Erroneous Invoicing

The young fisherman, Gopal’s body, washed ashore nearby one of the islands of Sundarbans. He had gone missing for a few days. He had left behind an inconsolable widow with a one-year-old son. A drunken aged man mumbled that an unexpected storm and high tide had consumed the lad, and bad times have come for good.

In an island village by the name Mollakhalli lived Gopal with his widowed mother, his wife Kamla, and a one-year-old son named Bablu. His house got made of mud and thatch, surrounded by a patch of land with a small pond locally known as “pukur.” Pukurs are typical of the Bengal countryside and an essential water source for the family taking care of drinking, irrigation and household needs for water. Besides, they reared ducks in the pukur for meat and cash. In the patch of land, they grew paddy and some poultry. There were also a few plantain trees and a lone papaya tree. You would even notice a newly born calf and a cow, the milk of which is mostly consumed by the family and provided some essential proteins. Kamala worked as a helper in a nearby tourist resort ethically run by three brothers. While the work was hard and engaging it provided the family with much-needed economic security. The young brothers offered her a monthly salary all through the year, season or no season for tourists. Luckily for her, Gopal’s mother was able to take care of Bablu in her absence.

Mollakhalli was one of the 100 odd islands in Sundarbans, a world-famous mangrove ecosystem in the delta formed by the confluence of Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers in the Bay of Bengal. Sundarbans’s gateway, Godkhali, was about two and a half hours by road from Kolkatta. Gopal sailed out very early in the morning for fishing away from Godkhali in the opposite direction. The catch was not that good of late. On days with a good catch, Gopal went to the nearby island Gosaba for sale of his catch and returned home by evening. He occasionally worked for the Forest Department, which managed the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, to supplement his income.

The reserve was famous for the man-eating tigers (Royal Bengal Tigers). And there were stories abound that enthralled and scared you out of your wits if you were to visit this region. Where ever you went, people would have told that “you were being watched” of course by who else but the tigers. While on forest duty Gopal had often heard Foresters informing the tourists about climate change and global warming. How because of these factors storms and high tide have become very unpredictable, and the salinity in the water changed, affecting the availability of fishes in the delta. The curious tourists would get informed that the mangroves locally called as “Sundari” lends the name Sundarbans to this delta. Of course, tourists mainly came for the famous Tiger and hoped to catch sight of one during their trip.

On one occasion Gopal learnt from a tourist that Sundarbans was one of the finalists in the list of New Wonders of the world. Gopal wondered if this was the reason that the tourists' flow had increased of late. It set him to think what if he were to work regularly for the Forest Department or at the resort where Kamala had been working and cut his fishing trips. He had sounded out his intention to both the Forest official and the Resort brothers.

While life for Gopal and his family was not too bad as compared to others in the village, it was sheer hard work that saw them through. While Kamala woke up at 430 am each day and finished her cooking for breakfast and lunch, mostly rice with curry and an occasional fish or chicken. Then she left for the resort and came back only in the evening. Luckily for her, she got to eat a good breakfast and lunch during the tourist season at the resort. During seasons her work was mostly in the kitchen, serving and later dishwashing. During off-seasons, she attended to repairs, maintenance, and tended the gardens. She was one of those in permanent roll in the resort, for the brothers would hire more help as and when required. Kamala, like Gopal, had too noted the surge in tourist flow of late.

On days Gopal didn’t go fishing; he would tend to the paddy fields and engaged in his favorite hobby, “cockfighting.” Gopal already well known among the cockfighters and local people in the Sundarbans region. It gave him a social status, and because of it, the Forest Department would also engage him in casual jobs, which meant additional income. Cockfighting itself had seen many changes and considered to be “illegal” in nature, but yet it went on. In the present times, it was no more about money betting, but the winner gets the losers cock and social prestige. It happened in the nearby village on Saturdays, and Gopal would always be there wielding his cock.

On three out of 4 occasions every month he would be able to bring back one additional cock as his trophy. One would get sold, and others used as meat. Cocks are usually paired up, a 3-4-inch blade tied to one of the legs, and the cocks were then allowed to fight. Many a time, Gopal’s fighter cocks would have finished the fight in one-two rounds and emerged the winner. On rare occasions it would lose a fight after 5- rounds, but the winner too would have been grievously injured and rendered unfit for any more fight. Such was the reputation of Gopal in these parts. In the social milieu it was an important recognition in what otherwise was a mundane existence. Kamala’s eyes, too, would brighten up if you were to talk about Gopal’s cockfighting reputation. 

Monsoon was always a tough season for Gopal and his likes in the fishermen community. Storms and rains severely affected not only fishing, but tidal effects posed dangers to their lives on the waters. These were the days when Kamala’s income came very handy to manage the family. Oceanographers in the Jadavpur University were researching climate change impact on Sundarbans. They have observed that the “storm surges” had notably increased and posed life-threatening conditions for people living in the delta. The researchers had collected several research papers citing the impact of global warming/climate change on the livelihood of the Sundarbans community. 

Gopal was waiting eagerly for the monsoon to get over. He wanted to start fishing and earn income as meeting ends was becoming more and more difficult. His mother’s health and hospital visits were taking a toll on their meager finances. A few days had passed without rain or storm, and the community began to feel that monsoon was more or less over. It was on one such morning Gopal went out for fishing but never returned.

Local newspapers had reported the next day about an unexpected storm and high tides in the Sundarbans. The oceanography expert from the University had noted both yet another storm unusual at such time of the year and the resulting death of the fisherman.

Three days later, the local forest guard discovered the body of Gopal, as he knew him. Kamala was heartbroken as she had believed and offered prayers to the Durga mother that Gopal might be alive.

Epilogue

Elsewhere in Paris, in a 5- star setting, politicians and scientists were debating climate change impacts due to global warming. Heated discussions took place about consumption patterns in developed countries and need to curtail them. It was difficult even to establish how western consumerism could affect fishers in the Sundarbans, let alone the robust understanding of the connection.

Somebody consumes, and somebody else pays. This way of the world continues.