Starting my summer in New York with tasty delights

It's been three weeks since I started my summer internship in New York, not the city, but a remote corner in NY state from where it takes an hour and a half to get to Manhattan, but I can still enjoy NYC each weekend. And by enjoying the city, I mean enjoying the food there, New York probably has the best food in USA. Today we went to Chelsea to have brunch, the egg benedict was nice, but the loud music in that Italian place was annoying. After that we went to an Argentine pastry shop and I bought Conoes, it's a cream puff filled with dulce de leche. It was good too. And yesterday was the day of Korean lunch and Bangladeshi dinner. For lunch we went to a korean restaurant in White plains, it was quiet and friendly, the hostess was very nice with her cute smile. We had bibimbap and bulgogi, not spicy at all, rather sweet, but they tasted good, even though the lack of spice was unexpected. Bulgogi is a beef dish cooked with shredded beef and bibimbap is rice mixed with spice paste, vegetables and chopped beef. The side dishes were the main attraction for me, there were 7 or 8 kinds of side dishes, small portion of sauteed vegetables with mild spice paste.

For dinner we went to my friend's house near Queens, she prepared spinach+shrimp, egg curry, eggplant fry and daal. As usual I brought some food back from her home as I always do whenever I visit her :)

Last week I went with my co-interns to a Greek place and had Kataifi ( a Greek dessert made with lachchhi shemai/ vermicelli ) ,  to me it was a different presentation of the things that I already know, it tasted nice, even though my fellow Greek people said it was nothing like how they have kataifi in Greece. Hopefully I will find authentic kataifi in some other Greek place, but I liked that one anyway.

Also two Indian places in two weeks, and those were for lunch buffet, the place called Royal Palace near Hawthorne was better in variety and taste.  Usual menu with chicken tandoor, alu gobi, palak panir etc. for dessert they had jilapi, gulabjamun, rice pudding and malai cha, could not resist any one of those.

Now I have an awesome tasting flan in my fridge, probably I should wait till tomorrow. 

Portlandia

this time GHC was held in Portland ( Nov 10-13, 2011) , Oregon, in Oregon Convention Center, nice place, and a major event that I always look forward to. Meeting with researcher, job hunting and above all, meeting friends. I also had a poster presentation this time, so I can claim that it was a productive tour.  I volunteered at the conference, participated in student research poster competition and visited my sister. Not to mention learnt about the public transportation of Portland. Not so much time to see around Portland this time, so there was just one day , and we planned to see Washington park, but found out the shuttle service to the park was not running, so we had to limit out tour to the saturday farmers' market and PSU. PSU is actually nice and the market is just at the corner, I loved the atmosphere: live music, food , fresh flower, pea-cock feathers, pizza, walking around the beautiful trees. It was fall, actually late fall, but in Portland it seemed that Fall is still in its full action, vibrant colors everywhere, red, yellow, orange, rows of trees, welcoming us, covering the sidewalks with their leaves. The food from the street carts were another charm, oh yeah, hot chili con carne with fried okra in rainy weather, yum.  We were waiting for the bus to return home and saw the police service getting ready to handle the occupy Portland movement people, added a bit of excitement to us, but nothing interesting happened . all day rain kind of forced us to move inside the mall and continue shopping ( as if no sales tax was not enough for us ! ) . The city was getting ready for Christmas while the decoration for Halloween was also still there. Hoping to see more of Portland soon, in nice weather with the flowers and beers.

a day in Disney Epcot Theme Park

29.12.2010  11:30 pm Kissimmee . The taxi ride from  Orlando air port to the hotel was just a teaser about how funny things are going to be for the next couple of days. And even though we were speaking in Bangla , the Puerto Rican taxi driver joined our conversation (!) and started to share his opinion, damn !

It was too late ,  but we still need to satisfy our hungry stomachs, ordering a pizza appeared to be the only option. Shafi and Shoshi arrived late , their flight was late [ there was no one to fly the plane ! after boarding all passengers it was discovered that the pilot did not have appropriate license or something like that  ] ...  I am trying to imagine the situation of the passengers at that moment . 

