Polo Bawa
Ayman Nakib
Syllhet, Bangladesh
Polo Bawa is a century-old traditional fishing festival in Bangladesh. Hundreds of people including villagers, fishermen take part in this festival spontaneously with "polo", a bamboo-made fish catching trap, in knee-deep water forgetting their woes of the summer and cheering with their mates when they trap fishes with their polo. Polo Bawa festival usually takes place in late winter as the water of the low land area began to dry up and the farmlands aren't prepared yet to harvest new crops at the riverine regions of the country. So people of all ages, sitting idle at home or yearning for an adventure, participates in the festival while hundreds of others enjoyed the event. In the festival, two groups consisting of 40 to 50 fishermen each, takes place opposite of each other and catches fishes like Wallagos, Ghagats, Tengras, Swamp barbs, with their polo.
Meet the Author
Ayman Nakib is a street and documentary photographer based in Bangladesh. He started his photography journey with street and daily life photography in 2016 while he was a student of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
After graduation, he moved to Dhaka to pursue a career in his passion “Photography”.
Ayman is currently studying Documentary Photography. He also runs an online Photography Academy to teach the fundamental essentials in photography to the newcomers.