I don't want to term this as a traveller's insight, for what I experience and saw was out of the world and I would really urge everyone to leave those fancy shoes and travel to the so called uncharted territories, which are though, stones throw away from our place, but we shall never try to give it a second look. Well, something similar happened to me which took me by surprise. Yesterday was 2nd Magh or as Bengalis say 'Doshora Magh, which was the time for Bonbibi r mela in the Sundarbans. Now please do not take your mind to the visions of forest and ferocious tigers when I say Sundarbans...coz it has 19 blocks and not all of them are like that. Mostly happens to be clear cut areas for cultivation or settlements, except for the blocks like Kultoli or Gosaba, which are nearer to the forest, while the rest of them can be travelled easily. Coming back to my topic of discussion, yesterday after travelling for nearly 3 hrs I discovered a mammoth fair or mela, which is attended by thousands of people, without fail. These people arrive from various villages. This is my dear the Bonbibir Mela. I got down at Dakhin Barasaat station travelled in van richkshaws for 25 minutes until you reach a point from where the only option is to simply walk. The walk is magnificent as you
are walking for at least more than 4 kms through uncultivatable land which is called 'Bada.' The surrounding is simply awesome, especially if you are coming from busy hustle cities, coz here all you will get are open sky, open fields with no sign of houses and long chain of happy people walking towards the fair and you too match feet with them. I do not have words to actually describe the huge fields that I was walking through....I feel so feeble at times not to have experienced so much oxygen around myself, that I was panting for breath. Anywayz I managed to reach and found tons of people flying kites! They have come with their families, friends, daughters, sons, uncles, everyone's flying kites. Crossing that you reach the Harinkhali, which is a 'khal' or a small bridge after which is the main mela area. This place is actually at a confluence of 5 villages- Ramrudrapur, Harinagam, Chaltaberia, Babongachi and Khakherda. Once you reach the mela area you experience the sudden splurge of people coming towards you, you hear music and laughter and what you see is the undying faith on Bonbibi. Long cue, people waiting patiently to
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| Bonbibi's shrine |
enter the shrine and seek the blessing of Bonbibi. They say 'ma r ashirbad.' Mind it, the ma is not the urban deity Durga! Well I thought bengalis can't do anything beyond Durga Puja, but apparently that is not so. Bonbibi too resides in people's home. I asked few people in the cue about their experience and each narrated their own individual story of bonbibi and her presence. Someone even claimed that he returned from her death bed only because of Bonbibi's blessing. However, what I found little contradictory is that Bonbibi is a deity which is even today followed by the Hindus and Muslims, but there were no Muslims who were entering the shrine to seek her blessing. Majority of the people were Hindus. Some said, that many come to Bonbibi for fulfilment of one's desires and for that they throw 'batasha' i.e. sweet cake to the crowd. Let me mention here, that Bonbibi came into existence as a god to protect people from tiger attacks but in numerous occasions I have noticed the transformation of her character to 'god of everything' and from Bonbibi to 'Bondevi.' This mela can be said of one such.
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| Bonbibi to Bondevi. |
After this I turned my attention to the business part of the mela i.e. 'becha kena' or buying and selling of things and found out that furnitures sell like hot cakes, and each dealer makes a profit of nearly 10,000 rs in one single day. It was so amazing to see how passionately they talk about their work and each year to be part of the celebration. Some of them even uttered that they look forward for this particular day through out the year and how lovely it is to shop, especially furnitures. Places like these makes you realise how happy small things can make you...how delightful it is to experience those meaningless gestures and run around as if you do not have any directions to go. This mela reminded me of those feelings and the gestures that I miss now. I was dumbstruck by seeing the immense trust and belief that people has on Bonbibi. Some even proclaimed her bigger than Durga. I could not help myself any longer but succumb to my desire of having a jalebi and a bhelpuri and woooow I must say. It was the right medicine for my undying hunger. Everyone's happy...all were smiling...they were excited and giggling. The whole environment echoed positivity. Sundarban was definitely not all about tigers...their is life, with so much of different stories.This mela ends at 11pm, and the next day the businessmen heads off to another village nearby to sell off the remains...called as 'choto mela,' and I definitely know that 'choto' or small would just be in name. I returned back with memories that I will cherish through out and will come back again next year. Hogla and Gochoron are the two stations nearby, from where trains can be boarded for Sealdah. So you see, experiencing nature does not mean to have a 'Thai Spa,' rather, we should try to run away from our boundaries to venture in some different experience. I feel lucky that this is just the beginning of my awesome journey, I shall share all my insights, but I would urge all to see it with your own eyes....Otherwise you will MISS IT !