30.12.2010: after going to bed at around 4 am, I wonder how it was possible for me to get up at 7 and get ready and run for breakfast , the breakfast buffet was at the opposite side of the road, but in 10 minutes  I could only finish my coffee and the pancake, and then run again for the shuttle which will take us to Epcot Theme park.  It was a full packed bus, boys were standing , letting the girls to take the seats :) the woman sitting beside me seemed very annoyed at our chirping and chatting. The bus stopped in the middle of the road to take more passengers [ again, de ja vu , just like Dhaka ], two beautiful girls got on.  A baby boy [hardly 3 years of age  ] kept on staring at them from its mother's lap , way to go dude ! 

At the ticket counter: we had done our research on the ticket options. The prime target was the Soarin' , so we reserved our seats through FASTPASS, took the Living with the Land ride ( this one is a showcase of farming and growing plants, more appropriate for young children so they can become aware of environemnt etc. It also showed different tropical fruits and vegetables, therefore nothing new to me ) , and then headed towards Test Track, 1.5 hours of waiting on line for a 1.5 minute ride, it was not as exciting as we thought, may be the long wait just exhausted us . But the waiting could be worse if it was not with such a dynamic group. A teenage couple was right behind us , and they decided to make this waiting time to be in use by showing off their mutual love in public, somehow it inspired several other teen couples, after some minutes it became like a competition "who can show their 'Love' in more rigorous way" , last time I saw any living creature joint together while still  moving was a pair of cockroaches, but we humans are the best of creations indeed.  finally the wait was over and we could get into the ride, with screaming and everything, it was exciting but too short a ride.  After that there was a pavilion of GM cars, sexy and shiny, just looking at them will make you wanna touch them. We did what we always do : take a lot of pictures with and without posing, and drawing public attention ! 

What was next ? ahh, the world showcase and the Spaceship: Earth. Mexico pavilion was the most interesting among all the country showcases. While we are ignoring our rural culture as 'old fashioned','too laymen like' they are presenting it as their heritage, I felt inspired and the handicrafts reminded me of things we used to see in our childhood, craftsmen selling their handmade dolls, showpieces-you will not find them anymore in Bangladesh, respect for the Mexicans. How can a Disney theme park trip become real without taking pictures with any Disney charatcter ? and there we found Donald Duck and the photosession continues as well. 

I became detached from the group while taking pictures near the Germany pavilion. Finally they found me 
near the American pavilion, it was not the first time I was detached from the group in a trip, usual fro me , as long as the cell phone has power , it is OK.

We had packed some food ( thanks to the boys for carrying the heavy packs) and I had my lunch with that, but it was not enough for the whole day. I felt hungry again and realized the food option is aweful, if not horrible. It is not only expensive, but if you take one of those the large turkey legs or the giant pretzels, you can consider that to be another ride which will give you simulation of  life of a 'caveman': hold the turkey leg, try to have a bite opening your mouth as big as possible, imagine that you are sitting beside a wood-fire wearing bison-skin. There were burgers, sandwiches too, but just looking at the turkey leg took away my appetite.

Now time to move onto the other attractions. 'Future world ' had the ride "Spaceship: Earth" .  They actually narrated the human history, from cavemen to current world, it was so amazing to realize how far we have came as human being. And the video they make superimposing your face with a cartoon image was great, we did not expect it and had no idea this would happen. It was fun. 

Then we returned back to 'the Land' gallery for our FASTPASS-reserved Soarin' ride, and saw hundreds of people waiting on line [ Look at their faces, they  now look just like us when we were waiting in line for Test Track ride] , but as we already reserved our seats, we just walked passed them like VIPs, mu ha ha ! I knew it was not real and just a simulation, but it is amazing how they do it, I really felt that I am gliding on air, and can fell down on earth any moment, one of the most thrilling experiences in my life. I was thinking if just this simulation can do this to me , what happens to those who para glide in real life, and how brave they are !  I like to think myself as a brave person who can go for anything, but I think my heart would stop working if my brain decides to take a paragliding course someday.


