Hilsa: The Fish That Survived Partition and Lives in Bengali Memory

Under the plastic-covered roofs of Kolkata's wet markets, people gather around hilsa with the focus usually reserved for precious things. They inspect the curve of its belly, press the flesh gently, ask where it came from, and debate whether it is worth the price. For Bengalis, hilsa has always been more than fish. Its place in the region's imagination goes back centuries. The fish appears in Prakritapaingala, a medieval Prakrit text written around 600 years ago. One verse describes an ideal meal of hot rice, ghee, hilsa, jute leaves and warm milk, a small detail that reveals just how deepl...