If it wasn’t for Tushar Sir, Rahul would have surely missed the view of his lifetime. So he felt. Perhaps he was not wrong, for when I saw the news in today’s paper, I felt the same way.
Tushar Sir was going to his North Bengal home on an urgent call, so he asked Rahul to come early morning to take some sample questions. A bit late was he, for this was not the time when Rahul usually ventured out. A swing at the rear door of the private bus that travels across Howrah Bridge and off he was to his destination.
Awhile later, the bus was crawling, the bridge still some distance off. “What’s the matter?”, he asked himself, peering outside. A traffic jam alright, so he decided to step off and walk the distance till the traffic looked clear. But that was not to be.
Agitated words like “giant fish”, “..as big as a man” came wafting to him. Though undecided as to where he would head to, Rahul nevertheless proceeded to the source of melee, which was what was causing the traffic jam.
Live fish in a city market – Waiting to be ‘gulped’ (Picture source)
As the crowd became thick, he found himself jostling his way inside the Howrah fish market. So there it was, he thought, whatever it was. Things were now clear to him, someone had caught a giant fish, a size no one seemed to have seen before.
It was a giant fish alright. Fishermen who knew the type said it was a cross between Koi and Bhola. Koi is desi variety of tilapiya fish and bhola is the sea-equivalent of bhekti. The fish was indeed a monstrous one, measuring 5 ft in length and 2 ft in width. It weighed all of 200 kg and was caught in the sea off Kakdwip, south of Diamond Harbor.
Mingling among curious onlookers, Rahul thanked his luck that he chose to come here instead of Tushar Sir’s home. The rush in the market was too heavy to do any decent business, so the fish dealers thought it wise to close their shops, lest free-takers loot their stock.
Rohu – Look no further (Picture source)
Howrah’s wholesale fish market is one of the biggest in eastern India, where the daily turnover runs into several lakhs. Today however was not any other day. An hour later, the giant fish came under hammer and the wholesaler Niren Majumdar sold it for Rs.2100 to fish-seller Subrata Ghosh from the city.
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