Eye of the Storm

The storm struck on a moonless midnight in May. Winds whipped up the deep dark waters of the river Muri Ganga which stretches for four kilometres from the delta island of Sagar Deep (which means "sea island" in Bengali) to the first port on the mainland, called Lot Number 8.

- Ambarish Nag Biswas

The southern tip of Sagar Deep is situated at the point where the Ganges finally flows into the Bay of Bengal after having travelled for thousands of kilometres south from its source in the Himalayan peaks. The northern part of the delta island, surrounded by tributaries of the Ganges, is inhabited by villagers who live in pale yellow mud huts with bright yellow thatched roofs and who farm or fish for a living.

"Though people of Sagar Deep do not have much money, the literacy rate here is as high as 90 percent," says Dibos Mondal, an islander and school teacher who lives and works in the village of Kochuberia in northern Sagar Deep. "Education is given a lot of importance even in low-income households."

This keenness for knowledge can arguably be attributed to the islanders' exposure to outsiders and the ensuing exchange of thoughts and ideas. While other islands of the delta remained relatively isolated, for centuries pilgrims descended at the confluence, where the Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal to take dips in the water, considered holy by Hindus.

The sage Kapil Muni is said to have lived and attained enlightenment in this location during the Vedic Age, around the 6th century BCE. A temple dedicated to him and other saints stands at the point of the confluence. The original temple is supposed to have disappeared into the encroaching sea. Says Dibos, "The temple had to be shifted, that is reconstructed three times, and the present one is the fourth one."

Sagar Deep has schools, colleges and other educational centres. "Its people love to study and are always eager to learn new skills" says Ambarish Nag Biswas, president of the West Bengal Amateur Radio Club (HAM Radio), who has started training groups of people in the radio technology.