The Joy of Celebration

A festival of catching fish, locally known as Polo Baoa, was once celebrated all across rural Bangladesh, but is now going extinct with time. During this festival, people from all age groups, including children, descend upon the waterbodies with whatever tools they have to net fish, including boal, baush, rui and different carps. Starting from the Bangla month of Poush, the celebration continues until the month of Joishţho. The sheer delight on the faces of children, with splashes of water on their clothes, is testimony to the joy of this ritual. A few places in rural Bangladesh are now gearing up for the celebrations in the coming days. The photos were taken last year in Sylhet’s Bishwanath upazila.

Photo: Sheikh Nasir