“…social relations in the Sundarbans are perceived along the lines of whether one’s livelihood depends on the forest and rivers or on agricultural land.”
– Forest of Tigers, page 30
Income in the Sundarbans generally comes from one of three categories of occupation: forest workers, prawn seed collectors, and landowners. The geographical locations of these three categories directly relates to the geographical-social hierarchy of the Sundarbans islands, with forest workers at the bottom, landowners at the top, and prawn seed collectors finding middle ground between the two. The primary way that these categories are created and divided revolves around how those who work within each occupation regards the forest and its inhabitants, particularly the Bengal tiger.
Forest Workers
Forest workers can be divided into two sub-categories of occupation: there are the forest fishers and there are those who “do the forest” (honey collectors, wood collectors, and poachers).
Forest Fishers
Forest fishers see their work as intrinsically intertwined with the forest, the rivers, and all the creatures that inhabit those places. These men leave their homes in groups of three to five for approximately 20 days per month to travel the Sundarbans rivers and catch crab and fish. The forest fishers believe that they work under the protection of Bonbibi, Mother of the Forest, whom they pray to before entering the forest. They also firmly adhere to the belief that they may not take more than they need from the forest, so as neither to deplete it of its resources or disturb its inhabitants and their way of life. Because Bonbibi is considered a motherly figure to the forest fishers and to all the beings that live in the forest, the forest fishers feel as though these beings, especially the Royal Bengal Tigers, are their “brothers.” To harm or disturb their brothers is seen as extremely detrimental to the relationship between humans and the forest. Forest fishers think of those who “do the forest” as disturbing the peace within the forest and depleting it of its resources for their own personal gain. To them, this is considered the utmost kind of greed and arrogance.
Those who “do the forest”
Honey collectors, wood collectors, and poachers are referred to as those who “do the forest.” This is arguably the riskiest work that one could do in the Sundarbans, as these workers are the most vulnerable to attacks by tigers, snakes, crocodiles, and other forest predators. An estimated 150 of these workers are killed by tiger or crocodile annually. Their work is conducted directly within the forest, whereas forest fishers generally remain on the rivers where they are marginally safer. Other islanders, particularly forest fishers who believe that their work is purely peaceful and respectful, think of these forest workers as threats to the wellbeing of the forest and its inhabitants.
The work is “high-risk, high-gain,” as it is said that these workers will either be killed in the forest or be relatively successful. Honey and wood collection, as well as poaching, are lucrative positions because few are willing to make such a big risk. Poaching is illegal in the Sundarbans, as the term implies. Somewhat surprisingly, poachers are not always marginalized and otherwise option-less in terms of income. They can be adrenaline-seeking well-off landowners from “up” islands who enter the forest with firearms for protection. Poachers do not seek protection from Bonbibi, as it is understood that poaching is destructive to the forest. Instead, many poachers worship the goddess Kali, perceived by islanders and many other Hindus as a deity for workers in hostile and dangerous occupations, such as police officers, gangsters, and taxi-drivers. In contrast to forest fishers, those who “do the forest” do not enter the forest peacefully, but rather on high alert and in pursuit of personal gain.
Prawn Seed Collectors
Prawn seed collectors were not always abundant in the Sundarbans. For a more in depth explanation of how the prawn business began to thrive in the Sundarbans, visit the “Blue Revolution: The Prawn Business” page under “Regional.” Here, the relationship between prawn seed collectors and the forest will be explained.
As prawn seed collection is more “businesslike” than forest work, considering the collectors and dealers have to accommodate a fluctuating market and ever-changing prices, spirituality is not as necessary in their daily routines as it is for those forest workers who pray to Bonbibi for protection. Neither do they pray to Kali, like those who “do the forest,” as their work does not fall under what Kali represents. This does not mean that they do not need to be protected, however, as women who pull prawn seed nets along the river banks are at huge risk of attack by sharks, crocodiles, and even tigers. It also does not mean that they do not have any kind of relationship with the natural world; prawn seed collection is entirely regulated by the times of the daily tides. Prawn seed collectors use these times as a kind of work schedule to ensure that they are present when it is peak collection time.
Because of the business-like nature of their work, prawn seed collectors are negatively perceived by forest workers. Just as forest workers see landowners as being greedy and not committed to the Sundarbans, they see prawn seed collectors as looking for a fast way to make money, and change the entire culture of the Sundarbans as they go along. Prawn seed collectors’ “get rich quick” motivations cause forest workers to accuse the collectors of “defiling the forest [and] disturbing the tigers.”
Landowners
As their title suggests, landowners are the landed gentry of the Sundarbans. They hold the greatest political and economic power of the island communities, as many of them come from “up” islands and carry with them an air of superiority. “Landowner” is not actually an occupation, and many of those who own land are agriculturalists, shrimp farmers (different from prawn seed collectors), school teachers, or higher-up federal employees. As agriculturalists, they have a somewhat romanticized view of the environment around them. Similar to American pastoralists, agriculturalists in the Sundarbans see the land around them as prime for cultivation, ignorant of the harsh realities of their natural surroundings and the ways in which people below them are left vulnerable. 
Shrimp farmers convert expanses of soil and land into pools meant to cultivate shrimp to be exported out of the Sundarbans. While lucrative, shrimp farming faces great backlash both from forest fishers and from external authorities (environmentalists, NGOs, etc.). Many landowners take jobs as school teachers or even headmasters of local island schools; these “educated elites” share values amongst them that believe must be shared with lower caste citizens, as they represent a kind of “moral high ground.” The minimum school teacher salary in Garjontola is 4 to 5 times greater than the average salary of a forest fisherman. In the long run, this disparity further marginalizes forest workers and allows the landed gentry to maintain their grip on political and economic power in the Sundarbans.
