30 January 2010
Shimulia, Savar,
Dhaka,Bangladesh
Its always difficult to manage a team of more than 20 people during a tour somewhere. But when you have Shudipto with you, you know that things will be OK. It was yet another nice photowalk with the great group of adventurers from TTL (Through the Lens: Bangladesh). A tour with TTL anywhere is a great experience. Not just for clicking purpose, to have some great moments with some great friends too! I could hardly say no when the plan was unleashed to visit Shimulia. This was TTL's second visit there actually. I missed the earlier one and had an empty feeling ever since. I was determined this time not to miss this event!
Winter was standing on the door, on its way out. But just a little of that chilly breeze remained and convinced some of us to take a wee bit of warmth with us. Anyway, my idea was that as we would start early in the morning, it was wiser to take a sweater; well, just in case! As it turned out, we boarded the bus for Savar by around 8:40AM, when the sun was well up; though not shining with that much ferocity (lucky me!!).
We knew that the journey would take around one hour. Our destination was Shimulia, some way from Dhamrai. So, it wasn't a straight journey to any bus stand. We got dropped at Dhamrai after a one-and-a-quarter-hour journey. That only introduced us to a small tempo (three-wheeler human hauler) stand. These three-wheelers carry around 10-12 people. Our 22-people group was enough for two vehicles. This part of the journey took us through some nice rural settings. Most of the land near Dhaka lost their rural flavour some time back. A bit of rural touch still remains with the crop lands. It was harvesting time; and most of the homes were in a festive mood with rice processing. I started to miss that while we left those golden fields. Our aim was to visit a potter village; so, the harvesting fields took a back seat. We had to be satisfied with the lovely views.
After around half-an-hour's journey, we reached a school. An annual sports event was well on its way there with a lot of students, teachers, and guests gathering. With all our clownish bags and photo-gears, we were easily spotted by them from a distance. Anyway, we could swallow that and we did around half-a-dozen songs of terrible taste, which were on air through some mindless broadcasts with mikes! Races were not yet ready to start when we crossed the tracks.
At the end of the school field there was that huge banyan tree. Its ancient and experienced look would make anyone stall. We also got stuck in front of it. Had to take a few snaps there before we could move again. The tree is at the entrance of the potter village, almost reminding us of our glorious past.
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
roots.........
Nature teaches us not to forget our past; never to unlearn our learning; never to get detached from our roots....... because we're just children in a very large world; always learning.........
We entered the village and straightaway knew that the villagers were very much used to seeing photographers. This village is one of those where one could find some traditional stuff. Being one of the last remaining potters, they do attract a lot of photojournalists. Their attitude towards cameras was built by these photojournalists. Anyway, we were not facing too much of a problem shooting in and around the village. We go pretty much easy access to their homes. We made our aims clear and got full co-operation from them. We stayed at the village for more than two hours and didn't face any trouble clicking.
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
tradition......
every bend in that village reminded us of the traditions that survived changes of many generations....... yet, there are signs of change; signs of threat to that long-protected culture........
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
craftsmen........
these people are not just potters........ they're experts of a craft; protectors of a tradition; curators of an almost forgotten art......
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
patterns of earth.......01
there are patterns of God's earth...... and there are patterns made by humans..... they both come from earth and ultimately end up there...... we humans are just the breaks in those patterns.......
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
patterns of earth.......02
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
a work of faith.......
the potters of Shimulia have kept the traditions alive with a lot of devotion...... and faith...... its almost as if their faith in their God guided their faith in their work....
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
Gods......
they're not just potters...... they're makers of Gods as well...... their work is not just for material benefits; spiritual as well.....
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
an artist's hands.......
those hands have considerable experience and expertise in creating useful shapes..... but its not just expertise, its the attention to detail and concentration in creating something artistic that shines on the mud around the fingers......
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
where time stood still........
I spent some time at a place where I could see her, but asked myself why is she sitting there?....... I came to that same place after more than an hour...... she was still there..... she didn't move from there....... what was her story?....... what makes time stand still around her?.......
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| From Shimulia, Savar, Dhaka, January 2010 |
light of the future.......
the baby was basking in that beautiful morning sun..... her forefathers may be in a sort of gloom, thinking of the inevitable....... but she provides them with a hope that makes them smile and keeps them going.....
Our stay at the village ended some time around 1:00PM and we began to search ways to go back quickly. As it turned out, going back quickly became something of a challenge. Those three-wheelers made our life difficult by keeping their own timeline. A couple of replacement vehicles saved the day for us. We reached Savar bus stand on those two vehicles; much quicker than we thought we could. It was almost 2:40PM when we were boarding the bus for Dhaka. But the rest of the journey was even quieter. A day's toil made everyone quiet. We entered Dhaka by around 3:30PM and found our own ways to reach home.
It was a short but interesting tour. My previous disappointment regarding not being able to attend the previous photowalk there was no longer there. And the pleasant company of the photomates made the short tour really enjoyable.
