Rarikhal Tour: Taste of Bangladesh

I’ve seen the vista of Bangla,

So that I am not questing after the beauty of the world.

– Jibonanondo Daas

Have you thought of how much true the above lines are? We all are familiar with these line from our school life as the whole poem of Jibonanondo Daas was in our text book. But I bet we never felt it the same way as Jibonanondo. City life has taken our natural environment. We live in artificial places where green colour only appears in the brick built wall as wall-paint. The green trees are faded in an increasing rate. But the village are still holding the verdurous beauty of Bangladesh. I am here to narrate such a village which still reminds the verdant Bangladesh. Name of this village is Rarikhal, which is situated in the Munshiganj district (widely known as Bikrompur). This is my grandma’s (my mother’s mom) home village.

Grandma’s one of the brother is rebuilding their village home. So when my grandma heard that after the SSC exam my sister has a long vacation, she invited to visit the newly rebuilt house. And this invitation led us to Rarikhal (yesterday), one of the famous village of Bangladesh.

The greenish rural scenario is awesome! I can’t describe it. I’ve added some pics with this post, just see them. We enjoyed the whole day. We made a river cruise. Oh, I forgot to say, Rarikhal is standing besides the Podda, one of the largest river of Bangladesh. And we cruise on the Podda. It was a marvelous experience. I’ve attached a video with this post which I captured during the cruise. You’ll see the village children swimming in the Podda with great enjoyment.

Podda is famous for another great asset. That is the Ilish fish, the national fish of Bangladesh. The test of Ilish that are caught in Podda have an unforgettable taste. Ilish is always my favorite dish and if it comes from Podda then to me, the dish would be most delicious in the whole world. And you know what, I just enjoyed the lunch with the Podda’s Ilish yesterday. Who can ever forget the taste of those dishes!

Rarikhal gave birth to many famous persons. One of them is Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, famous Bangladeshi scientist. He was raised in this village. He established a school there at 1923 which is still a renowned educational institute. There is a museum in his memory. Another famous person was Humayun Azad, a Bangladeshi author. He rested in peace in this village. In my post you’ll find some snapshots of these two persons’ memorand.

Well, we left the village after evening (more precisely after the magrib prayer). At the evening when the sun was setting, the sky turned into golden colour. To the rural people it was a quite natural as they saw it everyday. But to us who’ve been brought up in the cage of concretes, this view is simply extraordinary! I’m planning to go there again in the rainy season, when all the land is submerged. Just imagine you are in house and around you there is only water. Doesn’t it sound great!

Sorry for my attempt for translating Bangla literature into English. I tried my best, but if there is any fault then please don’t be enraged. I am not a professional in this translating job.

This following movie clip shows the enjoyment of rural children in the river Podda. Sorry for the black & white mode, I accidentally recorded it in black & white mode. Also sorry for the noise of the roaring engine of the boat which buried the cheerful voices of those children.