“Don’t call me again”
“Oh! Lord please listen to me once!”
“No I don’t want to and FYI don’t cry this way it isn’t helping”
“ Why bu.. but why are you doing this?”
The question wasn’t answered. Anamika quickly checked her phone, it showed call ended. She called back. Nobody took her calls. 20 times she had already called. She looked high up in the air and couldn’t stop howling. She went on saying “why God why?” . She started walking. Alone. Cursed god several times. She thought killing herself will bring an end to all the pain, all the misery. She always had the notion the almighty never answered her. Never listened to her.
She came back home, threw herself on the couch and was trying to count the blades of the ceiling fan. All of a sudden the door bell distracted her. She hurried to the door. Her maid, sabita was standing, crying. Grasped her hand and started enchanting one line “ Didi o didi amare bachan”. Anamika tried to calm her down and asked her what had happened. In a tangled voice she said her husband was missing. She has four kids, her in laws, she did not know how she will pull through! She was in a conundrum. Anamika realized she is at a much better place. She realized perhaps god is there and he does answer to all the prayers but at times maybe the answer is no.
Sabita is from Sunderbans. Her husband was a fisherman. She suspected he could have been taken away by the man eater. It is a mundane incident in Sunderbans, often fishermen while collecting fishes from the net step down on the soil. Their feet tends to get stuck in the silt, hence easy movement becomes impossible. The tiger waits for this moment and then gnaws down its victims with its canines. Inspite of the risk, poverty grills them to the death trap. The Man Eaters are ferocious, dangerous! A threat to the people of Sunderbans. The Aila left the mangrove island dilapidated and after that the residents have become more dependent on the forests. Very few are left with choices.
Anamika wanted to move out from the city anyway so she said she could come with her to Sunderbans and help her to look for her husband. The next morning they started for Sunderbans. By afternoon they reached. They lodged an FIR at the police station and went to Sabita’s house at Goshaba. Sabita’s in laws had arranged lunch for them.It was brown rice, some local fish and pickle. After lunch they started to walk down to those places where her husband was usually seen. Nowhere there was a response, Anamika couldn’t rekindle the ray of hope.
“Didimoni Ektu shunben? Edike ekbarti ashben?” A woman called Anamika from a nearby thatched house. She looked at Sabita and then asked her to wait. Anamika went inside the house. The woman said “ kayu jante parli amare meri felbe, taboo
ami bhogoban k dorai, amaro choto choto cheli meyi ache, ami shobitar jontona ta bujhi go, bujhi” and she started crying. She went on. She knew where Sabita’s husband was. Anamika was baffled. She could trace Sabita’s husband but the way she was saying she could not make out if should be at all happy about it. Her eyes started coming out of the socket, tears rolled down, there were goose bumps all over her, she was petrified, dumbstruck!
Anamika came out of the house with her head hung down. A group of fishermen had gone out for fishing but unfortunately they didn’t have a good catch so they planned to fetch honey. They entered into the forest. Slowly after wandering for a while they entered into the core area. As per government policies nobody is allowed to enter into the core area. If any mishap happens it isn’t compensated instead a fine is charged. People can also be put behind the bars. Knowing all these things they had embarked upon the cul-de-sac. Finally they spotted an area, there was a sigh of relief, their search ended. Everybody was so busy nobody noticed a member was missing from their group. After their work was done and they turned back they saw blood stains, they followed it and saw Sabita’s husband’s mutilated body lying. Half eaten, blood smeared lying down on the ground. Flies rattling over him. Everybody was grief stricken, panic stricken but had to burn him down there. Poverty had trampled down their ethical values. They did not have a choice and came out silently. All the tears, all the screams got buried into the grounds with his ashes.
Anamika was torn between gulping it down and letting her know. She could not gather up the courage to tell her the truth because she knew how it feels to lose someone and finally decided not to tell her about the loss. She thought perhaps the hope in her heart will let her live.
