heard this interesting legend about Netidhopani which I thought would be good to share with all of you. So, here goes the story:

The waterways of Sunderban (which are presently in India and Bangladesh) were once popular trade-routes. It was through these routes that the ships of Chand-saudagar (a famous trader) passed, bringing him great fortune. Chand-saudagar was an avid worshipper of Lord Shiva. Goddess Manasa tried to get him worship her but in vain!!! Annoyed at his stubbornness, the goddess finally cursed him. As a result, Chand-saudagar lost his wealth, his ships sank, six of his children died after birth and his hardships continued. While he was going from one place to another, his seventh son, Lakhinder, was born. Luckily, this child survived and went on to marry Behula.

Chand saudagar was alerted by Lord Shiva about the imminent death of his son. So, he ordered a room made of iron where no one could enter for the newly married couple of Behula-Lakhinder. Lord Viswakarma was asked to build this iron-castle. However, goddess Manasa was able to convince Viswakarma to keep a small hole in the otherwise solid structure, almost impossible for anyone to enter. The newly married couple entered this castle to spend their first night, quite oblivious of the fact of what lay ahead. As the couple was tired, they went to sleep. The bride, Behula, slept with her hair open (she had long and beautiful hair) that touched the floor. While Behula-Lakhinder slept, a snake slipped into the room and was trying to reach Lakhinder, who was sleeping on a specially-made bed that was inaccessible by a snake from the floor. Suddenly, the loose ends of Behula’s hair offered an easy route. Thus, the snake made its way to the bed and bit Lakhinder, thereby draining his life from the body. (People say that this is one reason why women are asked not to sleep with their hairs open at night).

Next morning, when Behula woke up, she found her husband dead from the snake’s poison. As the news was passed on, the merry scenario changed to a gloomy one in a few seconds. Chand saudagar was at a loss, thinking where he went wrong in his construction of the iron-castle. At the same time, the inability to save his last heir was breaking his heart. Goddess Manasa appeared at this moment and asked Chand saudagar to offer his prayers to her. She promised that if he did so, his son would be blessed to live again. But Chand saudagar was adamant. He had been a devout devotee of Shiva and couldn’t change sides, even if it meant losing his son forever.

So, on a boat, the body of Lakhinder was placed and made to float on the river. Behula accompanied her husband on this last journey. When the boat was passing the bank of what is now called Netidhopani, Behula saw an interesting thing. A woman was washing clothes and a child was continually disturbing her. Annoyed, she sprinkled some water on the boy. The boy became lifeless. The woman finished her laundry and then again sprinkled some water on the boy, chanting some mantras, to bring him back to life.

Behula decided in a flash that this was the person who could bring her husband back to life. She rowed the boat to the bank and asked the lady (Netidhopani) to teach her the verses. The lady asked Behula to be her maid and serve her with diligence. Only then would she grant her wish. Many months passed-by as Behula served her unquestionably. Finally, one day she put her foot down and asked Netidhopani to tell her the secret verses by which she could bring Lakhinder back to life. At this, Netidhopani told that her verses don’t have the capability to do so as Lakhinder died due to the curse of a goddess. However, she offered to take Behula to heaven instead. Behula agreed and came to heaven. There, she prayed to Lord Shiva for Lakhinder’s life. Shiva said, “Manasa is my daughter. I can’t do such a thing to insult her. It’s better for you to return and find your father-in-law. Ask him to offer his prayers to the goddess. Only then will your husband be alive again.”

Behula came back, found her father-in-law after much difficulty and finally persuaded him to worship Manasa. However, Chand saudagar agreed only on the condition that he would offer his prayers by left hand (to show his displeasure and as a mark of protest). Thus, Lakhinder defeated death and lived happily ever after with Behula. This whole story is mentioned in Manasa-Mangal.

In this way, Netidhopani has a connection with the famous legend of Behula-Lakhinder.

My self appointed guardians

Kolkata has no dearth of self appointed guardians, especially if the guardianship is that of a girl (I'm purposely not using the word lady coz I can't figure out why people still think me to be a kid and give me all sorts of lectures).

