We returned from Dhaka on 9th May, 2005 and that because we couldn't get our visa extended fully. We returned by the same route through which we went there. The journey by bus to Agartala was perfect and I slept until the bus reached the border. I was really worried, although I told none, that the custom officials might not allow me to bring the DVDs and CDs, but amazingly they didn't even check our bags. Now tell me, who is responsible for the smuggling that might take place at the border? The smugglers alone? Or the custom officers too? After crossing the border, I saw the Indian flag. I was finally in India. I was a little sad knowing that I might not see all the wonderful people for at least another two years, but I was also happy that I was finally going to see my parents after a month. We stayed in Agartala that night and the next day we took a flight to Guwahati, where my parents were waiting to receive us. That's the end of my Bangladesh tour 2005. Thank you.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Movies
I saw lots of movies during the whole month. I cannot recall the names of all of the, but a few which I remember watching are:
Bruce Almighty: Dear God, why does Jim Carrey act? He is one of the most pathetic actors I have ever seen, but what amazes me is the fact that he is one of the most famous Hollywood actors ever. I don't hate him, but I sincerely believe that he is way too much overrated. He has a weird smile. Jennifer Aniston's role is way too short in the movie, but I like her and I can't understand why Brad Pitt left her for Angelina Jolie. Anyways, the movie is OK. Among Jim Carrey's movies, I like Ace Ventura the most.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: I have a CD of this movie at home, but I just never got the opportunity to watch it and this is funny because I am a Harry Potter fan. Gary Oldman is fantastic as Sirius Black. Timothy Spell is wonderful too. But as always the case with Harry Potter movies, the icing of the cake are Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and Rupert Glint. I had loved David Thewlis ever since I saw Seven Years In Tibet and he is fantastic in this movie as the werewolf Professor Lupin.
Wrong Number: It's a Bengali movie and the only Bengali movie that I can remember watching. (Although I know I saw a movie about a snake when I was a little kid.) I really liked the comedy and I had the funny feeling that it has been inspired by the movie Spring In NY. The movie stars Tussar as the heroine's dad. Tussar is my father's cousin, hence my uncle.
Kaal: Starring John Abraham, Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi and lots. This is one of the most boring Hindi movies ever. Why did Karan Johar, in all his sanity, ever think about producing this piece of shit with such a Canterbury Tales star cast?
The Patriot: I liked Mel Gibson after watching this movie, but I began hating him after his Jew-bashing controversy. Why got get involved in such shit would be a big mystery. But the movie is wonderful. If you haven't seen it, then see it. Believe me, it's great, containing everything from action to emotion to drama.
LOTR: The Return of the King: 11 Oscars. Do I need to tell anything? Orlando Bloom looks cool in his blonde hair as Legolas. His role in this movie has similarity with the one he did in Troy, completely opposite of what he did in Pirates of the Caribbean.
I also watched a few telefilm Bengali dramas, but no matter what I am just unable to recall their names.
Pan Pacific International
Pan Pacific is a five star hotel. Bablu chachu gave us a lunch party here. The buffet here makes the ones at YMCA look small. I love every kind of food... right from the appetizer to the desserts. Yummy! The designs of the building are super. From the dining hall you can see hundreds of fountains. Then there are also stores which sells everything ranging from books and clothes to pure crap. I didn't wander around in here and so I don't know much. Hence if you need more info, then just Google it.
Basail and Baniara
My grandfather came to India in 1930 from Bangladesh after graduation. He lived in a village called Baniara before that. My forefathers and distant cousins have been living in this village for seven generations, ever since they came to Bangladesh. Here, in this village, I have seen and heard things which I will never forget. I also visited the grave of my ancestors. Baniara is famed for its high literacy rate. The Bengali spoken here is a bit different from the ones I have heard elsewhere... kind of like British English being different from other forms of English.
Basail is the ancestral village of my paternal grandmother. Calling this place just a village would be doing injustice to it. I mean, it is just at the threshold beyond which a village can be termed to a town. I simply loved the overnight stay at Basail because I rarely get any chance to go to a village, let alone staying for a night. The electricity condition here is same as that of any Indian village: pathetic.
