Village Flute Behind the Scenes: Kurigram

Photos from Kurigram Town:

The Kurigram College Vice Principal and head of the English Department introduces me, to speak to a joint class of all the English students at the college.

What do people eat in Australia?

Why do you live in Bangladesh?

What do you think of Kurigram?

Are there any jobs going at the newspaper?

Notes: "Kuri" is an old-fashioned word in Bengali meaning "twenty" - though the word is still used in the Paschimbangan (Indian) version of Bangla. "Gram" means "village". Kurigram - twenty villages! Of course there are far more than twenty villages in the district.

Kurigram is one of the poorest districts in Bangladesh, potentially the poorest of all. Perhaps the main reason for this is that it is crossed by numerous rivers including the enormous Brahmaputra which has always hampered communication and development. It is also far from Dhaka. 

Also, the rivers cause extensive erosion so that people living anywhere near a river (basically everyone) is at risk of losing their homes and land. Most of Kurigram town was swallowed by the Brahmaputra and has been relocated. The new town is leafy, spread out and quiet.

Like some other northern districts in Bangladesh, Kurigram has traditionally suffered from "monga" which is an annual, seasonal famine that lasts for a few months. In those months there is no food to be had from farming - although it was suggested to me that the actual problem is the number of landless people, that ownership of Kurigram's land resources is too much concentrated in the hands of a few. The landless normally rely on day wage labour but this is unavailable during the monga season when agriculture has no need of it. NGOs and successive Bangladeshi governments have been working to overcome monga throughout the north, with some success.

The government has also paid special attention to training for young people in practical skills like better farming techniques and different crops. It has helped.

Nonetheless, Kurigramers often migrate in search of employment and it was said that every Kurigram family, just about, has at least one daughter or son (mostly daughters) working in the garments sector in or around Dhaka. Garments workers' salaries are not usually very high but to an extent the industry keeps Kurigram afloat.

In Dhaka, the majority of rickshaw drivers come from North Bengal, including Kurigram. Rickshaw riding is hard work but the profession employs about one million people. 

Street scene in Dhaka. Most rickshaw drivers are from North Bengal.

As with other northern districts, the people of Kurigram are famous for being forthright, sincere and honest. It is common when dealing with a rickshaw driver from the north for them to respond to a "how much" before you start out or after arriving at the destination with a shrug and a "give!" which means, give as you wish to. It is traditional Bengali manners!

One major crop that alters the Kurigram scenery somewhat is the golden fibre: jute. Bangladesh is the world's largest producer of jute and Bangladeshi scientists in recent years have decoded the genome for jute, with hopes to bring benefit to the industry.

Anecdotal evidence for the relative poverty in Kurigram is a lack of mid-range restaurants in the town - for example, there are no kebab houses. It would seem that there is not much disposable income around for "luxuries". Another noticeable difference is the lack of a decent internet service - speeds are very slow - unusual in tech-savvy Bangladesh.

Foreigners being rare in Kurigram it was an easy matter to be invited to speak to the English students at Kurigram College. They were very polite and enthusiastic, and seemingly pleased with my answers. In particular I remember explaining to them that one significant difference between Australia / the west and Bangladesh was the strength of human relations - in particular because western culture is built on the individual while in Bangladesh its relations with others that traditionally defined people. Bangladeshis from birth are usually surrounded and supported by an extended family network that is very close - and each particular relationship from maternal older uncle to paternal younger aunt has cultural meaning. Some relationships are 'serious', for mentoring or support, while others are 'joking' relationships with a larger element of fun in them. 

The difference is even there in the language. In Bangla, as in other South Asian languages, the question is not "How many brothers and sisters do you have?" but "How many brothers and sisters are you?" And the answer is not "I have 2 brothers and a sister" for example, but "We are 3 brothers and a sister." It is something an English speaker needs to get used to. Yet it is rather nice that the emphasis is not on the possessing, the "having" but on the being, "we are" - and that the sum, the "we", is the total not excluding the person being asked, rather than in English where the centre of the answer is the "I". 

Families and communities are tight in Bangladesh.