“Oh! Lord please listen to me once!”
“No I don’t want to and FYI don’t cry this way it isn’t helping”
“ Why bu.. but why are you doing this?”
The question wasn’t answered. Anamika quickly checked her phone, it showed call ended. She called back. Nobody took her calls. 20 times she had already called. She looked high up in the air and couldn’t stop howling. She went on saying “why God why?” . She started walking. Alone. Cursed god several times. She thought killing herself will bring an end to all the pain, all the misery. She always had the notion the almighty never answered her. Never listened to her.
She came back home, threw herself on the couch and was trying to count the blades of the ceiling fan. All of a sudden the door bell distracted her. She hurried to the door. Her maid, sabita was standing, crying. Grasped her hand and started enchanting one line “ Didi o didi amare bachan”. Anamika tried to calm her down and asked her what had happened. In a tangled voice she said her husband was missing. She has four kids, her in laws, she did not know how she will pull through! She was in a conundrum. Anamika realized she is at a much better place. She realized perhaps god is there and he does answer to all the prayers but at times maybe the answer is no.
Sabita is from Sunderbans. Her husband was a fisherman. She suspected he could have been taken away by the man eater. It is a mundane incident in Sunderbans, often fishermen while collecting fishes from the net step down on the soil. Their feet tends to get stuck in the silt, hence easy movement becomes impossible. The tiger waits for this moment and then gnaws down its victims with its canines. Inspite of the risk, poverty grills them to the death trap. The Man Eaters are ferocious, dangerous! A threat to the people of Sunderbans. The Aila left the mangrove island dilapidated and after that the residents have become more dependent on the forests. Very few are left with choices.
Anamika wanted to move out from the city anyway so she said she could come with her to Sunderbans and help her to look for her husband. The next morning they started for Sunderbans. By afternoon they reached. They lodged an FIR at the police station and went to Sabita’s house at Goshaba. Sabita’s in laws had arranged lunch for them.It was brown rice, some local fish and pickle. After lunch they started to walk down to those places where her husband was usually seen. Nowhere there was a response, Anamika couldn’t rekindle the ray of hope.
“Didimoni Ektu shunben? Edike ekbarti ashben?” A woman called Anamika from a nearby thatched house. She looked at Sabita and then asked her to wait. Anamika went inside the house. The woman said “ kayu jante parli amare meri felbe, taboo
ami bhogoban k dorai, amaro choto choto cheli meyi ache, ami shobitar jontona ta bujhi go, bujhi” and she started crying. She went on. She knew where Sabita’s husband was. Anamika was baffled. She could trace Sabita’s husband but the way she was saying she could not make out if should be at all happy about it. Her eyes started coming out of the socket, tears rolled down, there were goose bumps all over her, she was petrified, dumbstruck!
Anamika came out of the house with her head hung down. A group of fishermen had gone out for fishing but unfortunately they didn’t have a good catch so they planned to fetch honey. They entered into the forest. Slowly after wandering for a while they entered into the core area. As per government policies nobody is allowed to enter into the core area. If any mishap happens it isn’t compensated instead a fine is charged. People can also be put behind the bars. Knowing all these things they had embarked upon the cul-de-sac. Finally they spotted an area, there was a sigh of relief, their search ended. Everybody was so busy nobody noticed a member was missing from their group. After their work was done and they turned back they saw blood stains, they followed it and saw Sabita’s husband’s mutilated body lying. Half eaten, blood smeared lying down on the ground. Flies rattling over him. Everybody was grief stricken, panic stricken but had to burn him down there. Poverty had trampled down their ethical values. They did not have a choice and came out silently. All the tears, all the screams got buried into the grounds with his ashes.
Anamika was torn between gulping it down and letting her know. She could not gather up the courage to tell her the truth because she knew how it feels to lose someone and finally decided not to tell her about the loss. She thought perhaps the hope in her heart will let her live.
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