I took a vow to travel all over Bangladesh four years ago. In the meantime, I have been able to visit a total of thirty districts. Less than half of the whole of Bengal. However, I have written more than one and a half hundred travelogues. But I did not write the story of starting a travel luxury. Today I will tell the story of wandering in Padumba village during the time of Pala king Rampal. Exactly three years and seven months ago.

I informed my two girlfriends that I would come to Dhaka on the 14th. They said, come on the thirteenth date anyway. What is the reason? The reason is that the fourteenth date will be the last program of their varsity life. And I have to be present in it.

I have always been a friend dependent person. Friends will tell you to do something, and I won’t do it – it can’t happen. I went to Dhaka with a severe disaster on my head. The next day I went to their orientation program. A minute before returning home from the program, Nilanthi called me and said, ‘Shall I go to Pabna?’ I was stunned. At least at that moment I didn’t do anything like go to the insane asylum. I was sitting a little far away in a simple manner and checking the notifications. Then why are you telling me to go to the place of the bandit?

He looked at me blankly and said, ‘Imran’s brother is getting married tomorrow. We are all going to Pabna by night coach. You go too. ‘

I looked at him in disbelief and said, ‘What are you talking about? Should I go to Cam? ‘

He smiled confidently and said, ‘I will be back tomorrow. Let’s go Isn’t this the first step of our trip to Bangladesh with this sudden tour? ‘

The word worked like magic. My long time hobby is to travel all over Bangladesh. But due to education and kinship, I could not go anywhere except Dhaka-Comilla-Chittagong. They also did not have the means to travel. Many times the plan was programmed, but later ruined. So this time I did not forbid. It would not be right to miss the opportunity to visit the largest mental hospital in Bangladesh. At the same time, it will be known why the largest mental hospital in Bangladesh was built in Pabna.

Then things started happening very fast. We started our journey as soon as we got on the bus.

Going to North Bengal for the first time.
I am crossing the Jamuna Bridge for the first time.
For the first time, I am running to another part of the country without the permission of my family.
A different feeling. Our bus journey ended with a sore throat trying to sing in a whisper, scolding the conductor for disturbing the other passengers on the bus, counting for ten seconds, trying to see the places Yusuf showed in the dim light, leaving each other’s throats and laughing.

I got off the bus and took CNG to Imran’s house. It is dawn. Going to see both sides of the road. Like ten other villages in Bangladesh. The only exception that caught my eye was a white horse. Standing silently in the middle of the cropland. Although the horse is a very common animal in books, it has never been seen in the streets or in the fields except in horse carriages or zoos. Not even on the farm.

Imran’s home is in Sujanagar upazila of Pabna. Wet in the rain, I entered Imran’s house. When it started to rain, all our plans to go out for a walk died in the field. Each time I get ready to go out with a two minute break in the rain, and after two minutes it starts raining harder than before.

Eleven of our sixteen wickets fell in the pouring rain, the sound of rain falling on the tin rice, and the fatigue of waking up at night. Falling wickets meant that everyone except me, Neel, Pini, Julhas and Imran fell asleep. We laughed a lot for a while with the sleepers. I took pictures. Even though I was very sleepy, I survived all sorts of digestion because I didn’t sleep at that moment.

We gasped as we sat in the rain. The five of us went outside with Tipi Tipi in the rain. After a while I saw the whole team came out. Imran immediately said, “Hemayetpur is far away from here,” even though he wanted to go to Hemayetpur.

Listening to him, my mind became bad. Seeing our paralyzed face, he may have said quickly, ‘It will be useful for us to return to Dhaka via Hemayetpur. Moreover, at any moment, it may rain again. Rather, go to the banks of the Padma. Shall we go? ‘

That’s right. Rickshaws do not run in Pabna. If you want to go to the banks of Padma, you have to go by van. This time I jumped up. I got in the van once in my life. The people around me looked at me with a yes. But the van is the best means of transportation in Pabna! Nothing can be missed.

A lot of things caught my eye as I walked into the van. Numerous trees on both sides of the road. That should be normal. But the unusual thing is that even after the summer has started and the rains have started, there is an abundance of mangoes, blackberries and jackfruits. Every five steps the jackfruit tree, holding the jackfruit from top to bottom. Hundreds of mangoes in mango trees, all kinds of small and big trees. Ripe blackberries are scattered under the huge blackberry tree.

If I saw one or two such trees, it would not look strange. But seeing so many fruit trees after five steps, all our eyes are filled with tears. So much fruit, but no one eats. And if it was in our area, when would these fruits be stolen? I also saw many huge black-crowned flowering trees, which are still in bloom. Almost all the flowers of Krishnacura in Chandpur have fallen, but in Pabna it seems to have just blossomed anew. I do not understand, honeymoon in Pabna is late?

Another thing I saw was many schools in Sujanagar. On the way to the river bank, I saw about eight or ten schools. They also have huge playgrounds. There are also many old-fashioned houses of royal design.

After riding for an hour in a motorized van, I finally reached the banks of the Padma. Those from Chandpur are reading this post

Well, they must be thinking, this girl went to Pabna and went really crazy? I have come to see the river after an hour’s journey, it is natural to be surprised to hear it. Let me surprise you more. If everyone wanted to go to a nearby char, Imran went to rent a boat (boat, called boat in Pabna). My eyes rolled when I heard the rent. Ten minutes waterway or one thousand rupees! I don’t understand whether I will laugh or cry, I don’t understand. After a long bargain, it was brought to two hundred. We grazed.

The type of char shown in the picture of Monpura is exactly the same type of char. There are similar chars in Chandpur too. I walked around the pastures, wrote my name on the sand, saw strange species of insects, dipped my feet in the mud (we thought it was quicksand), played twelve of my clothes, took pictures. After wandering around for half an hour, I reached the shore with my nose, the time on the clock was only ten or twenty-five!

After taking a bath back home, everyone fell asleep. I also wandered around for a while, ready to go to the wedding. I slept in that condition because there was nothing to do. I woke up in half an hour, at the sound of rain. Everyone is still asleep in the mud. I was feeling very short of a cup of tea due to severe headache. We have been wanting tea since that morning, but why not. I have said a few times, “Tea in Pabna is a rare thing for us.”

I didn’t understand that it would come true even if I said it in vain. I found a lot of milk tea in a shop. The shopkeeper made tea in a strange way. He took half a cup of milk in a sieve and poured hot water in it. It started to taste bad. I finally realized what milk tea is, the people of Pabna do not know.

The most interesting thing happened was sitting down to lunch. We all laugh when we think of this incident. As soon as he sat down to eat and took polao on the plate, Imran said, “No dal?”

I looked at him in surprise and said, I will take the pulses later. We all took pulses to finish eating with meat. Imran’s mother said from the side, “They all eat upside down?”
We chuckled. I understood that the people of Pabna used to eat rice with pulses. I have visited so many places so far, I have never seen anything like it. A small country, how many types, how many colors!

All in all the first travel experience was great. However, he did not go to Hemayetpur due to a problem in the service. I hope to come back soon, from the Pabna of King Rampal who appeared under the name ‘Padumba’.