The interesting thing for me was in explaining this, the college students understood it very easily - in part they were intrigued to think of the different emphasis in the English language they were learning; but more than that, it reminded me of a hugely pleasing developing consciousness in Bangladesh that things previously taken for granted are actually both unique and very special. Twenty years ago I had trouble making Bangladeshis really appreciate the above point - because their strong relationships they took for granted. Now they know - things are different elsewhere. And the college students were very much happy and a little proud when I mentioned that point - although each system has its advantages and disadvantages.

Kurigram is also rich in traditional Bengali culture - I was lucky enough to witness this at a concert at the local Shilpakala Academy where young students of singing and music were able to perform... on again, off again through a few electricity cuts... Their skills were impressive. There is a local form of folk music in the north called bhawaiya - famous from nearby Rangpur and also to be found across the border in places like Jalpaiguri, India; but the Kurigramers assured me that bhawaiya from Kurigram was "the best in the world."

Students from Shilpakala Academy in Burungamari perform in Kurigram Town.

With the skills shown that evening, it was easy to imagine a few future stars were among us!

Photos from Char Parbhotipur:

Setting out: from the boat to Char Parbhotipur

Abdul Wahed, our local correspondent who looked after me in Kurigram.

On the Char Parbhotipur boat.

With Md Abu Taleb and his family in Char Parbhotipur.

Notes: There are many "chars" or sand shoals in the Brahmaputra River - maybe one hundred? Living conditions are very basic on the shoals. We visited the nearest (and presumably most developed) one, Char Parbhotipur. 

It was interesting for me because my Bengali village is in Hatiya, Noakhali in the south of the country but ultimately Hatiya is also a "char", albeit a much larger island that has been around for a few hundred years. Nonetheless around Hatiya too are newer chars, some of which are inhabited / newly settled.

But Char Parbhotipur was significantly poorer than is usual these days in Hatiya - more like how Hatiyan families used to live twenty years ago. As Hatiya has not had a major cyclone since 1991 and has the benefit of sea as well as river fishing it has become significantly richer and more developed.

The family we visited in Char Parbhotipur, meanwhile, could not even offer tea - which is basically unthinkable in Hatiya, even if visiting the poorest families.

It was incredibly hot with sun glare such that you had to squint on the day we visited - it only took a few hours but I was tired soon enough. Nonetheless, I wished I'd had more time, had gone their alone and stayed the night - or even on a more remote shoal. The local people would easily look after you with somewhere to sleep, and safety is a non-issue - one would only need to bring food supplies as there was no shop there. Maybe next time...


Photos from Ulipur:

Hanging out at the Ulipur fire station.

Trying kheer mahan at one of the competitors to Pabna Sweets, with Makbel.

Pithas of a local variety made by Makbel's wife.

Discussing Kurigram's food with Md Shohidur Rahman at the Al Shad Hotel. It was the start of the shutkani adventure!

Notes: I've already written much about Ulipur! One thing I did not mention is I had a friend, Hari Pada there - I know him from Dhaka. He works as a police sub-inspector and has worked his way up from constable, which isn't easy. He was posted in Ulipur and helped me a great deal even though his duty seemed to run almost 24 /7. 

Although he is also from North Bengal he is not from Kurigram. As he was not an Ulipurian he could not help directly with my quest to find Kurigram food in a village; nor could he call upon local friends for the task since he has only been newly posted to Ulipur. Indeed, just quietly he reckons the Kurigram food is to salty for his palate - though I suspect he hasn't tried the genuine traditional shidal and shutkani fare such as I managed to - his is possibly more of a reaction to the canteen arrangements at the police station. "I keep telling the cook to put less salt in," he said, "but no result..."

We did, however, go just about everywhere on his Honda... a great help, transport was easy!

And in the words of his boss, the Officer in Charge at Ulipur: "There is basically no crime in Ulipur apart from domestic and land disputes."

Proof that I did help with the cooking (slightly).

Crushing jute leaves... like an expert?

With Shohidur Bhai and Bipul Bhai in their house yard.