A few weeks earlier, while returning home, I was seated on the front seat of an auto. As the driver was trying desperately to position his auto in a small gap between a taxi at the front and a mini-bus at its heel, I stretched out my hand to signal the bus behind not to proceed and let the auto slide into the gap. The driver seeing my enthusiastic gesture promptly scolded me (it took a few seconds to sink down what wrong I had done to deserve such a scolding). After finally placing his auto comfortably, he went on to explain lovingly, like an elder brother, why it was risky to put out the hand suddenly and what could be some dire consequences, wrapping the brief lecture with words of confidence that he would have managed it anyhow without my signal to that mini-bus.

This small incident made me realize once again how I have my guardians even outside my home, amongst complete strangers. Keu ki boltey pare, ami kobey boro hobo (at least lokjon er chokhe)???

Monday, March 24, 2008

Day-3

The previous day was very disappointing as we moved without a guide and the long journey was very boring, at least for me. So, our group decided to start early (@6.30 a.m) to make the most on this last day. Our itinerary included a visit to Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower and passing through some creeks en route.

Fortunately, we got lucky to have a guide with us on our journey. Though from the first day, I had seen varieties of mangroves in the region with their roots sticking out (often called breathing roots as these roots take oxygen from the air and not from the soil as is the case with other plants), our guide explained the things more clearly, thereby making the tour all the more enjoyable.

It is believed that "Mangrove" is a combination of "Mangue" (a Portuguese word) and "grove" (an English word). Mangroves are plants found in salty waters of tropical and subtropical intertidal areas of the world. The specific areas where these plants are found are called “mangrove ecosystem”. Sunderban is one such area. Our guide also told that the existence of mangrove ecosystems on coastline has saved lives and property during natural hazards like cyclones, erosion and storms. This could explain why some cyclones in the recent years passed without causing much damage to Sunderban while causing havoc in Bangladesh. (The Sunderban region, our guide told, was initially spread over 46,000sq. km. Out of this, India got 4262 sq. km while Bangladesh got the rest. However, what now remains in Bangladesh has decreased to even lower than India’s share).

Though I am very poor in Botany, the presence of our guide helped in the identification of various varieties of mangroves out of the 84 species that the place has. The ones that we saw were Sundari (Sunderban is believed to have got its name from these trees), Baen (Avicennia marina), Dhani grass (Oryza coarctata), Garjan (Rhizophora species), Goran (Ceriops species), Dhundul (Xylocarpus granatum) and Kankra (Bruguiera species).

While our boat was exploring the creeks, we were busy viewing the flora on the edges, enjoying an exciting ride at the same time. The few creeks that we visited were quite broad. So, our boat was choosing to be nearer to one edge at every turn so that we can have a clear view of the trees on that side.

We finally reached Sudhanyakhali Watch Tower at 9.30 a.m (Last tiger was sighted here on 15th March'08 @ 5.20 p.m) . We were told that this was the place where most of the tigers have been sighted. There is a pond of sweet water here where the animals come to drink water. We saw seven axis deers merrily eating grass on the edges of this pond. Another visitor who took a dip in the pond was a snake (goshaap, in local parlance) though some of the visitors mistook it to be a crocodile (sigh!!!). We stayed at the tower for half an hour but the tiger decided not to appear. So, we left. Though most of the tourists were very disappointed for not having seen the tiger, I wasn’t so sad coz my primary agenda had never been seeing the tiger (though I would have been happy to see at least one). Rather, I was interested to visit this World Heritage Site (the core area namely the Sunderban National Park has been given the status of a World Heritage site) and enjoy whatever the place has to offer. So, I was returning in a happy mood as I finally made this trip (there was a lot of uncertainty in the initial stages about this visit). My balance sheet reads viewing some monkeys, deers, snakes, honey-bees and varieties of mangroves.

However, if I get a second chance to visit the place, I would surely design my own itinerary, hire a boat and guide and explore the region sans the constraints of a package tour.

Postscript: I erroneously marked gosaap as a snake but thanks to Avra, I would correct it now. The "Water monitor" (gosaap in local parlance) isn't a snake. Rather, it's a member of the monitor lizard family.

Day-2

We visited the farthest point on our itinerary, Dobanki, on the second day. Before reaching the Dobanki Watch Tower (last tiger was seen here on 5th March'08), we passed the Panchamohana (where five rivers meet, namely Vidya, Vidyadhari, Dobanki, Gajikhali and Herobhanga). This place, we were told, is about 6 kms from the Bay of Bengal. The vastness of the river (I’m using the singular form as the five rivers couldn’t be identified separately) enthralled me.

