It is hard to believe without seeing with your own eyes how many wonderful wild beauties are hidden in the corners of our Natore, beyond the familiar paths, the familiar village paths, and the crowds of familiar people. Those of us who live in villages, nature is our daily companion. But when we step into the wild nature of another unknown village beyond our familiar boundaries, that feeling is completely different. A strange addiction to discovering something new was working in my mind amidst the familiar nature. And with that addiction, I put my friend Zillur on the back of the bike and set out outside our area, to a completely new destination. The aim was one and only - to capture the pure, wild and gentle rural form of Natore in a new way.
Babui Bird's Family in the Palm Tree and the Madness of My Photography:
Our journey on the bike began along the crooked and dusty meth road of an unknown village. While enjoying the breeze and the fresh air of the village, after walking a little distance, our eyes were caught by a huge palm tree standing with its head raised towards the sky. I braked and stopped the bike. Yes, you heard right - a palm tree! Although we are usually more used to seeing the nest of the Babui bird on palm trees or coconut trees, here was a wonderful creation of nature hanging from the leaves of this huge palm tree - the skillful nest of the Babui bird.
Those of you who regularly view my photography know very well how crazy I am about taking details or close-up shots within the frame. I could not get enough of taking pictures of the nests from below. The rough body and thorns of the palm tree could not restrain me. I parked my bike on one side of the road and started climbing the tree in the passion of taking a perfect shot! And right at that time, a funny thing happened. While I was taking pictures of the nests woven by the skilled architect, risking my life to save the branches and thorns of the tree, I didn't realize that Zillur had taken a wonderful picture of me climbing the tree while standing below! When he showed me that picture of me climbing the tree after returning home after our entire trip, I burst into laughter. When a photographer finds himself in the frame of another photographer in search of a good picture, that moment becomes a truly wonderful memory.
It is truly amazing to see these nests of the Babui, woven so perfectly with only grass, leaves and straw without any modern equipment. How these nests survive even in the gusty winds is truly a great wonder of nature.
A gentle path and an independent companion:
After finishing that exciting episode of the palm tree, we got back on the bike. On both sides of the road, there are mango orchards and a variety of unknown greenery. I am riding my bike at a leisurely pace, and I am looking at the nature around me. At that time, a village cat became our companion on the paved road. It was walking along the paved road at a calm, slow pace. Even at the sound of the bike, there was no inertia or fear in it, but rather, there was an independent nobility in its walk. From behind, Zillur was laughing and saying, "Look, nature itself has sent one of us as a guide!" The sight of this small animal walking on the dry leaves and dust lying on the paved road struck me as a traditional and gentle form of rural Bengal.
The Magical World of Light and Shadow: A Vast Bamboo Forest:
After saying goodbye to the cat, we started moving further inland on our bikes. Suddenly, the surrounding environment changed. We arrived at a huge bamboo garden. However, calling it just a 'garden' may not be enough to describe its vastness; it was basically a kind of bamboo forest or jungle! There was only bamboo and bamboo all around, like a green maze.
The atmosphere inside the bamboo forest was strangely calm and somewhat mysterious. The dense bamboo leaves on the top seemed to form a green roof, and sunlight was falling diagonally on the ground through the gaps in the leaves. The paved path was covered with dry, brown bamboo leaves. As we walked over the dry leaves, leaving our bikes on the edge of the bamboo forest, we heard a crunching sound under our feet, which created a strange and exciting feeling in the midst of the silent forest. When the bamboo trees swayed in the wind, the melodious sound created by the friction of the leaves was like nature's own symphony. Standing deep in this vast bamboo forest, we felt how fascinated we were by this wild form of nature!
A carpet of green on the riverbed:
The empire of the sedges
When we crossed the bamboo forest and started the bike again and came to a slightly open area, the most amazing scene of this trip unfolded before us. A huge river lies ahead, but at a glance there is no way to understand that there is a stream of water flowing beneath it! The entire river is completely covered in sedges from one end to the other.
From a distance, it seems as if someone has spread a huge, wide green carpet on the riverbed. Zillur, as soon as he got off the bike, said in surprise, "Is this a huge field or a river?" I looked into the camera's viewfinder and saw how fresh these green leaves of the Kachuripana looked in the sunlight. Usually, we like to take pictures of flowing water of the river, but this huge empire of still Kachuripana gave me a different level of fascination. This strange contrast of nature - somewhere the roughness of dry bamboo leaves, and somewhere such a fresh green carpet of Kachuripana - this is perhaps the real beauty of our rural Bengal.
Last word: Joy outside the familiar boundaries
At the end of the day, when we turned around and took the way back, the sun had slightly set. This short yet exciting bike ride of Zillur and I proved that you don't need to go very far to enjoy the beauty of nature. Only by going beyond your own boundaries and taking a bike on an unfamiliar path can you find such wonderful, wild and pure nature.
As a photographer, I always try to frame something that not only pleases the eyes but also my mind. From the fun memories of climbing that palm tree on today's journey, to the vast bamboo forest and the river covered in kachuripana, everything will remain forever in my camera's memory card as well as in my mind.
How did you like my bike ride and photo walk in this new area? Don't forget to let me know in the comments.
*(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.) *
.
.
| Camera Used | Samsung SM-G973F |
|---|---|
| F-Stop | F2.4 |
| ISO speed | ISO |
| Focal length | 26mm |
| Flash | No |
| Editing app | Lightroom |
| Photography | (wilderness) |
| Photographer |  |
| Location | Natore, Bangladesh |
| Latitude | Longitude | Map Link |
|---|---|---|
| 24.40022 | 89.09679 | [//]:# (!worldmappin 24.40022 lat 89.09679 long d3scr) |