Notes: I am laughing at the Kurigram photographs of me for two features: first is the "Honda hair" and second, for the really observant, is a slight redness to the lips! It is from chewing betel leaf - a habit I have grown to enjoy now and then (while... ahem... Hari Pada barely stops chewing betel!) The photograph below is a typical "betel photo" in that you want to keep your lips closed a little tightly to prevent the "red lip" phenomenon in the photo. Cameras are yet to be designed with a red lip reduction feature...

With my friend from Dhaka Hari Pada, at a tea shop in Hatia Union.

Sub-inspector Hari Pada buys betel from Rana Bhai!

Betel leaf and nut (paan and shupari).

Photos from Chilmari:

The Chilmari ghat, where boats leave for the other side of the Brahmaputra.

Captain's chair!

Motorbikes and roof-riding!

The other passengers in the boat, before the remaining twenty of them arrived.

Notes: To the south of Ulipur is Chilmari. It is possible to take ferry boats from the constantly eroding basic ghat there, across the Brahmaputra River to the two isolated Upazilas of Kurigram that lay on the far side... Raumari and Char Rajibpur. 

These Upazilas are sandwiched between the Brahmaputra, which takes over an hour to cross by boat, and the black fenced border with the Indian state of Meghalaya. The scenery is beautiful because nearby Meghalaya offers a hilly addition to the horizon, while nearer Bangladesh is flat. 

To travel this way is an alternative route back to Dhaka, since buses head south to Jamalpur District where the main northern highway runs south through Mymensingh and Gazipur to the capital. The road from Kurigram to Dhaka is a much longer route in distance (not time) due to the need to use the Banghabandu Bridge far to the south - the only bridge across the Brahmaputra (which is called the Jamuna River further south).

Compass Points

Coloured stuffing for sale in Ulipur.

Who am I? Well, originally I come from 9,272 kilometres away, give or take some kilometres, almost precisely in the southeast direction.

I’m assuming for the moment that the centre of the universe is at geographic coordinates 25°39′30.05″N, 89°37′08.52″ E, give or take a second or two, at the precise spot known as the Al Shad Hotel on College Road in Ulipur, Kurigam. While the needle might always gravitate northwards the compass has to sit somewhere. It’s not much of an assumption – for both management and regular customers the centre of the universe the Al Shad just about is.

Centre of the universe: the Al Shad Hotel on College Road.

I come from coordinates 33°51′35.9″S, 151°12′40″ E, a place that’s referred to as Sydney, Australia - but at the Al Shad it’s called ‘bidesh’ – the foreign zone.

A convenient geographic descriptor, bidesh covers all areas beyond the borders of Bangladesh absolutely and may also find application to Bangladeshi areas outside Kurigram District depending on how humorous the conversation has become. Sydney is ‘deep bidesh’ – one hundred percent exactly.

There was time to eat breakfast at the universe’s centre before finding my bearings.

Who is he? Bideshis are guests at the Al Shad. They’ve travelled far – they might need three napkins during the course of their lentil, egg and roti-bread breakfast, while for customers from nearer coordinates one will do. The water glass should be refilled or replaced after even a sip is removed – it’s important they feel welcome. And they certainly do!

The small town of Ulipur, Kurigram, Bangladesh.

Side view of the munshibari in Ulipur.

What’s his story? It’s impossible to communicate with bideshis since they don’t speak Bangla – to be assumed – but the bideshi’s life story can be gleaned from tiny details. For example, if the bideshi is wearing a t-shirt with a miniscule “Feni Leisure Club” logo on its sleeve, it’s certain enough to tell others he works for the Leisure Club in Feni and is on Leisure Club business in Ulipur.

If however, by way of some miracle he does speak some Bangla then it’s all the more enjoyable. The Al Shad manager can ask what he’d like for lunch since they could make something special – and the stool beside the counter may be offered for chatting.

What does the compass say? To the north northeast on the Dharanibari Road, roughly at coordinates 25°40′12.68″N, 89°37′49.17″ E is the decorative munshibari, the gentrified manor dating from the mid-1700s that was home to the local ruling family, by title - Munshis.

The munshibari estate in Ulipur.