The underwater simulation ride with Nemo  was fun too, specially the talking Turtle Crush, it talks with the audience. He asked a little girl where was she 'hatched', she replied 'in a hospital', Crush said he never heard of any beach called 'hospital'. This show was very cute.

And then another 40 minutes wait for Mission:Space. It has two options, less intense and more intence, we decide to go on the more intense one [ takes you to Mars ! ] ,  there was announcement about choosing carefully, and not to choose the more intence one if you have motion sickness, but if you never moved that fast then how would you know if you have motion sickness or not ! It gives you higher G-force and I realized  I cannot move my hand and reach for the joystick, WOW, that means it is intense [ the attraction exposes riders to forces up to 2.5g :: wikipedia] . The joycticks actually move on their own, so even if you do not manage to move them with your hand due to the G-force you may just touch them and they will give you the impression that you are controlling the spaceship. I was the Enginner among the 4 crews in our 'space shuttle', so there was a pilot, commander, enginner and navigator.  When I was a kid, I used to play with my cousins where we were galaxy rangers, travelling through time and space with our spaceships [ most of the time the space ship was our bed and the 'control panel' was made by some pillows ], now even at this age, it was not less fun to play the same game with higher g-force and spinning and I was praying to stay a bit longer in the ride. I guess these 4 minutes are going to be some unforgettable minutes for me. 

The day ended with spectacular Illumination,  we could not find a nice place to capture the lighting works but what we saw with our bare eyes was enough. The three photographers tried their best with to capture the moments with their skills and photography kits. And however exciting and beautiful a place can be, at the end of the day the greatest pictures are those with the smiling faces that you will see over and over again.
It is not possible to visit all the pavilions in a single day, so it is better to make list of preferences according to age and interest and make the best use of time and money [paying 90$ should pay off after all, right ?] the most tiring part was the big lines and long waits, the day morning was sunny and warm but the evening turned out to be too cold, so had to carry jackets and warm clothes all the time.The Disney shop is alluring, I wanted to buy everything so finally bought nothing. I was thinking about my sisters, I missed them the whole day, and hope someday I will bring them here and enjoy the enjoyment in their eyes as I had throught the day.

Unforgettable Florida Tour

May be I am making this my habit,  whenever snow attacks in long lonely winter, escape to Florida. 

No wonder people talk about weather that much, it's not that they do not have anything else to talk about, it deserves to be a topic. Now I do realize weather can affect people's psychology to what extent, the barren trees and snow covered ground just make me more depressed, and a sunny beach has to be the hide-out from this. Living in the tropic I never had the time to appreciate the virtue of it, better late than never, vamos a ir a Florida ! 

I was not so interested in visiting Disney's theme parks at first, still I had nothing to loose as my friends were with me,  even in Bangladesh I never visited Fantasy kingdom or any other theme park, never rode in roller coaster, but Epcot is a bit different. The world showcase part was ok, but  Soarin' and Mission: Space just blew my mind away , it was worth it, and the day ended with their spectacular illumination show, best fire/lighting/laser show I've ever seen.


Then our wearied team started for Miami, I felt bad about myself as I could not contribute in the driving part. South Beach was windy and cold, I could not stay there for long. The bus ride to Bayfront park was my highlight of the day. It was simply hillarious :D Another new year's eve on Miami, and this time revisiting the places I have been last time, and dinner in the same restaurant at Lincoln Mall, the adventure of finding out the places from my memory augmented the thrill of discovering new ones. Next destination Everglades. Anhinga trail and Flamingo park, boat ride and bird / alligator watching.  Everglades was more thrilling the last time I visited, nothing much to add on this except for the football match played by the boys. The breathtaking wonders were yet to come this time.

The last time I visited Florida I had zero experience on swimming, after coming back I took some swimming lessons so that I do not have to regret the next time, and yes, no regret this time ! I am not a good swimmer yet, but at least I can say I swam in the Atlantic ( just near the shore , but still it is an ocean ) and parasailed , ( yahoooo... ) and saw real wild dolphins swimming just several feet away from us which was beyond the expectation.

