|
After the terrifying pressures of the exams on the 9th I was lazing my Eid away when on the second day at about 1 pm I was shaken out of my reverie by the jingle of the mobile phone. My father said that we would be going to a resort at Elanga with Haider uncle, a friend of my father since his university days. To be truthful, I've heard a lot about it but I couldn't imagine the place exactly. I didn't raise my hopes too high. I had about half an hour to get dressed. Now I got into a fix about my clothes. Should I wear simple, or gorgeous clothes? My mom made me wear a bright coloured churidar with a simple cashmere shawl. I was ready before my dad.
The car was about an hour late, so at 3:00 pm we set off. At first, we had gone to Baridhara and there I met Lizzy aunty, a lovely lady who was the spirit of the party. We changed cars from there and then by a microbus, we started going towards Elanga. I came to know that it was very near from the Jamuna Bridge. The other passengers, beside us, were Nasrin Aunty, Abid, Shubro, and Orko (I came to know their names later). We were chatting with Nasrin Aunty and I was listening to the fascinating story of her life. The thing that surprised me the most was that even though she did not study for the last 20 years, she took up a NIBA course a couple of months ago. She worked in her office full time, took care of her kids and family, and attended MBA classes. Still she managed to score a marvellous grade of 3.5 out of 4. When asked how she did it, the reply was -"hard work and dedication." My dad was occasionally fiddling with his mobile phone while the kids had a nap. The two hours flew away when my dad informed me that we'd be at Elanga in five minutes.
I was thrilled. The moment had arrived at last. Bobbing up and down on my seat, I had the first sight of this magnificent resort. It is right beside the highway, a vast expanse of land decorated by exotic flowers and beauty. The car stopped in front of one of the 14 "cottages" which was actually a beautiful house with a pretty begonia plant on the top of the doorway. I entered the house and found myself in a large drawing room with comfortable furniture complete with a TV. I went around the house. The kitchen was a huge one with modern attachments. It was like "a home away from home." The chic cottage was decorated tastefully with a European touch. It was called "Prianka" - a poetic Bengali name. Then we went on a tour with Haider uncle around the estate. There were many such cottages for the families, exclusive suites, and economy class rooms. I was attracted by the natural beauty, which I didn't believe existed in Dhaka city. There were loads of fruit trees of various kinds and types. Flowers were abundant and the beautiful cosmos garden with the colourful flowers, in full bloom, took my breath away. The walk from the huge conference room was lined by tubs of yellow-orange dahlias and chrysanthemums. I haven't told the best part yet. The resort has a groomed and beautiful chestnut horse with a shiny coat. It also had four deer and has a birds' corner. A barbecue grill stood nearby. There was a badminton and tennis court where you can easily recharge yourself with a game of badminton. You can easily play football or cricket in the gigantic field there. On one side are a couple of swings and a slide for the kids as well as the grown up kids. Over all, it seemed to be like a mini city to me.
It was getting a bit dark when I thought we should be getting back home. It was then I was informed that we would be sleeping over there. I was stunned. I did not take any other dress except the prickly one I was wearing. I daresay it would be extremely uncomfortable to sleep in it. Nasrin Aunty came to my rescue and I changed my clothes.
After that, we made our way towards the restaurant called -Biroti" which is a part of the whole project. There refreshments were waiting for us. It was a large and airy restaurant and brightly lit. We sat on one of the tables and the food was laid in front of us. There were crispy French Fries, chops and noodles with fresh papaya salad from one of the trees. The food was delicious. It was followed by a hot cup of tea.
We then went towards the badminton court and the rest of our group soon joined us. Even little Zayed was there and Lizzy aunty told us that it was his first trip so far away from home. He was staring at everything and seemed to follow all that we were saying. Haider uncle, my dad and two others were absorbed in a mock-fierce contest of badminton. Haider uncle seemed to be a good player. I was amazed. Later I learnt that he had been playing it regularly up to 1998. Next, I tried play nag it with some of the others but I soon gave up because I was not so good at it. Instead, I went for a stroll exploring the various walks. Soon we all had worked out a hearty appetite and had dinner at Biroti. After all the beef and mutton of Eld, everyone wanted to have a pure Bengali cuisine. The kids had Chinese fried rice and veggies with chicken. I tried it out. It was tasty too. There were many items. Although the ones I liked most were the traditional mashed potatoes, nigella with garlic, then fish and chicken curry. The food was scrumptious.
Due to the tremendous fog, I was ecstatic and had a reminiscence of the fogs in London. We returned to the cottage and had a hot cup of tea to warm up. We talked into the right swapping anecdotes, 'jokes and discussing about history, politics, astrology, and many other topics. After sometime, I went to chat with Abid, Shubro, and Orko. We talked of different things and I was startled to see that how smart they were- Soon my eyelids felt heavy and I went to sleep.
After waking up in the morning, we had a cool glass of date tree juice - a rare delicacy in the town. Afterwards we had a lovely breakfast. There were mouth -watering -'Bhapa pitha' and 'Chitoi pitha' followed by parhata with chicken and a vegetable curry. Then I went for a walk with two others savouring the delights of nature in the glorious sunshine. The place looked much more beautiful now. I got to know the names of various fruit trees. The ones I remember are wood - apple, blackberry, plum, mango, jackfruit, lychee and many more. The wood apple and plum trees bore some fruits. To my delight. saw a variety of birds chirping and twittering. They were strikingly beautiful with sleek colourful and glossy feathers. We hardly get to see any birds in the city except, of course, crows. When I went to the field, I saw that a game of football was going on. I learnt how to play badminton properly and had an invigorating game. Then the fifteen of us had lunch and we prepared to return home. I went to walk for the last time to absorb the panorama because I was sorry to leave the peace and quite environment of this place.
While I said good-bye, I felt sad to leave everyone-especially our gracious hostess and host. I guess some of credit goes to the deft skill of the staff for making our journey so enjoyable. After I reached home, I had the same feeling that you experience when a really good dream ends abruptly. It was exciting while it lasted.
|