The original 34-acre combined estate was first granted by the sixth Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, of the Afshar Dynasty, Nawab Shirajuddaula – to Bonwari Munshi who came to the area for hunting initially, so it is said.

Sri Brojendra Lal Munshi

As Bonwari Munshi had no child, a son, Binod, was adopted for inheritance. Binod in turn was without an heir so adopted probably the most renowned Munshi, Brojendra Lal - a dusty portrait of him is to be found inside. Brojendra Lal also fathered no son and his younger daughter followed that fate – adopting a son to inherit.

After 1971 the property was ultimately taken over by the government. From 1987 the local Revenue Office has been situated inside. A single officer sits in a large room at a weathered desk.

The home is in a state of disrepair, but its charm plants in one bideshi’s mind the foolish notion that it would make a nice boutique hotel – that there could be a string of such hotels at historical homes across Bangladesh. The unique tourism experience could be marketed internationally. Of course, there is little organised activity for the bideshi in the villages but the scenery, culture and friendliness are untapped major drawcards.

Jute truck, Ulipur.

How do bideshis eat? Being from so far away nothing can be assumed. It’s considered that bideshis don’t eat in the normal way, with hands. He requires cutlery – and there being no full set available, at the least a small aluminium fork can be brought on a plate and placed in front of him. On second thought – do they even have forks in bidesh? It might be worthwhile to mime putting the fork into the roti and then into the mouth to ensure he is exactly certain of the utensil’s utility. He’s sure to enjoy the meal!

Eroded road in Hatia Union, Ulipur.

And then? To the east northeast on Anantapur Road I find the serene walled garden of the Sri Sri Kali Siddheshwari Hindu Temple complex, a good place to pause. The ruins of the original temple dating from around 1700 are nearby. Beyond in Hatia Union one meets the majestic Brahmaputra at approximately 25°40′39.97″N, 89°41′23.62″ E. But it’s not so regal a river when it is explained that the half-remaining riverside road was just a week earlier a full road, since devoured by erosion.

Meanwhile at the Anantapur tea shop is a dispute: one villager is arguing that all people can speak Bangla. The other says, “Not all people speak Bangla! If he speaks English, will you understand it?”

And when local Mohammed Nazi Hossein speaks of the severe erosion there should be no humour in it: yet he doesn’t speak grimly. “The river used to be five kilometres away, four or five years ago” he says, “and now my kids can take their bath in front of the house!” I am left to wonder if there isn’t a poet inside every Bangladeshi villager.

How does he take his after-meal tea? It’s an important consideration at the Al Shad. It should probably be double-size, in the glass with no chip in it, with extra milk and any flavoursome tea spices that may be around – he will certainly be unable to say afterwards that Ulipurians didn’t do their best. He will admire the kindness!

Street scene in Ulipur.

Where to now? To the west at some seconds away is the bustle of Ulipur, with coloured stuffing in sacks for sale, the lively buzz of traffic and the crowd and jute being loaded onto a truck up a long ramp. See the modest pond, the dighee behind the mosque that the congestion doesn’t reach!

The tank behind the mosque, Ulipur.

Alomgir at his betel and cigarette stall.

Do they chew paan in Australia? Alomgir the betel seller on the street outside the Al Shad has curiosity. When the answer is no, he suggets it would be no trouble to take a bunch of betel leaves to Australia since they are easily packed together and tied with string – a convenient knotted carry-handle can be included. When it is explained that plant and animal material can’t be taken into Australia – that it would be confiscated at the airport – well, it’s frankly puzzling. It may be the general rule but “What could they care if it’s only betel?”

Doesn’t the compass needle ultimately point north? Yes, and to the north at coordinates 25°44′52.18″N, 89°38′00.12″ E, quite some distance from Ulipur is the Zia Pond, a large dighee surrounded by trees that must for the townsfolk be an enjoyable picnic spot.

Zia Pond, north of Ulipur.

But the forces of the universe are many and even at its centre unthinkable things can happen. The Al Shad is without chatter! All faces are frozen – without exception pointing in one direction. Has the universe collapsed? Has time ended? No, it’s the TV that has them engrossed, without exception, to a man, to a face – they’re watching the BBC series “Walking with Dinosaurs”, one hundred percent absorbed in considering things Jurassic.