And finally the sunset ...  my minuscule brain could not figure out the relation between the sun disappearing into the ocean and the nothingness appearing inside me; the color, the vastness, the sound of mild waves breaking against the rocks, the breeze and the seagulls, the lighthouse in the background, the strangers near us playing guitars - the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Moments like this make me wish for another life, a life where I am a poet or a painter; and then I console myself saying that may be Rabindranath Tagore has already described this in one of his works, I just have to find that and quote. 

From Orlando to Miami to Everglades to Key Largo to Key West and finally back to College Park, at least this time Maryland welcomed me back with a sunny day and not-so-cold temperature.  May God give me strngth to survive another semester .  

[ P.S. on this tour we were talking about Cliches time and again, in this post  I tried to use as much cliches as I could remember. ]
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Our tour summary :

Orlando - Disney Epcot : 1 day
Miami  - South Beach , Lincoln mall, Bayfront park fire works, Key Biscayne Light house : 2
Everglades - Anhinga trail ,  Flemingo state park boat ride: 1
Pegion Key - island tour, Bahia Honda beach: 1
Key West - parasailing , Mallory square, Light house , Taylor beach;  Key Largo - coral reef park : 1 

New York Nostalgia

"If you are in USA and you have not seen NYC, you have seen nothing", I was told so many good things and equal amount of bad things about NYC - so it became a must-do on my todo list  .. there were hundreds of reasons not to go ( "it is way dirty, not worth your time .. bla bla ") and thousands to go ( "so full of life, places to see and shop ...") - then someday someone told me it was 'something'  ( I forgot the exact words, stupid me and my short term memory ) to see the view from the Top of the Rock and from Brooklyn bridge ---  just then all other millions of reasons just disappeared and I was ready to start  -  so New York, here I come; but it is never the places to see , but the people who we see with that makes everything precious ,  so I waited, and my patience made it happen, my friend from NYC invited me and thanks Heaven, she is crazy ( therefore a perfect companion ), she is a New Yorker and she knows and loves it, otherwise what could I do as being a mere tourist .

There are so many places to see and I knew I need to make a priority-list but then it looses the charm of spontaneity;  during those three days, even after waking up late in the morning and feeling dizzy after having an anti-allergic medicine , we covered more places than we enlisted .. without following any hard and fast planning schedule.  We were returning home after visiting the Statue of Liberty, and then we thought, why not just try to get on the Brooklyn bridge ?  and then after half-way down the bridge, we realized, ok, we still have some energy left, why not just walk the whole bridge and step on to Brooklyn , ya , that's my kind of 'Planning' .

Another day we were walking towards nearby subway after visiting MOMA ( and it was Picasso week, awesome ! ) and then I found myself standing beside the statue of Atlas, " Are we in the Rockefeller plaza ? ! Why not go up and see the 360 view " - so we climbed up ( of course with the elevator ) , from late afternoon to the night-break..saw how the bright shining mighty sun turned into a soft mild reddish ball and hid itself into Hudson .. we could stay longer, but the view ( there was 'something' in the moment ) made us too vulnerable ; we needed to recover and come down to earth. Now what can be the best way to 'instant brute-force recovery' from emotional disaster than shopping ! there comes Times Square and all the surrounding fashion houses . I wonder how watching your reflection with a new look ( yeah, inside the trial room ) , buying a new outfit ( even if you would never wear it again) can instill the feeling of --well -- 'to be in charge', "ok, may be the world does not turn around me , and I cannot get whatever I wish for, but at least I can choose something for me from this humongous pile and make it my own and throw it into my closet" . When the salespeople say how you look so gorgeous and pretty with that dress  you always know they are just trying to make a sale, but doesn't it still make you smile ?

While wandering about the streets ,we walked past St Thomas Church but did not do inside .  Then came the big one, St Patrick's Cathedral, this was the first time I ever stepped inside a church ( my first air travel..to USA across Atlantic, my first church visit- St Patrick's , now I am getting kind of out of the world) and wow..the atmosphere inside was purely mystic, I just loved it, it was ok to take picture inside but my camera died. So my unreliable memory wad the only way I could rely upon at that moment -  the architecture and the devotion of people. I did not lit a candle, God knows what I want even before I myself become aware of my own thoughts, so why bother .. Kashpi lit a candle, no idea what she wished for. I don't feel like praying around other people , I rather prefer to keep talking to God as my imaginary friend ..

