Fish fairs for sons-in-law

People in this part of the world have developed a rich culture and tradition. Once they had ample leisure time and they used it for collective entertainment. It is not for nothing that a proverb was in currency to the effect that the Bangalees have 13 celebrations in 12 months. The message is that even 12 months were not enough to accommodate the number of their rituals and celebratory occasions.
One such fabulous occasion has been being celebrated for over 250 years in Gazipur. There is a fish market which becomes the central attraction on this occasion. On the Poush Sangkranti (the last day of Poush on the Bangla calendar) this fish market gets specially prepared for the grand occasion. For a week or so fishermen gather their big catches in order to meet the demand of the day.
The tradition is to invite son-in-laws of the village where the market is as well as of other villages around it. On that particular day, the son-in-laws are the main customers who compete with each other for the biggest fish available. The festive occasion started on a limited scale and was confined to the Hindu community initially. But now it has transcended the community confine and people irrespective of their religions participate in the occasion.
How the Bangalees attached priority to fish is illustrated by this event. Sons-in-law are the ones who need most pampering and in exchange they too have to prove they deserve the favour. Quite rightly, they need to put on display how fat their pockets are when they buy a fish for the families of their fathers-in-law. Sure enough, it points to the fact that once people were affluent enough to devise such an occasion to put to test the financial might of sons-in-law.  
Fish certainly occupies an important place in the life of the Bangalees. So fish festivals are held in different ways in different places. If fish does not quite take the central place, it plays the side role in a significant way. In Sherpur under Moulvibazar, Sylhet another such event is arranged on the bank of Kushiara for customers to pick up the choicest fish. The bigger the better is the motto here. People with money engage in a healthy competition to get hold of their most favourite ones.
The price of a large fish can go up to 0.1million or even 1.5 million. There are some that are sold between Tk10,000 to 20,000. Sure enough, the price of a fish should not always be in the region they are sold but where ego is concerned, no price can be higher. Anyway, this is voluntary, no one does force someone to get into the bargaining but those who have money to spare do so in a happy mood.
Apart from this, there is yet another occasion where fish gets a festive welcome. This is on the occasion of the Pahela Baishakh. In certain parts of Bangladesh, people make it a point that they must purchase a big fish on the day. Unlike the urbanites who prefer Hilsha and panta (soaked rice cooked the previous day), people in several areas go for the biggest fish available. There is no dish of meat on the first day of the New Year. The biggest and finest dish of fish is served on the day.
Sure enough fish festivity does not quite rise up to the occasion with cultured varieties. Usually the fish have to be caught from river, sea or at the least from beel (swamp) or such natural water bodies.  They must have time to grow up to their ultimate sizes in their habitats to draw attention of customers. This makes the occasion special for all who assemble to give the festivity its sights and sounds.