Bankura

The name Bankura brings back memories of the red soil, bricked Terracotta temples. Silent roads dressed in never-ending eucalyptus and Shorea Robusta (Sal) trees took us to a small quaint village – Indkata. The village is not known to many. The village is surrounded by jungle, which has been the homeland for the great Indian elephants. Several stories of elephant destroying farm fields and properties can be often witnessed in local newspapers and from residents. The hard-red soil makes this district a drought-prone area, hence the large forests play a vital role.

This village is a perfect example of isolation and a world of its own. Its home to generic population and some of the Santhal tribes. They live in jungles alongside the wild with their domesticated herds. What was amazing was the still trending mud houses with innovative but unsafe coloring. The color used to paint their mud houses are nothing but the extract of dead batteries. I believe it is MnO2 (manganese dioxide) which carries its own side-effects.

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Life in the village

The villagers along with the tribes mostly depend on farming and forests, due to lack of business or employment opportunity in this part of the state. The other part of their living is the struggle for water. The entire village is dependent on a tiny water spring, locally known as “Jharna” for cooking and drinking water. Though in Bengali, the term “Jharna” means waterfall, but for this village, it is a small pit hole, from where the underground water seeps out. Every morning, there is a long queue just to collect water and this is the main task for all women in the village. This is how priorities define our life. In big cities and town, we get 24*7 running water, which we take for granted as we pay for it, but in places like this, it is the necessity of life. (Could not upload the video, hence a snippet)

A walk around the village

We stepped out to take a walk around the village and were welcomed with a lasting smile on the villager’s face. As we strolled, we were followed by a group of kids, for whom it was something very unusual. People opened their doors to show us their world and gave an insight into their daily life. The village houses 2 large water bodies, which they call “Baandh” and the water becomes handy for seasonal farming and pisciculture purpose only. What makes this place different from other villages in Bengal is the presence of numerous poly houses for betel leaf farming. In Bengal, betel leaf farming is auspicious to the goddess Durga. Hence the cleaning of the poly house happens every day and one must wear fresh clothes and remove footwear before stepping into it.

The tribals of Bankura

Once we reached the tribal part of this village, we saw ladies and kids sunbathing just outside their houses. New rice lay in the forecourt for drying. These houses are extremely neat and clean and as the tradition follows, their kitchen area is outside the house in front of the main door. They live with their herds which include buffaloes, cows, sheep, and goats along with pigs, hens, and angry ducks. Personally, I was thankful for their courtesy in welcoming us and showing us around.

In our daily life we do not get a chance to interact with people like this, and while we did, I realized how innocent they are with their thoughts and how little they know about the outer world and all the innovations and progress our own country. Also, I don’t blame them, since they live with little to nothing and that is their world. The other things which filled our day and we will always cherish are playing with the goat kids, newly born calf and watching a small cockfight.

Conclusion

I cannot quote this village as a tourist attraction and neither it has anything to attract tourism. But a little break from usual holiday destinations and stepping into less known places would have a lot to offer, which we might miss out otherwise. I cannot promise to myself to be back here soon, but I will always cherish the memory and learning I got from this place and the warmth of the villagers will always be longed for.