After I returned people asked me how did I like it, what can I say.. I felt that it was wonderful to visit but I cannot live there ( living there for long would just make all the good things dull and accent the bad ones ) , so true, too much distraction ( not suitable for a grad student), and it is indeed not well kept, DC is much cleaner and people are definitely more careful in following rules and that makes life much easier when you know what to expect from people. But at times it is necessary to experience the unexpected, so wait Manhattan, just wait for me a bit more ..

পায়ের তলায় অতলান্তিক

Web এ Key West এর ছবি দেখে আগেই মুগ্ধ হয়েছিলাম, এবার যাওয়ারও ব্যবস্থা হয়ে গেল শেষ পর্যন্ত, তাও কিনা একেবারে আশা ছেড়ে দেবার পর | Miami থেকে tri-rail র করে Boca Raton, ট্রেন এ বসে মনে পড়ে গেল সিলেট যাত্রার কথা , এরকমই সবুজের সারি জানালা দিয়ে এসে ভেসে যাচ্ছিল | তার মাঝে আবার বৃষ্টি , station এ নেমে একটু বৃষ্টিতে হাঁটাহাঁটি. সন্ধ্যায় Ocean's drive এ ঘুরে এলাম, আলিশান বাসা বাড়ি দেখলাম, আর তারপর ফিরে এসে রন্ধনযজ্ঞ | পর দিন Key West যাব এই উত্তেজনায় রাতে ঘুমই এলোনা | রওনা দিতে দিতে আটটাই বেজে গেল. কমপক্ষে ৪ ঘন্টা তো লাগবেই যেতে. কাজেই গাড়িতে বসে গলা ফাটিয়ে গান না ধরলে কেমন হয় ! Walmart এ নামলাম মাঝে সবাই, খাবার দাবার ও কিছু কিনলাম, সাথে একটা চকলেট কেক আর জন্মদিনের কার্ড |

Key Largo, Islamorada ছাড়িয়ে চলে এলাম Seven mile Bridge এর উপর, ব্রিজের পাশে গাড়ি থামিয়ে সবাই নেমে গেলাম কাছের সৈকত এ, পায়ের তলায় অতলান্তিক , মাথার উপরে আকাশ; পুরো পৃথিবীটাই তো এখন আমাদের | পানি তেমন ঠান্ডা ছিল না তাই ঝাপাঝাপি চলল কিছুক্ষণ | তারপর সৈকত এর একটা কুড়ের ছাউনিতে বসে কেক কাটার পালাও শেষ হলো | এর পর আবার যাত্রা শুরু, মেক্সিকো উপসাগরের রূপে মোহাবিষ্ট একদল পাগলের এবারের গন্তব্য Key West এর , আরো ভালো ভাবে বলতে গেলে আমেরিকার শেষ প্রান্ত |

মায়াবী মায়ামি

শীতের ছুটিতে কী করা যায় তার পরিকল্পনা চলছিল অনেক দিন যাবতই , ধারেকাছের তুলনামূলক কম ঠান্ডা এলাকা হিসেবে Florida-র নাম এলো স্বভাবতই. আমি তো রাজি হব হব করে আবার পিছিয়েই গেলাম, কপর্দক্শুন্য মানুষ , না জানি বেড়াতে গিয়ে ঋণের বোঝা মাথায় চেপে বসে কিনা. কিন্তু যেই না ছুটি আরম্ভ হলো, আর তো টিকতে পারিনা, ক্যাম্পাস জনমানবহীন, বরফে ঢাকা রাস্তাঘাট, নাহ , আর থাকা যায় না এর মাঝে. কিছু একটা করতেই হবে. মিশু আর নওরিনের  সাথে ত্বরিত যোগাযোগ করলাম, বাকি বন্ধুরা সবাই দেশে, আমরা কটি অসহায় পড়ে আছি ঠান্ডার মাঝে, একটু সবুজ চাই, আর একটু সতেজ হাওয়া . ব্যাস, ওই দিনই ticket কেটে ফেললাম. কিন্তু কই থাকব, কী করব, কই ঘুরব তার কোনো খবর নেই. গুগল থাকতে আর কী লাগে ! কিছুক্ষণ গুগল এ ঘাটাঘাটি করে মিশুর উপর ভরসা করে দিলাম ঘুম. Orlando নাকি Key west এই নিয়ে সংশয় , অবশেষে Key west জয়যুক্ত হলো. সমুদ্রের কাছে কি আর অন্য কিছু পাত্তা পায় :)

