No sunny days for boat builders
Madhab continues to repair the boat he is working on with his chisel and hammer, under the shade from the sun.
In the beginning of the 19th century, riverine Bangladesh had over 200 different types of wooden boats plying the rivers and other water bodies. Millions across the country were directly or indirectly involved in the traditional sector. With this unique diversification in boat building the entire country represented a real-life maritime museum from day to day. All the way from Tetulia to Teknaf, every locality had craftsmen with the knowledge of curving the timber into a unique design that would identify with its locality and the highly skilled craftsmanship.
Nowadays, wooden boat building is almost extinct in the country. The thousands of craftsmen have also vanished over the years, taking with them a know-how that had been there for over 2000 years. One or two who still survive on wooden boat building also find life hard to go by.
Madhab Sutradhar, 60, comes from Kamargaon in Bhaigyakul by the river Padma. Since childhood he has been a boat builder along with others in his village. Father of five children, four girls and a boy, Madhab nowadays only finds work to repair small wooden boats belonging to the fishermen along the river.
As Madhab continues to repair the hull of a small wooden boat with his chisel and hammer, he says life has been hard for him these days. “I have not learnt anything else other than working on the wooden boats but these days nobody really wants to build a wooden boat,” says Madhab solemnly.
As Madhab squeezes in jute thread into the joints of two wooden planks, he says that during his career he had built sailboats that could carry hundreds of tons of cargo.
While the boats are refurbished, every part has to be painstakenly repaired by hand.
“You will be surprised to learn that I got a monthly salary of Tk. 500 together with daily food back in those days, for the hard job of building boats for months on end,” he says, adding, “Now for a day’s work, I charge people Tk. 700.”
“The problem is that there is not enough work,” he says, “now that the fishing season is nearing, people are repairing their old boats only, otherwise I remain unemployed for most part of the year,” Madhab says. While Madhab carried opn with his repairs, the boat’s owner, a housewife from the village nearby sat under the shed and watched. Her watchful eyes were constantly on Madhab, who kept working, ignoring her.
She says she had to spend Tk. 10,000 to get the boat on the river on time. “My husband will be fishing with a net during the months to come,” she continues. “It (repairs) is quite expensive.”
Now Madhab opens up looking into her eyes. “Yes! It is expensive especially for a boat carpenter like me. I need to eat and feed my family; rice itself is Tk. 40 a kg and everything else is so expensive,” Madhab told her.
Madhab’s sudden reaction took the owner aback. She responded by a mild smile at him. Madhab carried on with his task at hand expertly.
Report and photos by Morshed Ali Khan
Short URL: https://reportsbd.com/?p=337
Posted by Reportsbd
on Mar 29 2015. Filed under Home Slide, National.
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