Because, from the centre of the universe it’s fascinating to look outwards – and dinosaurs are not less interesting than learning about bidesh from the bideshi who’s just walked in again.

Zia Pond must make for an ideal picnic spot.

Yet it’s Alomgir who has the final say. “Of all the places you’ve been,” he asks, “Isn’t Ulipur just the best place of all?” And right then – for that singular moment – the bideshi wonders if Alomgir isn’t one hundred percent accurate.

View of the Brahmaputra from a tea shop in Hatia Union.

Boat on the Brahmaputra.

This article published in Star Magazine, here: Compass Points

Loading jute in Ulipur town.

Shutkani Torkari à la Kurigram

The shutkani torkari ready to eat!

How to make shutkani torkari etc. in 12 easy steps:-

Opening note: the following process would’ve been much simpler had I’d met my friend’s younger brother stationed at Ulipur fire station at first, as described last week. But that was on the second arrival in Ulipur in the space of days, while discovering shutkani torkari, a Kurigram District specialty, was a task of the first. I didn’t know any Ulipur locals then. Anyway, let’s get started...

The locals at the Al Shad Hotel, College Road, Ulipur will prove enthusiastic accomplices in the quest to discover the local cuisine

Ingredients

250 grams fresh puti fish

3 onions

2 cloves of garlic

15 – 20 small chillies

25 grams jute leaves

2 pinches salt

2 teaspoons turmeric

half a glass of water

cooking oil

2 brothers and 1 sister-in-law

1 village kitchen

a generous serving of Ulipur hospitality

Method

Step 1: For the best result in experiencing shutkani torkari you’ll first need a bou, amma or apa – a wife, mother or older sister from Kurigram District, preferably from a village, who will be expert in cooking. Local dishes are not served in restaurants and homemade food is best. Political correctness aside, it remains a general truth that the ladies of a household are the culinary master chefs.

However, finding one of these relatives at short notice isn’t easy – and in the case of a bou the endeavour will be complicated and have lifelong consequences. But don’t despair – a suitable substitute is to find a generous bhabi or elder sister-in-law. It is well-known that a Bangladeshi bhabi is a close relation akin to a friend and that bhabis by habit take care of their choto bhais or little brothers, especially when it comes to food.

The good news is that bhabis are easier to find. Bangladesh is full of bhabis – all you need to do is to first locate a kindly bhai or brother.

Step 2: A recommended starting point for locating a bhai in Ulipur is the Al Shad Hotel on College Road. With the hotel managers and patrons it will be easy to quickly establish cordial relations and enquiries regarding a desire to sample the local cuisine will be received with enthusiasm and lively discussion.

If possible, try to raise the subject when Health Assistant Md. Shohidur Rahman has stopped by for a bite to eat. It is likely he will kindly volunteer the cooking skills of his own bhabi in Bisnubhallabhe village of Dhamsreni Union, some ten kilometres from the town.

It might be that he is able to call ahead to ask if it is okay, at which point his bhabi, Umma Habiba Mitu, will likely agree. Any offer to buy the ingredients before setting out on his Honda will be firmly refused – everything is available at the house, you will be told. In such a case, one may be on the way to the beautiful village by Shohidur Bhai’s motorcycle within minutes.

Health Assistant Shohidur Rahman in primary discussion

Step 3: Shohidur Bhai will likely stop to show the fishing nets in the waterlogged land beside ricefields at the entrance to the village where the pint-sized puti fish are caught. In the meantime, Bhabi will have started, unasked, to sort the various ingredients onto plates, chopping and washing the onions, garlic and chillies in preparation – so it looks like a TV cooking show set before your arrival. She will have the clay oven fired.

Bhabi will have neatly arranged all the ingredients in advance, so the kitchen looks like a TV cooking show set

Step 4: There will be introductions with Shohidur’s older brother Md. Mizanur Rahman Bipul and of course, with Bhabi. In due course you will be shown to the kitchen.