৩১ তারিখ ভোরবেলা আমার ফ্লাইট, গভীর রাতে airport এ গিয়ে বসে থাকা, Baltimore থেকে Cincinnati, তারপর Miami . মায়ামি তে নেমেই আহ কি শান্তি, বরফে ঢাকা ধুসর পথ দেখতে দেখতে ক্লান্ত চোখ একটু সবুজের দেখা পেল, আর গাছগুলো মনে করিয়ে দিল দেশের কথা, ক্রান্তীয় অঞ্চল , কাজেই আমার চেনা জগতের সাথে কিছুটা মিল তো থাকবেই, পাম আর নারিকেল গাছের সারি পথের ধার ঘেঁষে . বাতাস উষ্ণ না হলেও কনকনে ঠান্ডা নয়. হোটেল এ গেলাম একটা taxicab এ চেপে, La Quinta Inn নামক একটা ছোটখাটো সাজানো গুছানো থাকার জায়গা, একটা swimming পুল ও আছে, যদিও আমরা কেউ সাঁতার জানিনা :( পানিতে পা ভিজিয়ে বসে থাকায় সার. ভোজনপর্ব শেষে এবার মায়ামি সৈকত এ যাবার পালা, কিন্তু যাবার উপায় টা কী ! আবার গুগল ভরসা, ছুটির আমেজ, তাই পাবলিক ট্রান্সপোর্ট এর ত্রাহি অবস্থা . বাস আসে এক ঘন্টা পর পর, বাস স্ট্যান্ড এ দাঁড়িয়ে , ফুটপাথে বসে গলা ছেড়ে গান গেয়ে সময় কাটিয়ে দিলাম, তারপর বাস এর দেখা মিলল একটা, driver কে জিগেস করে নিলাম আসলেই এই বাস আমাদের south beach এ নিয়ে যাবে কিনা, আমাদের মত বাকি পর্যটকদের একই দশা, সবাই রীতিমত দ্বিধান্বিত , কেউই আসলে এলাকা চেনেনা , কিন্তু গন্তব্য সবারই south beach , দুটা বাস পরিবর্তন করে নেমে গেলাম Lincoln rd mall এ. যাকে বলে খানদানি এলাকা, চারিদিকে টাকার গন্ধ, আর একটু আকটু ইংলিশ শোনা গেলেও অধিকাংশই দেখি ' hola , como estas ' গোত্র, এ কোন জায়গায় এলাম রে বাবা ! লোকে দেখি ইংলিশ বলে না. Lincoln চত্বরে যেন মেলা বসেছে, লোকে লোকারণ্য. গ্রাম থেকে প্রথমবার ঢাকায় আসা মানুষের মত লাল লাল নীল নীল বাতি দেখলাম, নিজেও থাকি একটা মফস্সল ধাচের এলাকায়, এখানে এসে বুঝলাম আসলেই কাপড় চোপর না পরাটাই fasion . ছেঁড়া ফাটা জামা মানেই সেটা নিশ্চয়ই নামী দামী কোনো designer ব্র্যান্ড . মজাই লাগলো, বছর শেষের রাত, এটুকু তামাশা না দেখলে কি আর চলে :)

