I have been meaning to write a lot of things over the last few years..but the procrastinator that i am ( i did say so..) I somehow have not gotten around to any of it. Still, its never to late to say never - ( which is why i have a 7 year to do list much to the disgust of some..) and this blog is called the “past present and future..” so no reason why material from the past can”t be brought to light.
Bengal is a part of the world that I have definitely done the least amount of travelling in, ironically - it is where I am from. I am perhaps naturally fascinated by it and its history, there is so much to absorb. I was in Bangladesh over this last xmas/new years and for the first time, actually managed to do some travelling - to Chittagong - where i have never been ever, and to St. Martin”s Island -which was till January - for me, a mythical place.. the anecdotes definitely need turning into some form of travel journal. It”"s not an easy country to travel around, i can understand my parent”s objections, but i thought dammit, if i don”t do it now it will never happen, i can”t just sit tamely in dhaka every time i visit ( or in the tamer parts of dhaka..) in the end, apart from a few mishaps and a hell of a lot of curiosity + interference, and paranoia and constant calls from the folks {really!} it was all fine and good. ( i am not an idiot after all.. + just because my travelling companion, my dear husband - is a “phoreigner” didn”t mean we were like a blind + deaf person combination that everyone made out we would be!)
A few photographs to start the notebook..one of the interesting places - in Old Dhaka that i had managed to sneak a peek into in the past, and visited again on this trip - is the palace, on the bank of the buriganga {old ganges} river of the nawabs of dhaka who lived in it from the nineteenth century onwards. I shall write more about it later, it is currently a museum - full of artefacts of empire and rulers and relics of a bygone age - and a popular destination for “outings” - so past meets present. Sadarghat - is the historic “ghat” -(wharf) - and it is a fascinating place with no doubt fascinating tales. There is something about old dhaka (purano dhaka) that fascinates me..perhaps because it shows up the distinction between what was, and what is becoming. And there is something about the fabric of the old town, the architectural details and the old houses and mosques, that evokes for me -the bygone era , i know - i can”t help it, i do find the past fascinating in a strange sort of way. A glimpse into another world..
17