Case of a brave village woman: Saved her husband from hungry tiger

 

This is a real story of a brave woman named Mrs Jyostna Shi who saved her husband from the mouth of a tiger taking the risk of her own life. The family lives at Gurguria Bhubaneswari village of Sundarbans of West Bengal which is famous for Royal Bengal tiger. Also wildlife thrives in this unique ecosystem and it is home to large numbers of mammals, birds, fish etc. The area is covered with many creeks as it is part of the Ganges Delta. The delta is densely covered by mangrove forests. In this area many people eke out their livelihoods by catching fishes and crabs, in addition to collecting honey. Also many survive on small scale farming so the economic condition of the people is not very good.  Many people were killed by the tigers because the animals suddenly attacked the people who were catching the fish or doing farming or collecting honey.  According to a news report at least 23 villagers were killed by tigers in the Sundarbans in one year (telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/dt 02.06.21).  On 3 April 2021, early morning Mrs Jyostna Shi along with her husband (both middle aged persons) went to catch fishes and crabs by moving their small boat. It is pertinent to mention that because of tigers, the fishermen and women move through their small boat in the creek. After going a few minutes through the creek, husband and wife tied their boat in a small tree and started moving on foot to observe waterways. After moving for a few minutes they decided to return.  When they were returning, the wife was a few steps ahead, and the husband suddenly cried tiger, tiger. Mrs Jyostna Shi saw the tiger had grabbed her husband with its legs. She jumped on the back of the tiger. But the tiger wanted to kill her husband and eat. She started to remove the tiger from the husband but Tiger was not leaving him so she finally put her two fingers in two canals of the ears of the tiger. The tiger was nervous as ears’ canals are very sensitive to all animals including human beings. The tiger left the man but by this time the man was profusely bleeding. She then with a lot of struggle took her husband in the boat. And after reaching the village she cried to help her husband as husband was profusely bleeding because badly injured. The villagers were kind enough and arranged a vehicle to take them to Kolkata which is around 140 kilometres away from the area. In Kolkata, the orthopedic surgeon did few operations and still the person is under treatment and he cannot lift his one hand. Shi family has two daughters and they arranged the marriage of the elder daughter, but unfortunately the first daughter's husband was killed by the tiger. For this incident, the in-laws asked her to go back to her parents’ home and by this time she delivered a girl child also, so the young helpless woman came with the baby girl child to the parents' home. It is reported that for survival of all the family members Mrs Shi (wife of injured husband) works in the village and hardly earns Rs 200 per day. If she earns, family members get food but if not then eating is uncertain. Anyway, I salute the woman for fighting with the tiger at the cost of her life to save her husband.

(The basic inputs of the article have been collected from Didi No.1, a Bengali TV show, dated 27 September 2021) 

Dr (Prof ) Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad, Dt. 29 September 2021.

 

Few Facts about Engineers’ Day in India

 The World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) has selected 4 March as 'World Engineering Day for a Sustainable World’. But Engineers’ Day is observed in several countries on various dates of the year e.g. in India on 15 September, Engineers’ Day is celebrated  as Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, popularly known as Sir MV an Indian civil engineer was born on  15 September 1860 in Muddenahalli village in Karnataka. His contribution to the field of engineering in India is huge. His work was applauded with several accolades, the most eminent being the Bharat Ratna. It is pertinent to mention that his birthday on 15 September is celebrated as Engineers' Day not only in India but also in Sri Lanka and Tanzania in his memory (wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Visvesvaraya).     He was the Chief Engineer of Krishna Raja Sagara dam in the north-west suburb of Mysore city, Laxmi Talav dam in the south-west Maharashtra Radhanagari Kolhapur and also served as one of the Chief Engineers of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad. In 1912, he was appointed as Diwan (second minister) of Mysore and served for seven years.  With support from Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, Maharaja of Mysore, Sir M. Visvesvaraya contributed to the development of Mysore. He was instrumental in the founding of Government Engineering College at Bangalore in 1917; this one later on was later named University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering. He commissioned several new railway lines in Mysore state also. He was instrumental in developing a system to protect Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion. This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia when it was built. Sir Visvesvaraya provided technical advice for the location of Mokama Bridge over Ganga in Bihar when he was 90 years old.  

On occasion of Engineers’ day my salute to all the engineers as because of them we are leading a decent life. There are many instances about the engineers’ contribution in each and every society. A few I wish to mention - today’s multi storeyed buildings, bridges - flyover or on the rivers are few examples among the plethora of the engineers’ creations. 

The contribution of engineers is found in the Hindu mythology as lord Vishwakarma is considered as the God of Architect and Construction. Many perform Vishwakarma puja with great zeal normally this is held before Dasserra. On this day (Vishwakarma puja), the workers take a break from work and the machines are worshipped. Vishwakarma puja is the symbol for all the workers and craftsmen to increase their productivity (apnisanskriti.com/vrat-katha/significance-of-vishwakarma-puja).      

On the occasion of Sir Visvesvaraya's birthday, I offer my great salute to him. Also my salute to all the engineers because of them we are leading luxurious lives. During summer days and scorching heat we are enjoying cool weather as electric fans, air condition​s​ etc. are beating the heat. Similarly during extreme winter, room heaters etc., give us huge comfort.​ In other words,  I wish to mention here engineers' have controlled the season also. ​

Sir M. Visvesvaraya left for heavenly abode on 14 April 1962 (survived about 102 years) but his contribution in India and abroad will be remembered by all generations after generations.

 Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad

Dt 15 September 2021​