Step 5: Next, take the dried jute leaves and mix in water, slightly crushing them in the process. While doing this, Shohidur will explain how the jute leaves are harvested when the plants are young, no taller than his nephew. It is the new leaves which are chosen – a process which does not destroy the jute plant. It continues to grow, to provide the golden fibre. The harvested jute leaves are subsequently dried in the sun for 2 – 3 days. Put the washed jute leaves into a pan, adding the fresh puti fish.

Bhabi will periodically stir the torkari while it cooks for 15-20 minutes

Step 6: Add the onions, garlic and chillies followed by salt, turmeric, water and oil. Lightly mix by hand, and please note that one can be actively involved in this process. All the work need not be left up to Bhabi.

The torkari simmering on Bhabi's stove. 

Step 7: Place on village stove to cook for fifteen to twenty minutes. While Bhabi lightly turns the torkari as it cooks, Bipul Bhai will bring the conversation to a boil concerning that other Kurigram delicacy, shidal – a dish made from shutki, which is dried, emaciated and shrivelled fish and kochu pata, or aram leaves.

The process for making shidal is first to dry the puti fish for seven days in the sun – the usual shutki method. Then the shutki is mixed into balls with kochu and returned to sun-dry for another 15 – 20 days. The brownish, uninviting, disc-shaped and very smelly shidal ball is then ready for use. It’s a strange kind of treasure.

Bipul Bhai will explain that when visitors from Ulipur town reach the villages they often desperately seek out shidal; while visitors from Dhaka tend to react with surprise and curiosity, asking “What on Earth are you eating?”

The smelly shidal ball waiting to be cooked. No outsider would think to put that in their mouths.

Step 8: While this is going on, Shohidur Bhai will be visiting the neighbours. He has already decided that any experience of Kurigram cuisine cannot be complete without at least seeing a shidal ball – as good as the shutkani torkari promises to be. As they had none in the house, the obliging neighbours will have agreed to provide one – and Bhabi meanwhile will metamorphose this plan into actually cooking the shidal, to make more precisely a shidal bhorta – a mashed shidal dish.

Step 9: By this time the steaming shutkani torkari will be served, usually with rice. It has a strong flavour, with a spinach-like consistency but slight bitterness to it – with just a hint of puti fish. Shutkani torkari leaves a lasting taste in the mouth which makes one want more. Even for a novice who’s not particularly fond of fish – shutkani torkari à la Bhabi is delicious.

Brothers Mizanur and Shohidur Rahman.

Step 10: Meanwhile the shidal disc will have arrived. Its odour is worse than a three-day old shirt and certainly no non-local would ever consider putting that in their mouths. Yet, the Kurigramers know better – that when cooked it will have a spicy, fulsome flavour.

Somehow before the eating of the shutkani torkari is completed, Bhabi will have miraculously fried the shidal with onions and chilli before it is mashed into a bhorta with mortar and pestle. It’s spicier than the torkari, saltier with a stronger, unique flavour that, while tasty at first, must be as coffee – a flavour type which only brings increased enjoyment with accustom. It’s not difficult to understand why Ulipur townspeople feverishly seek it out. Next time I will too.

Another dish associated with Kurigram District is pelka, a seasonal soup traditionally available at winter’s end made from jute leaves and soda, or with shozna leaves in other seasons. But word from the Al Shad crowd is that pelka has resigned itself to history and is rarely enjoyed in Ulipur nowadays.

The shidal concoction ready to be mashed into a bhorta.

Step 11: Returning to town, Shohidur Bhai will stop beside a four-hundred-year-old village mazar, an Islamic shrine which sits not fifty metres from a likewise old Hindu temple, now within the roots of a huge tree. He wishes to demonstrate something of which he is proud: in Dhamsreni Union as in Ulipur, people of different faiths live in harmony.

Step 12: Upon reaching College Road, you’ll find half the street talking about the project: to sample Ulipur cuisine. The experience will need to be discussed at length with the crowd at the Al Shad over a cup or three of tea.

Shidal bhorta à la Kurigram, à la Bhabi.

This article is published in Star Magazine, here: Shutkani Torkari a la Kurigram