Ron and Sally Jo Blog

We spent a recent Saturday on a river tour on the eastern side of Dhaka.  The all-day cruise took place on the Shitalakhya, a branch of the Brahmaputra River.  We joined 2 MCC service workers, 2 of their friends (from Scotland) working here, the friend’s parents who were visiting, plus four children.  It was a cloudy day, but clouds are our friends here—it isn’t so hot!

The tour picked us up at our residence and took us to Kanchon where we boarded a boat.  There were many river-edge sights plus the many other boats using the busy river.  Along the edge we saw gardens built over the water, people swimming/bathing, and many factories.  We could have gone swimming but the water did not look clean!  In fact, a recent article in the newspaper noted how unfit for use the river is.  The factories along the edge dump toxic wastes (chemical dyes, detergents, ammonia, sulfuric acid, bleaching powder, etc.) into the river.

We saw many small canoes and large barges.  We saw barges loaded with sand or logs and empty barges.  We passed several other small pleasure boats with jubilant young people!  We passed a ship-building area where they were using scrap metal from discarded ships.

We stopped along the way and visited Murapara Rajbari.  The feudal lords of the British government in eastern India, popularly known as zaminders, were responsible for construction of a large number of magnificent palaces throughout Bengal.  The Murapara palace was built by Ram Ratan Banerjee, who was appointed treasurer of the Natore estate and rose to a high position and acquired large properties at the end of 19th century. The palace complex is surrounded by three ponds. There are two small temples not far away from the palace complex on the side of its front pond.  The partition of India in 1947 changed the status and importance of the palace complex. The Hindu zaminders left their ancestral homes and migrated to India.  The Murapara palace was acquired by the government under the Abandoned Property Act, taking advantage of the absence of the actual owner. The complex is now being legally occupied by Murapara Degree College and the rear building is used for accommodation by the college staff.  We could see that it had been a magnificent palace at one time but time has taken its toll.  There also had recently been much rain and the surroundings were muddy or under water.

We stopped at another village where we saw the highly skilled traditional Jamdani weaving.  Jamdani is a vividly patterned, sheer cotton fabric, traditionally woven on a handloom by craftspeople around Dhaka. Jamdani textiles combine intricacy of design with muted or vibrant colours, and the finished garments are highly breathable. Jamdani is a time-consuming and labor-intensive form of hand-loom weaving because of the richness of its motifs, which are created directly on the loom.  We asked where the designs were and they said “in their head.”  The weavers take great pride in their heritage and are highly respected for their skills.

The tour included morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea, and ice cream!  We were well-fed.

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