Hurricane Sidr: Ciy life collapsed

Sidr, the largest cyclone in the history of Bangladesh, ripped through the southwestern coast late Thursday. It was a nightmare for Bangladesh. Not only the coastal area but also the city life was tremendously disturbed. Sidr caused the National Power Grid to collapse completely yesterday morning, which ultimately triggered a knock-on effect on piped water supplies, telecommunication and gas filling station operations.

This hurricane actually hit the coastal area of Bangladesh. But the capital Dhaka was also fallen within it’s grasp. After the thursday midnight, the gusty wind became more furious with heavy rain. At 7 o’clock of Friday morning, the electricity supply was terminated. In evening when I went outside home, I saw the actual catastrophe that was accomplished by Sidr.

On Friday evening, me and my mom went to Motijhil for joining a Doa Mahfil of one of my late relative. I could not refill the CNG cylinder of our car as all the Gas Station was remain closed. So I had to switch the engine in Octane mode. The whole city was tremendously disturbed by the storm. When I was crossing the Rajarbag Police Line, I had to drive very carefully as large trees were uprooted and flattened on the street blocking the traffic. Some people were trying to remove the trees by sawing them, as it is difficult to carry those large trees to other places.

This picture has been taken from the Farmgate area on Friday night. as there were no neon signs, lighted billboards or streetlights for the Power Grid failure; only the headlights of the vehicles glimmered on the street.

Photo Courtesy: The Daily Star

 

Electronic Communication system came to a halt as there is no electricity supply. Even the internet was disrupted! The cellular telecommunication was very much sporadic, as sometimes network coverage was totally blank. After evening, I could not contact anyone using my mobile phone as the network strength indicator of my phone had suddenly disappeared! The hurricane affected the National Power Grid heavily. Today when I am writing this post, still there is a discontinuous supply of electricity.

As I mentioned earlier, it was the most robust cyclone in the history of Bangladesh. It was stronger than those of 1970’s and 1991’s. Still the damages could not be measured properly, but it is sure that it will be an enormous amount.

Please… be at the side of the victims. They need your help.

November Rain.

It’s November, the beginning of the winter. The curtain of fogs are just waiting to be fallen. Every morning is becoming chiller than the previous day. Sun rises in late everyday. Weather is becoming more lifeless. The trumpet of winter is heard from a distance. All arrangements has been set, just waiting for the arrival of winter. Countdown has been begun. But all of a sudden, like an adroit warrior, Rain just swept away all the preparations. This November rain took place in this afternoon, making a sudden pause to the urban life.

From the very morning, the sky was bright with a shiny winter sun. After a few hours, the sky began to change it’s look, turning into gloomy grey from gleeful combination of blue and white. Then it changed into dark grey at afternoon. I was on a rickshaw at that time. I could smell the scent of rain in the wind. After a few minutes, large chill drops of rain began to trickle upon me. Not a bad feeling. It was comfortable until the smaller drops started to bite. I pulled the rickshaw-hood to cover myself.

Then all of a sudden, it turned into a heavy rainfall. People were running to and fro for shelters. I was half soaked. I could not see the front view, all nature suddenly became blur. Dhanmondi Lake was looking like a artistic masterpiece. The pulsating lake surface together with a down poured nature made a picturesque view. The streets were shinning with the bright headlight and red taillight of the cars. A few minutes later, the rain had stopped. But it left it’s muddy signature on the street.

I am an engineer, not a poet. Engineers were claimed to have a solid mechanical heart and were far from realizing the beauty of nature. And I am not opposing this hypothesis. But sometime those mechanical organ feels flabby inside and can be allured by the beauty that is molded by the Almighty Himself. And I am not so much different from them!