New Delhi, Oct. 4 -- When a Bangladeshi envoy gives a farewell party and calls it an Ilish Fest, the cultural and political messaging of the event goes far beyond gastronomic celebration of the hilsa that the people of Bangladesh treasure as a "cultural icon" and a "symbol of national pride" and which is equally relished by fish lovers across the border in eastern India and beyond.

In a coffee-table book titled Ilish, The Fish, that outgoing Bangladesh High Commissioner, Riaz Hamidullah, got released on the occasion, he spoke about how the book told the migratory journey of the " Silver Harvest", from the sea, to the river, to the dinner table, and how its history, culture and culinary traditions had shaped the lives and economics of Ben...