Amid the year-end parties and picnics in and around Kolkata, the holiday season limelight, for once, shifted to Prinsep Ghat on December 20 and 21 for a unique year-end parade of an assortment of boats and ships sailing down river Hooghly beneath Vidyasagar Setu (Second Hooghly Bridge).
Christened ‘Nadir Sange Dekha’ (a tryst with the river), the initiative was the brainchild of the Sea Explorers’ Institute (SEI), a non-profit founded in 1984 aimed to arouse public interest in marine and riverine resources and value them as a crucial part of our environment. It is also known for its adventure activities. In 2023, it hosted the SEI Pentathlon a 525-km race along the Ganges (in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal) involving five adventure sports — trekking, rafting, kayaking, rowing and sailing.
Boats from the Sea Explorers’ Institute: (Clockwise from top left) Expedition boat, diving boat and kayaks
Cut to Nadir Sange Dekha (a tryst with the river)
Apart from adventure and scientific activities, SEI also comes with a cultural wing, which ideated Nadir Sange Dekha. The event comprised songs, poetry, street plays and artwork. Over the past two decades, SEI has involved reputable artists, singers and poets in spreading awareness through a series of sporadic events.
Swarup Bhattacharyya’s model boats on display at the event
Elaborating on Nadir Sange Dekha, SEI general secretary Sudheshna Chatterjee said: “Kolkata is known for car rallies but a rally or parade of aquatic vessels in something unknown to the city. This year’s Nadir Sange Dekha aims at showcasing the different traditional boats of Bengal along with the service craft of various organisations involved with the Hooghly.”
She added: “Apart from the boat parade, we have set up a small display of model boats of Bengal.” Swarup Bhattacharyya, an anthropologist researching on Bengal boats, curated the model boat exhibition. About 15 models of different boats were on display. Moreover, the entire area was decorated with paper boats, fishing nets and sails besides several photographs of boats with detailed descriptions.
Flagging of the boat parade as a section of the audience watches
The boat parade
The star attraction of the 2024 Nadir Sange Dekha was the aquatic parade which consisted over 30-plus exhibits. Some of the selected exhibits were:-
Taler donga
Taler donga is a dugout made from the trunk of a tal (palmyra palm) tree. It is abundantly used in the low-lying areas of Bengal, especially flood-prone areas.
Talai
A 15-20-feet-long fishing boat common in the Kolkata region of the Hooghly river. Thousands of hooks are hung up in a row to catch fish.
Tiner Nouka
Not a traditional boat but a recent innovation by the fishermen of Murshidabad. It is made of a single sheet of tin. This tiny boat can accommodate only one person.
Chip
A traditional racing boat from Bengal. It has a long and slender shape and can extend up to 120 feet. The shape helps in reducing friction and helps the boat to glide through water.
Dragon boat
The dragon boat being rowed beneath the Vidyasagar Setu
A traditional boat from China. Although the Chinese have been living in Kolkata for over 250 years, the dragon boat has never become a part of Bengal’s aquatic heritage. Since a decade, the Chinese of Kolkata are celebrating Dragon Boat Festival complete with boat races on the eastern fringes of the city.
Hogla boat
The boat is made of straw along with leaves of hogla tree. Hogla is a popular tree of the Sunderbans. It is not a traditional boat of Bengal but an innovation of SEI. In 2020, SEI organised a river expedition along the Hooghly from Murshidabad to Kolkata on a similar boat.
Plastic bottle boat
Another innovation of SEI aiming at environmental friendliness and adoptive reuse of discarded plastic bottles.
Fishing nets lend an aesthetic appeal to the unique riverside exhibition
Sea Explorers’ Institute
The host took part with its own fleet of watercraft comprising expedition boats, diving boats and kayaks. Abhinandan was the expedition boat, which was involved in a Kolkata-Falta expedition in 2021. The boat came in with a bright orange-coloured sail sporting the SEI logo. The second exhibit was a diving raft which came in with divers and necessary equipment. Two kayaks, which were part of the SEI Pentathlon was also part of the display.
Navy, Army, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers & Inland Waterways Authority of India
Aquatic vehicles from different service organisations. (Clockwise from top left) Navy, GRSE, IWAI and army watercraft
Various organisations have a connect with the Hooghly. SEI also included them in their water show. The Indian Navy came in with a patrol boat. Unknown to many, the Indian Army also has a water presence and largest craft on display was from the army. GRSE came in with three indigenously built watercraft. A dredger from IWAI was also part of the water parade.
River Traffic Police (RTP)
River Traffic Police displayed Kolkata’s patrol boat with two water scooters
The RTP, Kolkata came in with a patrolling watercraft. It was accompanied by two watercraft, which zoomed across the river.
Organiserspeak
SEI secretary SEI Nilendra Sarkar said: “This type of event is required to create awareness about rivers and boats. We plan to spread the awareness among the new generation and are involving schools in this type of events.” Swarup Bhattacharyya, popularly known as the ‘boatman of Bengal’, emphasised on the importance of such events. Thanking the SEI, he said: “This type of collaboration is absolutely necessary to spread the awareness about the river and watercraft.”
Note: The same event was repeated on the two days
