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Erosion. In Bangladesh, water is both a creator and destroyer—sometimes in equal measure. Through the dual forces of erosion and accretion the Jamuna continually remaps the land.
Abandoning. People threatened by river erosion face hard choices. Many decide to proactively abandon their homesteads, fields and communities.
Shifting. Both erosion and flood displace people, forcing them to move from a threatened residence to one that hopefully is more secure. As livelihood, personal status, level of prosperity, sense of place, and social relations are all dependent on residence, environmentally driven migration changes everything.
Resettling. Re-establishing a home and everday life after being displaced is a great challenge for many, particularly for those who were already poor or who were rendered so by erosion. Many less well off displaced people relocate their homes to government land along roads and embankments.
Fishing. Fish and fishing historically were very important to Bangladesh people. Overfishing and ongoing environmental degradation have nearly wiped out larger wild examples of valued species such as rui (a kind of carp). Even so, at least 60% of the animal protein in the Bangladesh diet comes from fish and three quarters of rural households are believed to do some kind of fishing during the year. This essay catalogues a range of fishing activities in Kajipur.
A Rural Bengali Festival. At one time itinerant musicians, dancers, actors and performers of all sorts made a living entertaining people in villages across Bengal. Few do so today, particularly in Bangladesh, where Whahabi doctrines from Saudi Arabia increasingly suppress many traditional forms of Bengali performance culture. This essay presents one such festival, known locally as a bamboo festival. It is a mix of several traditions, including lathikela (the club game), a ritualized display of martial skill with lathi (stout bamboo polls). Lathials (club men) were once a significant force in Bengal, and still figure in disputes over char lands. Today's festivals like this one also include magic and feats of strength. In progress: ordered but not yet captioned.