BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, Dhaka, October 2008

BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, Dhaka, October 2008

18 October 2008

This Autumn (Sarath season in Bengali) was a lean season for me in terms of watching Nature. I had lamented pretty regularly regarding the wild beauties of Nature that I've missed. The Autumn clouds and the white "kaash ful" (a wild flower) beckoned me all the time. I had a brief look at kaash during my last JU Naturewatch. But that a look at "some" kaash, but at a "forest" of kaash. I heard of places where you couldn't see anything other than these white beauties. But I couldn't do anything other than devouring those news. Now the chance came up all on a sudden; a photowalk right in the midst of kaash.

Did I ever even think of getting a forest of kaash inside Dhaka City? Absolutely not! Its the concrete jungle that this city is very good with, not with a jungle of kaash! At least, thats what I thought of until several days back. One of our young photographer friens, Sakeeb, invited us to a place very close to his home. His invite was succulent enough; he uploaded some beautiful images of kaash, found near his living place, in the Bangladeshi Photographers Group in Flickr. Its within the boundaries of Bashundhara Residential Area, on the eastern edge of Dhaka City.

We reached there in turn on this idle Saturday afternoon. We had a pretty long deliberation regarding authorisation for photography inside the area. As it turned out, the place where we were supposed to shoot, was pretty much open for us; so, no problemo. Time was another important factor, as the season for kaash was slowing fading away. The Autumn is almost gone now, with the Late Autumn (Hemanta in Beangali) knocking on the door.

Our first sight on that place made us blind! We could see only white! The warm afternoon sunlight made the kaash glow. It was fabulous. There was a whole jungle of kaash over there. And it wasn't just one piece of jungle! There were too many places where kaash dominated! It was kaash and kaash, literally! We were overwhelmed and din't know what picture to take and what to leave out. We knew that the afternoon sun would soon go under the horizon. It was already half past four in the afternoon, and we had hardly an hour's shooting time. We started to chase the sun in the "kaash bon" (kaash jungle), literally! We were running from one place to another to catch the sun kissing the beautiful kaash. It was funny, but thrilling. It was a pity that only a small group of photographers could join us; really missed the others.

We stayed until the evening, enjoying the beautiful colours of sunset. It was one of the shortest photowalks we could manage, yet one of the most rewarding and soothing experiences. We can now bid goodbye to Sarath (Autumn) and say welcome to Hemanta (Late Autumn).

These are some of the glimpses we could manage from the short photowalk.

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Reaching for the blue........

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Afternoon glow..........

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Smooth as silk..........

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

"Kaash" in afternoon light........

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Nature's careful perfection........01

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Nature's careful perfection........02

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Reaping the benefits...........

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

The man has gotta do what the man has gotta do!!

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Light at the end of the tunnel.............

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

A soft kiss.............

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Keeping a shy presence..........

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Almost surreal........01

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Almost surreal........02

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Last lights.............

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Evening colours........01

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Evening colours........02

From BP Photowalk: Bashundhara, October 2008

Evening colours........03