Author: Saharin Shaoun
Published on: 04/05/2025 | 00:00:00
AI Summary:
Mahfuza Begum steps onto the riverbank one late morning in March. Her bare feet sink into the cracked mud as she reaches for her narrow, black boat. With no upstream current, they strain under the weight of the task. After several minutes, the boat finally drifts free. Crocodiles glide just beneath the surface while tigers roam near the riverbanks. Over the years, animal sightings have increased. They are being pushed into the fishers’ paths as the forest shrinks and human activity expands. In her village, there are about eight fisherwomen. Aged between 40 and 60, they usually fish with their family members. With a deliberate movement, Mahfuza cast her net into the river. “If it is my fate, then a tiger will take me too,” she says. Gabura island is one of about 200 islands in the Sundarbans. Families in Ward No. 9 fish and collect honey and wood to sell, but can’t farm due to salinity from the river water affecting the soil. Mahfuza was born into one of the poorest households in her village. Men from her village would come up to her and say, “You are very small. Girl, why do you want to fish? You belong to the stove and firewood. Go and cook now” Mahfuza’s parents supported her pursuit, as their daughter brought fish home for the family to eat. “He never showed me how [to fish],” she says. Mahfuza shares a small tin-roof hut built from salvaged wooden planks painted red, blue, and green with her grandson, Lavlu. Since there are no paved roads on Gabura, a five-minute ride by engine-powered boat from the mainland, the only way to reach Mahfuzawa’s house on the other side of Gabura is by motorcycle or bike along an uneven track with the river on one side. Mahfuza catches about five kilos of fish a month. Some fish, like sardines and mola carplet, are found all year round. Annual government bans lasting a total of five months during fish breeding seasons. Mahfuza has been caught on the water in some of the worst storms, including Cyclone Aila in 2009. Sometimes she has had no choice but to hunker down in her boat and wait for it to pass, bobbing helplessly in the churning waters. Pirates also prey on small fishing boats in the remote waterways, especially those with lone fishers. For 44 years, Mahfuza has braved tigers, crocodiles, cyclones and pirates. Even now, she hides her earnings in different places and rows faster when the sun starts to go down. “I need no man. I row the boat on my own. I go to the forest alone. I can fish and bring wood from the forest,” she says. Five years ago, Nur’s husband died of a heart attack. The same year, her sister was killed by a tiger. “When I lost my husband, I didn’t want to go on,” Nur says.
Original: 3276 words
Summary: 483 words
Percent reduction: 85.26%