The Dobanki Watch Tower could be reached after walking a stretch of pathway, fenced on both sides, offering an uninterrupted view of the forest. However, the tower doesn’t has any shade (unlike the other two namely at Sajnekhali and Sudhanyakhali). As the sun shone at its best, it was scorching and we quickly came back to the boat.

The evening was kept for a village visit. We visited a village of Dayapur, Block No.3, seeing the lifestyle of the locals from close quarters. The village has a school where classes till Madhyamik are conducted at present. However, it has already got the permission of extending the classes till 12 and the same would be made effective very soon. The village, its houses, ponds…all were very neat. The market place was selling everything of daily need and we even spotted CDs being sold in a shop. On our return, the sun was setting and the lush green field in the foreground presented a view that would stay etched in my mind for a long time to come.

Day-1

After reaching the resort at the end of a 5.5 hr journey (from Kolkata), we freshened up, had our lunch and retired to the room for a short siesta (we were to leave for the first day sightseeing at 4 p.m).

Our first stop was the Sajnekhali Tiger Reserve. This place has a Watch Tower (not more than 20 persons can climb it at a time, though no one was there to maintain the rule strictly), Bonobibi Temple, Museum and Sea Turtle Pond.

Bonobibi is a famous goddess in Sunderban who is regarded as the savior of the villagers who had to go deep into the forest to earn their livelihood. Local people believe that if “Dakshin Roy” (tiger) attacks them, the goddess would save them. Originally, the Muslims offered prayers to the goddess (the word “bibi” in Bonobibi suggests a Muslim influence). Slowly, the Hindus and Christians also developed their faith in the savior-goddess and thus Bonobibi became synonymous with Sunderban. For many Hindus, she is also known as Bonodebi.

My climb at the Watch Tower wasn’t too fruitful as apart from seeing the vast stretch of the forest, I didn’t see anything (I mean no wild-life sighting. The notice board at this place had a writing scribbled: Last tiger sighted on 15/3/08). Even the Sea Turtle Pond disappointed me as I got to see nothing. It would have been any other pond if not for the signboard.

The Museum was an interesting place. But before this, I should tell about another interesting thing: the map of India and Bangladesh with islands marked in yellow, green and white fitted with small replicas of the watch towers. I got a good view of the map from the stairs leading to the museum and if the picture comes out as I had visualized it, I would surely post it later.

Now, a few words about the museum: it had a variety of interesting specimen of fauna on display. A few amongst the noteworthy specimen were the tongue, lung, kidney and spleen of Tiger, foetus of Deer, eggs of Olive Ridley, foetus of Leopard Cat, Indian Dog Shark and a huge Irawaddy Dolphin. Many species of snakes, prawns, ducks, crabs and fishes were also on display at this museum. Apart from these exhibits, there were many informative laminated charts about the flora and fauna of the place that were hanging on the walls. A few laminated placards also told about the statistics of Sunderban. I would share a few interesting things with you:

1) 85% people of Sunderban are dependent on agriculture on reclaimed land, which bears mostly single crop of paddy. Some other occupations of these people consist of fishing, pisciculture, honey collection and firewood collection.
2) 50% of the agricultural laborers are landless. 44% of the total population belongs to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
3) Sundarban Tiger Reserve was created in 1973 to protect the Royal Bengal Tiger and conserve faunal and floral associates in mangrove forests. The statistics of the region is as follows:
Area: 2585 sq. km
Core Area: 1330 sq. km
Buffer Zone: 1255 sq. km

4) According to the 2004 census, there are 274 Bengal tigers in the region, 249 in STR (133 female, 83 male and 33 cubs) and 25 in 24 Parganas South Forest Division.

Our next stop was the Sajnekhali Bird Sanctuary. Once famous for its rich avian population, the sanctuary now doesn’t have much to boast about. Our guide told that after the cyclone of ’88, the natural habitat of the birds was destroyed so badly that most changed their course to go to the Buffer Zone of Bangladesh. So, we had no luck at this place either.

We viewed the sunset from the boat, enjoyed the scenic beauty and came back to the resort. In the evening, some local artists performed before us giving us a taste of the culture of Sunderban’s people. We enjoyed the performances while munching the snacks. It got over at 8 p.m. After having dinner at 9 p.m, we retired to bed after a hectic first day.