Field Notes from a Waterborne Land – Bengal Beyond the Bhadralok
Parimal Bhattacharya
Harper Collins, 2022
pg. 298
Rs. 499
In Field Notes from a Waterborne Land, Parimal Bhattacharya endeavours to show his readers a Bengal that lies beyond Kolkata and its gentrified precincts. While the book journeys to areas far and beyond the metropolis, especially to Deltaic Bengal, it very much remains a Bhadralok’s account. We therefore encounter the non-Bhadralok parts of Bengal through the eyes of the author, a Bhadralok himself – erudite, cultured, upper caste, reform minded and English speaking. It is primarily from this position that the author views the life of the less privileged who live in zones that perennially attract ecological disasters like floods, cyclones or live under the constant threat of wild animals trespassing into their homes. Disaster, after all, makes for a great story, often voyeuristic to put in simple terms. But the non-Bhadralok exists in Kolkata too. Why not depict non-Bhadralok lives in the city? Cities, after all, are also discriminating.