হাঁটাহাঁটি করে আমাদের খিদা লেগে গেল, অনেক খুঁজে পেতে আমাদের সাধ্যের মাঝে একটা দোকান পেলাম, গালভরা নামের একটা খাবার অর্ডার দিলাম, আসলে ভাত আর মুরগি, খেতে অসাধারণ, সাথে লেমনেড. রাস্তার ধরে গাছের নিচে টেবিল পেতে খাবার আয়োজন, চারিদিকে বেশ জোরেশোরে গান বাজনা চলছে, সাথে নাচানাচিও , আমরা কেন জানি ঠিক সাহস করতে পারলাম না :( এর মাঝে কামাল ভাই ও তার দলবল চলে এলো, ১২ তা প্রায় বাজে, বড় একটা বিল্ডিং এর ডিজিটাল ডিসপ্লেতে count down শুরু হয়ে গেছে, দিলাম সব দৌড় beach বরাবর, ১২ টা বাজতেই আকাশজুড়ে আতশবাজি, আর পরস্পরকে নতুন বছরের শুভেচ্ছা জানানো. আর তার সাথে ক্যামেরার ক্লিক ক্লিক. এই শীতের মাঝেও দেখি কিছু মানুষ সোজা সাগরের পানিতে ঝাপ দিল, আমরা পা ভিজিয়েই ক্ষান্ত . এক মেয়ে অনেকগুলো সাদা গোলাপ সমুদ্রে ছুড়ে ছুড়ে দিল, একের পর এক, মনে হয় প্রতি গোলাপের সাথে সাথে কিছু wish করলো . সাগরের ঢেউ ফুলগুলো আবার ভাসিয়ে আমাদের পায়ের কাছেই এনে ফেলল. সাম্বা প্যারেড আর আতশবাজির পর সৈকত অনেকটাই ঠান্ডা, চুপচাপ, এবার আমাদের পালা, শুরু হলো তারস্বরে বাংলা গানের আসর. যা যা মনে পড়লো গলা ছেড়ে গাইতে থাকলাম তিনজনে মিলে. পূর্নিমা রাতে সাগরপারে এমন সঙ্গীত সাধনার অভিজ্ঞতা জীবনে আর হবে কিনা কে জানে . না হয় ফাটা বাঁশের মতই আওয়াজ দিলাম, কিন্তু নতুন বছরে পুরনো গানগুলো কত পুরনো স্মৃতি নতুন করে মনে করিয়ে দিল.

our Sundarban, my Sundarban ...

It was the best of our time- when life seemed so wonderful that we each could declare ourselves a king, as if we don't know the definition of sadness and worry doesn't recognize us ! And what can be the best place for a monarch to build up his dream castle rather than in midst of mother could declare ourselvesnature !
so did we..and who needs to look farther when we have our SUNDARBAN ?

We started from Dhaka on February 3rd,2007 . The journey was no less worthier than the destination. After 2 days of river-journey , Sundarban embraced us with all her beauty and mystery. Whatever comes to my site, it feels like they are just waiting for me for all these years and whispering their welcome notes..all the trees emerging from lake-ground, the rainbow covering the whole horizon, even the deer that fled away out of fear seeing all these humans-seemed to have the deepest bond with me, as I have known them long since.
When we reached the beach I was mesmerized, the vastness of water had some kind of "killer" attraction..you cannot hold yourself back.When I returned, I just left a piece of my soul in the shore and I have to go back there one day to find it.
Wish I could bring that whole beach with me !

This is the largest mangrove forest in earth, some portions of the jungle are listed in the UNESCO world heritage . We do have the right to be proud of the sundarbans . But in this case love certainly supersedes pride.

And now it's december, we lost our golden time and most painfull thing-- Sundarban lost it's treasures in Sidr..this cyclone devastated our economy, taken our lives, and destroyed a bigger part of the beautiful forest. It showed its calamity for only one day and whole Bangladesh will be suffering the result for long, don't know for how many days and month the victims whose everything washed away in the cyclone will be waiting for a handful of rice. But I am being a bit selfish, the helpless faces , the orphaned children can draw out tears from my eyes, still the deepest shock to me is the loss caused in sundarban..it's like loosing one of my own possessions, a personal loss , a feeling of bereavement deep inside . Even if we do not penetrate its perpetual growth for 5 or more years , there is no guarantee how long it will take to recover. First it had to fight with poachers and now nature itself had its tax. We cannot left our dearest sundarban just to be a part of our memory , she has to be alive again, with the same evergreen charm, the same warmth and mystery .