21 November 2009
This has been my second visit to this place within a year. Its been almost a year since my last visit to this place. We had been planning to do something during the weekend. There was a team of photographers from TTL ("Through the Lens: Bangladesh" group of Flickr) having a great time in the tea gardens of Srimangal; so, we also wanted to have our own sessions somewhere near Dhaka. A day-long session was what we had been looking for. Saturday seemed the most convenient time for most; and there we go. The aim was to go out and do some clicking. Getting a suitable place for that was thus the main question. Tora came up as the most accepted place.
We planned to click some activity of harvesting. The season of Hemanta (Late Autumn) was in full swing, and harvesting was going on in the most parts of the country. Tora is a place where a variety of rural activities can be found; we just need to select the season for it. Last year we clicked he golden fields of mustard. This year, we were a bit too early for it, but not too late for the harvesting though.
We gathered for the journey at Gabtoli Bus Terminal. Although the official timing was at 8:00AM, it took us up to 8:45AM to board the bus. We boarded a bus that went beyond Manikganj, because Tora is somewhat west of Manikganj, under Ghior Upazila. We were a team of seven, after numerous drop-outs at the last minute. The day was a bit chilly; winter really began to knock from that day. But the sun was out; so, the chilly weather couldn't make us shiver.
The two-hour jurney wasn't boring at all, though the weekend early-morning wake-up did have some pressure of most. Some others actually missed the journey not waking up on time. Anyway, we were looking for some harvesting scenes from our windows; though we didn't get to see too many. We only hoped that we would get that once we reach Tora.
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Fishing........
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Follow the leader......
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
The death of a mother......
its late November....... the River Kaliganga is almost dead........ the river is hardly of any substance as an important waterway for the local community...... it can easily be crossed on foot in many places..... huge shoals have choked the river....... its the death of a river....... the death of a mother........
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
The Kaliganga water-scape.....
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Boat and shoals......
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Sand-work..........
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Shadow of light.......
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Once a river.......01
its a way alright...... but it was supposed to be a waterway, because it is the middle of the River Kaliganga........ there's hardly enough water in the river during the dry season to wet someone's feet...... trucks carrying sand make their own roads on sand..... the big boat resting on sand reminds us that this was once a river........
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Once a river.......02
Tora came up soon enough. By around 10:45AM we were out of the bus. Tora bus stand is now a familiar place for a lot of photographers; and the Tora people also are familiar with photographers! So, it wasn't a problem making us at home there. We decided to enjoy the view from above the Tora Bridge first. The bridge gave a unique view of the surrounding river-scape. The Kaliganga River was as dry as you could imagine. This was a similar view that I experienced a year back. Huge shoals covered the largest part of the river. Some boats were trying hard to ply through the narrow waterways. Depth of water was so low in most places that people were actully crossing the river on foot! Some boats got stuck in the narrows and were being pushed by the crews in shallow water. This was a typical face of the Kaliganga during this time of the year. Trucks loaded with sand were criss-crossing the river-bank, creating their own roads. But there were some birds still flying around the place declaring the presence of Nature's beauty.
We came down from the bridge and spent some time at the tea stall to plan for the next move. We had several options at our hand. Some locals mentioned that the we were not supposed to get a glimpse of harvesting there. So, we began to plan accordingly. Someone suggested that there was an old palace nearby where we could go to shoot something of archaelogical importance. But nobody could give authenticated information about the old palace. Right at that time, some people on the road told us that we could easily get a glimpse of harvesting if we walked or taken a rickshaw. Several people actually authenticated this. So, we dropped the idea of the old palace. In fact, much later, we got information about the palace that it was no more than an old house; hardly 50 year old!
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Harvest.........01
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Harvest.........02
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
A well-earned rest........01
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
A well-earned rest........02
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
A well-earned rest........03
We took three rickshaws and quickly reached the field where harvesting was well on its way. It wasn't a field miles in length, but there was enough crop to help us take some reasonably good shots. The farmers and the owner of the farmland, all were very much appreciative and we didn't have any problem clicking. The harvesting farmers found our work interesting. They posed in front of our cameras and didn't seem to be offended.
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Hard-working hands.........01
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Hard-working hands.........02
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Harvest.........03
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Harvest.........04
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Harvest.........05
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| From Tora, Manikganj, November 2009 |
Harvest.........06
The golden paddy was a sight to see. Many birds, mainly mynas and black drongos, were flying around the harvesting farmers on the lookout for food. Part of the paddy had lied down on their own weight. The patterns created on the field with the harvested paddy were nice too. The farmers took some time to rest their hands, which gave us an opportunity to get them in a relaxed mood. We spent up to around 1:00PM shooting the harvests. The next decision was to reach the Tora Bridge and plan the next course of action.
Once at the bridge, we got more confused about the next course. The authentication of the palace seemed quite weak. So, we decided to leave Tora, either for Dhaka or any other place. Right at that time, we met a woman who told us that we could go to the snake-charmer village at Savar! She took interest herself and persuaded us to think about it carefully. She even gave us her home phone number to get authentication. She told us that we could see some sort of fair at the village. And using her recommendation, we could do photography there. We phoned her children over there and decided to give it a go. It was already well into the afternoon; so, we decided to complete our lunch as soon as possible.
We boarded a bus quickly and headed for Savar. By arounnd 3:30PM we were at Savar Bazar and had lunch there. We phoned that woman's family and got direction about finding their place. The place isn't too far from Savar Bazar actually. We took rickshaws and reached there within 15 minutes. We received pretty much a cold reception there. Everyone there was looking at us. We talked to the community leader and made our intentions clear. We instantly realised that this is one place for photojournalists. A unique place with unique subjects; but this is not a place to hop in and start clicking. We spent some time with the husband of the woman who invited us there. There was no fair at that time, and we simply couldn't bring our cameras out. The whole stay was a bit uncomfortable for us. We made sure that we kept the good relations offered to us. The man was extremely gentle and very much friendly. He wanted us to stay, but our sudden arrival didn't give us the mood that was needed to do some work there. After around half-an-hour's stay there we gave a cordial goodbye and left the place.
At Savar Bazar, we were just too tired to look around, and the light was also fading. We decided to call it a day. But we continued to talk about the village, and thought of another trip there some time later with proper preparation. That would be one unique experience.
It was a nice day's outing. We boarded the bus with a smiling face, contented heart, and a very tired body.
