Ek Jiban Sundarban by Abhijit Sengupta [Hardcover]

The ownership of the riverine land extends to the point where the river's water reaches during the ebb tide of Ashtami. This is what the official document states. Therefore, Sujan Das supervises this land from the dam. A fish enclosure will be created there. Pangash, pabda, shrimp, parse, bhangon, vetki... Standing on the muddy dam, Sujan, who fled Chattogram for his life, dreams.

Or, at the saline estuary where neither shore is visible, where fishermen have cast hilsa nets tied with kerosene lamps, making it seem on a still night as if rows of lamps have been set afloat on the water, where unknown boatmen come close and say, "Can you give me a light, boatman, I want to smoke?"—and at that moment, one must be cautious because who doesn't know that those boats are pirate traps—listening to the life stories of Lakshman Majhi at the mouth of Saptamukhi, embarking on an uncharted journey...

Or, the story of those people seen near the Tamluk Char, who spend the whole year in two huts tied to a post on the river island, far away from their homeland and family—for a monthly income of fifty rupees...

Or, the tale of the elderly village guide—who, having lost fifty bighas of land, now acts in front of urban tourists, showing how monkeys of the Sundarbans steal and flee with bundles of straw, whose chest wounds emit a bitter smile when touched, and whose lips utter firm conviction—one day revolution will come in a burst...

The author spent several eventful years in the 1970s in the saline land of the Sundarbans. This album is a compilation of sketches from that life. As you read about the wooden houses, Mousuni Island, and Borjalal, you will hear the heartbeat of the saline land, the country of tigers, snakes, and crocodiles that the Pandavas avoided. The essence of this book captures the sounds of the Sundarbans, the call of sea-gulls, the solitary alluring moonlight over the forest, and the intense fishing festival in the murky waters.