Tangail
It takes about two and a half hours by car from Dhaka to reach this town. Being just a district headquarter, it cannot boast of many places worth sightseeing, but notwithstanding there are a few interesting places. There is a museum and a university. There is a huge Kali mandir (AFAIK, Kali is the Hindu goddess of love and death). Gopal Mistan Bhandar, a sweet shop, from where sweet are sent all over Bangladesh. And of course, the amazingly long and awesome Jamuna Bridge. It looks simply marvelous at night. The bridge is not situated right next to the town. No. It took about one or one and a half (I am unable to recall accurately) hours by bus from Tangail to reach this place.
Before coming to Tangail, Abid bhaiya proposed the plan that we should all have a barbeque in Tangail. Well... the plan was barbequed.
Anis fufa's farmhouse and factory
Anis fufa's farmhouse is situated at the outskirt of Dhaka. I don't know the name of the place and I am not going to try to recall the name. This is a wonderful place with lots of trees, cattle, goats and a horse. While returning from this place, we had lunch at a road-side inn. (Welcome to the Hotel Dhakafornea/ Such a lovely place/ Such a lovely place/ Such a lovely place.) It's a beautiful place. And when I say lovely I mean both landscape-wise and food-wise.
Anis fufa's industry is in Kashpur (Is the spelling correct?). It's a huge place filled with machines and workers and more machines and more workers and much more mach... Well you know what I mean. There are cattle here too. I have a vague memory of a pond existing within the compound, but the pond has been filled up and a bungalow has been erected in its place. The bungalow is extremely beautiful with beautiful trees surrounding it. It was raining when we went there. I really enjoyed the day. (Unlike many people I know, I am never gloomy during rainy days. As a matter of fact, I love rains.)
Sahid Minar
I cannot tell much about this place as the entrances were all closed when we reached there. The guards told us that there are other entrances, but advised us against using them as they were not safe. I really wanted to see this monument as I had read a lot about it. But as I said already, I have this bad habit of arriving at the wrong place in the wrong time.
GFC ???
GFC stands for Good Fried Chicken. Sounds amazingly like KFC, isn't it? Mere coincidence, huh? I don't think so... But the thing is that it is a fine place and can be called a cross between KFC, McDonald and Burger King. But I personally feel that among all restaurant chains Barista rules. Those guys are simply great. Anyways I liked this restaurant too. For some reasons I really liked their service. Finger lickin' good.
New Market and Neel Khet
A Mecca for all lovers of piracy. I don’t support piracy, but pirated things are always tempting. I surrendered to this temptation. Books, books and more books. All kinds of books. The ones costing about Tk. 1K are sold for as less as Tk. 150 here. Isn't it simply amazing? And the qualities are not bad either. As a matter of fact, my Indian friends realized that the books were pirated only after I told them. Of course places like these exist in almost all cities of India, but I never got any chance of going to any. That's the tragedy. I bought the forth and fifth books of Harry Potter series, The Da Vinci Code, Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and many others. But books are not the only things available here. There are also shops selling varieties of bags and miscellaneous items. I got a few stamps for my newly acquired hobby of philately. Also, Abid bhaiya bought me a bag which lasted throughout my Higher Secondary (or O level or 10+2: whatever you call the hellish time) years.
I must also mention that all kinds of pirated CDs and DVDs are easily available all over Dhaka, including even the trendy shopping malls. But you must bargain while buying these CDs. When Nabila first came to India and showed me original looking CDs and told me that they costed her about Tk. 60 each, I was a bit shocked and skeptic. "Dude, how can you buy CDs with Tk. 60 while we spend Rs. 300 to 400 on the same thing? Bah! Something is seriously fishy." I brought home lots of CDs and DVDs, including a DVD pack of the complete ten seasons of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Lal Bagh Killa and Eshan Manzil
Eshan Manzil: This is a palace, for search of any better word, belonging to the nawabs of Bangladesh. It's near the river ......... and next to Sadarghat. Antiques belonging to the nawabs are in display in here. A few glances inside can tell you about the lavish lifestyle of the nawabs. There is a huge snooker pool and a massive dining table. And when I say huge or massive I really mean huge or massive. Cameras are not allowed inside. It's sad because in India I have never seen any such restriction in any palace or very rarely in museum. There is also a family tree of the nawab family. Anyways, I had the funny feeling that I was inside the computer game Return to Castle Wolfestein.
