ONE of the dirtiest places to go and visit in Bhubaneshwar, and perhaps also the most fascinating, is the fish market in Unit IV of the city. It is at once a scene of stark and abject poverty and a kaleidoscope of riotous colours. Go on a Sunday morning. And go early, by 5.30 o�clock at least, if you are stranger to the city. You will be surprised to find that the sun rises in Bhubaneshwar at 5 a.m. That is because Bhubaneshwar is on the east coast of India. It gets the first rays of the sun. When you step out half an hour later at 5.30, the sun is up, and the market places are bustling with hectic activity. By 7 in the morning, the city gets hots, as hot as it would be in, say, Bombay or Delhi at noon. And nobody wants to go shopping for fish and meat in such heat. Besides, nobody would be out selling fish and meat so late! So, pick your time and make it as early as possible.

The Bhubaneshwar fish market will not disappoint you. It draws the Oriya men out of their homes and in search of a bargain Sunday mornings. And there is fish aplenty. The market is also the home of the fisherfolk doing the business of selling. Young women, girls with babies in arms, sit outside their doorsteps with the catch of the day spread out before them for the Oriya�s approval.

The fish comes in from the Bay of Bengal. Also from Orissa�s famous Chilika Lake, Asia�s largest brackish water lake that is spread over 1,100 square kilometres and which is home to the large and succulent mud crab. The lake also contains a large variety of fish and provides a livelihood to thousand of Oriya fishermen. Early mornings, they sail out onto the Chilika Lake in search of mackerel, prawn and, of course, the crab. The fish is fresh water, naturally, and that is the way the Oriya likes it best. Like the Bengali next door, the Oriya is particular about his fish; he likes it fresh and sweet water, without the piscean�s fishy smell.

The problem with fresh water fish is that while they have no smell, they are full of bones. But based on the principle that meat on the bone is tastier, the Oriya believes that his river or lake fish with its many bones is definitely the tastier alternative to sea fish. Likewise the prawn that is caught in the Chilika Lake. It is cheaper than the sea prawn and becomes soft and pulpy when marinated and cooked, not tough and leathery. The in-demand fish, however, are the ghol, which in Kolkata is called the bekti and is a salt water fish found in between rivers and the sea, in small lakes, ponds and creeks. And there is the hilsa, which is caught in local rivers while it is heading out to the sea after breeding season. It is an elusive, silvery fish, very rich in fats and oils, and fairly expensive.

Other fish include the rohu, katla, and the mango fish which is kept alive and swimming in small tanks for the discerning Oriya seafood eater�s benefit. It looks like a short and black snake! But the delicacy sold in the fish market undoubtedly is the black mud crab of the Chilika Lake. They are kept alive in baskets and brought out for inspection when people want to buy them, wriggling and scything the air with wicked talons. The crab is cooked in a ginger-garlic paste and is a tasty dish in Bhubaneshwar. And there is cheap silver fish, very small, very cheap, as tiny as the little finger on your hand, but which is used by Oriyas to make a dish called Mahaurali Chadchadi.