"Chokh" oculus of Boat: Boat as a living entity.

Even though boat is nothing but a mere product of man’s handicraft which may always be connected in his collection of inanimate possessions, but in reality SHE means much more to her owner/boatmaker/boatman. Almost in all over the world a vessel is personified, which is very much understandable when it is seen that a Portuguese boat along with the boats and vessels cruising along the Indian Ocean have oculi i.e. the symbolic representation of eye. These types of symbols are usually used to give living characters to a nonliving material as these are very much allied to human (any animal) morphology. Considering the example of West Bengal nothing absolutely reverse, in the basic concept, is seen as the boat here is considered to be either a mother or a daughter that ultimately represents the feminine personality. Therefore most often, it is seen that boats are given names and are treated as human personalities. This curious relation is becoming less apparent day by day, but it is still there, even if it no longer exists on the surface of seaman’s mind. To understand the origin and development of this concept it is necessary to go into the past and probe deed down into the minds of the ancient boatmen.