Lal Bagh Killa:This is a fort belonging to the governors of Mughals. And it has been converted to a museum too (What else?). There is a noteworthy collection of coins and arms dating back to the Mughal era. Being a numismatist, I was tempted to pocket a piece of two of those coins, but apparently stealing is not allowed. On a more serious note, it's a majestic fort red in colours with high walls and cool security for that time. There are a few water bodies too inside. Apparently the mughals and their acquaintances simply loved good wine and beautiful pools.
Mary Anderson
It’s a yacht. The yacht, which is over fifty years old, is docked by the side of the river and converted to a restaurant cum bar. But as always the case with me I went to the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a storm that night and believe me, nobody wants to be on a boat on a stormy evening. There were some modification being done on the kitchen or something like that on that very night and so we could not get what we wanted... namely lobster or crab. The fact is that I had never tasted the things before in my life mainly because of two reasons: socio-religious customs and lack of opportunity. The scene from the restaurant is amazing at night. Waves originating due to passing of boats periodically rock the yacht.
A few days later I ate lobster, courtesy Tuhin fufu, but I am yet to bite a piece of crab.
Aarong
They claim that everything, every item up for sale are cent per cent Bangladeshi. Aarong is basically a shop where Bangladeshi goods are sold. The items are mostly hand made, superbly beautiful and naturally the costs are of jaw dropping range. There are very few salespersons but a few CCTV cameras keeps constant vigil. I was told that they have stores in other countries as well. I made a mental note to visit an Aarong store if I ever come across one in India. Najneen fufu bought me a set of SAARC memorial stamps, which is great, because it means the start of a new hobby for me. I may not have mentioned it, but I am a numismatist. Now I am a stamp collector too.
While returning from Aarong, I saw a crashed car from which smoke was emerging. I don't know what happened later as we left the place immediately for fear of being stuck in a massive traffic-jam.
Sadarghat
I have heard somewhere that this is the biggest river port in Asia. I am a bit doubtful about it, but I am pretty sure it is among one of the biggest. There are hundreds of ferries docked side by side looking very beautiful. Each of them has a name. I had a funny feeling of dejá vu at the sight, I don't know why. Also you can go for boat rides in here. I really wanted to go boating, but Abid bhaiya felt that it wouldn’t be safe as I didn't know swimming. He was scared that I might drown if the boats overturn. Why the hell would the boat overturn? I will go for a boat ride the next time. Life is not worth living without risks.
The place is a bit crowded. We went to a tiny restaurant near the port and had tea and banana. Yes, banana. Contrary to what I heard, the people of the area are very friendly, I must mention.
Parliament House (Sangsad Bhawan)
What is it? The Taj Mahal of Bangladesh? It's probably one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen, either in real life or on TV. It's a gray building surrounded by water bodies. There is a massive ground on the front, where people sit and kids go crazy. We walked for a long time around this place. There are hundreds of stairs connecting the ground with the building entrance. But the security people didn't allow us to climb the stairs, not even a few steps. I don't know whether I should be happy or sad, but I do know that I would have had a heart attack if I tried to climb those scary stairs.
You know there is a dark side to everything beautiful. The thing is that this place is reportedly filled with robbers who can rob you even in daylight. I don't know whether it's a fact or pure bullshit, but I have heard it. I must mention that there was this one hawker who sold bottled water. He was following us around and coaxing us to buy a bottle. At first we gently told him to go away, but it was to no avail. So someone had increase the decibel level of our voice a little bit. These things really irritate you when you are enjoying something. Whaddasay?
Shopping Malls
Basundhara City: Someone told me that this shopping complex is the second largest in Asia. I don't know about the authenticity of the statement, but this mall is huge. There is a basement park (big deal!), many restaurants, hundreds of shops and (ta da) a multiplex. They were showing Collateral (starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, boring movie) when we went there. I was shown a Bengali movie Wrong Number instead. This is the first Bengali movie that I can remember watching and I really enjoyed it. There is a shop where pirated CDs and DVDs are sold. Amazingly, these guys have no fear of the copyright police. In conclusion, I can just say that this is one is awesome.
Rifles' Square: Another shopping mall. This one is much smaller than Basundhara, but the mall is cool (I am not referring to the central AC). There is a departmental store near it. Inside the mall there is a bowling alley, a few snooker pools, a shooting alley, computer games and of course, lots and lots of shops and restaurants.
