The Land Of Low Tides

Harun is going to visit the Sunderban, the land of low tides and to be precise, the land of Royal Bengal Tiger. 

Yes, Harun, a boy of around 14 years, was very happy because his uncle, who also taught him history, agreed to take him to visit the Sunderbans. He had already studied about this world-famous delta region in the southern parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh as well. They reached the nearest rail station, Port Canning. From there, they had been to a small place nearby, where they put up in an inn for a night's rest. In the evening, Harun’s uncle told him a story about the life of the people within those eerie but pristine forested and swampy islands where man and tiger share the habitat with each other.  

Long ago, there lived a woodcutter named Ibrahim in a sylvan hamlet. His little village was amidst vast mangrove jungles with large and small trees everywhere. There were several rivers and their tributaries crisscrossing the whole area. Usually he would cut down dead and fallen trees and make pieces out of the dry boughs and branches. He would sell those bundles to the well-off people in nearby villages and earn his livelihood. Sometimes he would accompany the group of honey-gatherers too and enter the dense jungle to earn a little extra money for his family. His wife, Gulalbibi, looked after all the household chores from early morning to late evening. She would cook tasty food for Ibrahim and wait for him until he returned after selling the bundles of wood. Though they faced a lot of hardships throughout the year, they had complaints. After some time, Ibrahim’s parents and elders arranged his second marriage because he and his wife, Gulalbibi, had no children. Soon, Ibrahim's second marriage was solemnised with a woman from one of the neighbouring hamlets. 

His second wife eventually indoctrinated Ibrahim and other members of his family. One day she instructed Ibrahim to take her first wife, Gulalbibi, to the core of the forest under the pretext of visiting a shrine. One fateful morning, both of them travelled in a small boat. As they reached the interior of the dense forest, Ibrahim anchored the boat by tying ropes to a huge Sundari tree very close to the bank of the river. Both of them descended from the boat and came to the shore. There were deadly crocodiles in the water and ferocious wild beasts in the jungle. Oblivious to all these, Gulalbibi, quietly followed her husband’s footsteps. 

They reached a dilapidated structure. Suddenly the weather changed altogether, and gusts of wind rushed, followed by torrential rains. People would say that the weather changes out there in a moment’s time without giving any warnings. Tides in the labyrinthine maze of rivers influence everything out there, especially the characteristic low tides. Thus, they called the place ‘Land of Low Tides’. The duo took shelter in a small part of those ruins; close by were a few tall Goran trees. Internally, Ibrahim was very reluctant to leave his first wife, Gulalbibi, in that lonely retreat, but he was told to do so. Soon Gulalbibi fell asleep due to her poor health. She was pregnant at that time. Looking at her pallid and still body, Ibrahim felt very sad, but he was helpless, as per the strict wishes of his second wife. Before leaving those premises, he said to those tall Goran trees all his mental anguish, which he wanted to share with others, particularly his unfortunate situation.

And thereafter, he left the place and untied the ropes of the boat. Thereafter, he was returning, and on his way back home once again, another brief spell of rainshowered. Recurring thoughts of Gulalbibi broke his heart. His little boat was slowly filled with rainwater, so he started scooping the water from one corner of the boat with a utensil and throwing it into the river.

After a few days in those secluded ruins amid dense forests, Gulalbibi gave birth to twins: one boy named Shah Jongoli and a girl by the name of Bonbibi. The hapless mother abandoned Bonbibi, for she was afraid that she might not be able to take proper care of both kids and raise them. The newborn little girl, Bonbibi, cried inconsolably. Hearing her utter screams, a deer came near to help that divine child. That motherly deer took care of her in the lap of those natural surroundings. Eventually, Bonbibi grew up in the midst of trees, swamps, snakes, vines, flowers, scorpions, fruits, wild animals, and birds.

 

God would bid her periodically, for she was the chosen one to protect the people who enter the forests with a ‘pure heart’ and ‘empty hands to work within that vast tract of forests and swamps having many islands, the Sundarbans. The tidal rivers, creeks, and estuaries were filled with fish and crabs, and the woods were enriched with honey. Humans shared those same foods with tigers. God would bid Bonbibi to free the land of low tides from the exploitation of Dokkhin Ray, the man-eating sage who took the form of a tiger with his magical powers. The trust that existed between the tigers and humans for ages was broken due to the terror of the man-eating demon, Dokkhin Ray.   

By that time, Ibrahim had returned to that forest to get back his first wife, Gulalbibi, and the children. On searching through the intersecting tidal rivers and the forests on islands, he finally found his first wife and son. As Ibrahim, Gulalbibi, and Shah Jongoli were about to proceed to their home, Bonbibi called out her brother’s name in utter earnestness to accompany her on an urgent pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina because God had commanded her to receive the blessings of Fatima, the shining one, whom people also called ‘al Zahra’. Having received the blessings from Medina, they came to Mecca, and they carried some holy earth from there. They returned, and then, calling on the name of God, they mixed the holy earth with the wet soil of the Sunderbans. Upon hearing the same, Dokkhin Ray resented their entry into his territory and tried to drive them away from the forests. Thereafter, a fierce battle started between Dokkhin Ray and Bonbibi. At this juncture, Dokkhin Ray’s mother, Narayani, appeared and insisted that it would be proper that a woman be fought by another woman. After a prolonged struggle, Narayani found that her side would lose the conflict, so she called Bonbibi her ‘friend’ or ‘Soi’. In return, Bonbibi was gratified, and thus, she accepted Narayani’s friendship.   

Harun’s uncle told him that people out there strongly believe that whoever would enter the Sunderbans, the woody ‘Land of Low Tides, they ought to always be with a ‘pure heart’ and ‘empty-handed, and no one should trespass or have any intention to take more than what they need for survival from the forests and tidal rivers. Tigers and humans share the same food out here. And there would be no distinction of caste, creed, or faith whatsoever among the people living and working here for ages.

Any visitor would find the small shrines within the eerie surroundings of the jungles and swamps having the idol of Dokkhin Ray as the symbol of a human head, a little earthen mould symbolising Ghazi, the Sufi holy man, and an idol of a goddess representing Bonbibi, the ‘Forest Goddess’.