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Travelogue
A Memorable Tour of a Tea Garden

Enayetul Karim Sabik

We are a group of polapan (young people) who love to spend most our time hanging out together. Few days back, as we were getting bored for lack of action, Fahad came up with an idea of visiting a tea garden at Moulavibazar, where his uncle lived. We jumped up thinking what a relief from boredom and monotony! None of us ever visited a tea garden before so it appeared to be an exciting proposition. Fahad talked with his uncle and we fixed the date.

We were a group of eight members from different universities: Fahad, Jitu, Rupom, Turjo and Mithun from NSU, Saqib from AIUB, Tanvir from AUST and me from EWU. Tanvir the master fun-maker had his final exams ahead but he couldn't resist the temptation of going with us.

We reached Moulavibazar just before midnight and Fahad's uncle drove us to his home, which was situated inside the tea garden. Uncle and aunty both welcomed us warmly to their splendid bungalow. The tea garden was owned by Duncan Group. We were exhausted after such a long train journey and went to bed as fast as we could.

We woke up to see a beautiful morning in that gorgeous surrounding. There were an enormously large swimming pool, a beautiful flower garden and another small but more beautiful bungalow just beside our bungalow. Around the bungalow as far as we could see we only saw small hills and tea plants. The green view was astonishing and breathtaking. We walked through the gardens for a long time and enjoyed the natural beauty. We also visited the tea-factory once. We drank fresh tea and came to know the difference in taste between fresh and tea we get in Dhaka.

Everyday we swam in the pool as long as we wanted. Saqib and Tanvir made fun with Rupom and Mithun by frightening them, as they couldn't swim and we all laughed looking at their frightened faces.

This article would not be complete if I didn't mention the cooking ability of our beloved aunty. She cooked special dishes for us at every meal and we felt as if we were visiting heaven for a while! She even made superb ice cream and chocolate cakes for us, which had a taste that we will not forget. The cute little cousin of Fahad - Wasif also enjoyed our company, since he barely meets people out there. At night Jitu and Tanvir played the guitar and we all sang discordantly. Music in that kind of environment sounded indescribably amazing.

Our five-day stay seemed too short; we wanted to stay there more, if possible for the rest of our lives. But reality always bites; we had our classes coming up and Tanvir had to prepare for his exams. We left Moulavibazar with a sad feeling but our hearts were filled with love and affection we shared with uncle, aunty and Wasif. We brought back memories of some beautiful moments spent in that tremendously beautiful place.

(B.B.A., EWU) deshi_sabik@yahoo.com