Lungful of Oxygen and More

Photo: Darshan Chakma

My spouse and I were all set at the crack of dawn on the day following Eid-ul-Azha for a long drive out of the city – into the tranquil and unpolluted interior of Comilla district. Initially though, we had difficulty keeping our wits about us, our overnight excitement was about to die down since our chauffer hadn't arrived at the appointed hour of six in the morning. But close to seven, our relative Wadud Chowdhury, an engineer, gave us a sigh of relief by offering us a trip in his car. Actually, he had arranged to meet us at the left foot of Gulistan flyover with Swapan and Rinku, common relations, to accompany us to the destination they knew.

Firoza Begum

So off we went together on a 70-kilometre journey on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway east of the capital city. Our destination: Village named Maricha Noapara, some five kilometres west of Madhya point slightly sloping off the highway. The single-day drive along the highway, both ways making a total of 130km, was eye-opening to the dangers of travelling on our highways, particularly the notoriously busy, misshapen and unfinished Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. It was just a day after Eid when traffic was expected to be thin. But if what we negotiated was any sample of lighter traffic, then we shudder to think of the volume of traffic and consequent dangers to life and limbs on normal days!

The long overdue four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong Highway is a dream-turned-nightmare now. The most vital national arterial link to the port city has become lane-less today-thanks to never ending engineering or re-engineering activities. When smaller vehicles face coaches, buses and trucks speeding in like monsters a collision looks inevitable .With almost a wafer thin strip in between transports and the larger one rushing on recklessly it is entirely for the smaller one to manoeuvre through to safety. Especially after Daudkandi, Swapan our beloved grandson-in-law, had to drive on red alert.

If Swapan had passed a severe driving test on the highway, he would prove another measure of his skill negotiating the 5- kilometre zig-zag stretch to Maricha Noapara .The reason why the road had to be paved with sharp bends highlights people's reluctance to part any tiny strip of land even for a public road. The other explanation for the zig-zagging path perhaps lies in influential people making sure it passes closely by their homesteads.

Photo: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed

The nicest feature about this interior road is the thickly tree-cover and the super-abundance of canals and water pools having a cooling effect on road users and the people around - nature's air-conditioning coming into play. But as something of a punctuation mark in the surrounding quiet and silence you see an assortment of three wheelers, mechanised or manual, passing by or stopping awhile to give you side. You come by clusters of wayside shops doing brisk business. And why not?

Remittances have poured in from young people from this area working in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Singapore .They invest in land, farming, horticulture, fishing, education of their children and help set up business for their relatives.

It was in part eco-tourism for us, seeing people living close to nature and partaking some of it for as long as nine hours. For that long we breathed in fresh air, ate food without impurities including fish, fruits and vegetables. Rural retreats are indeed special treats!

Firoza Begum, a remarkable lady, played host to our trip with her whole array of grandsons and granddaughters. In her early eighties, there is always a winsome smile on her face. She is still active with an abiding interest in social work and spread of literacy. What could be worth emulating for a woman of her age than her credential of being a member of Maricha High School Committee?

She has some fond memories of her home being a shelter for freedom fighters during our Liberation War. Noapara falling on the trail to Agartala in India, only a short distance away, was a frequented resting spot for the Muktijoddhas. It is worth noting that she is the senior-most surviving sibling of Ahmad Fazlur Rahman, a former civil servant—since deceased—who was the third accused in the so-called famous Agartala conspiracy case.

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.