The same routine every day, life stuck between brick walls and monotonous work - all this together makes our brain rebel at times. It seems that we leave everything and get lost somewhere. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a little free time for ourselves in this mechanical life of ours. Just at such a suffocating time, my friends suddenly made a plan, let's go for a boat ride on the river this afternoon. As soon as I heard the proposal, I agreed in one sentence. My mind was already wanting to get away from this daily hustle and bustle and breathe in the open air. Such an opportunity doesn't come every day!
I don't have a fancy DSLR or expensive camera to take pictures, my only hope for taking all my pictures is my beloved smartphone. So before going out, I fully charged my phone, cleared the memory space so that there would be no obstacles in framing the beautiful moments. Then I went straight to the river ghat with my friends. Our plan was to float along the river in a relaxed mood, without any rush, and experience our familiar rural nature up close and deeply. Upon reaching the pier, we rented a medium-sized motorized boat.
I sat at the very front of the boat, which we call the gulley. From there, the entire river could be seen in full view. The gulley side of our boat was painted in bright blue and red, which was moving forward through the murky water of the river. After starting the engine, the gentle shaking of the boat, the sound of the gurgling water, and the refreshing breeze of the river instantly made us forget all the fatigue of the city. It felt like we had entered another world.
After moving a little further, we saw a very beautiful trawler passing us from a distance. A large awning of bright orange, pink and green was hung on the trawler to protect it from the sun and rain. The unbroken green trees on both sides of the river and the calm water flow created a strange and magical atmosphere. Seeing this vast body of water of the river under the cloudy sky and this kingdom of greenery around it, a different kind of peace was working inside me. It seemed that there was no rush of time here, everything was going on in its own and natural rhythm. The light cloudiness of the sky reduced the brightness of the sun and made the atmosphere more gentle.
As the boat moved forward, we could see all the wonderful fragments of rural life on the riverbank before our eyes. At one place, I saw the roots of a large tree spread like a net on the mud on the riverbank. And right around those roots, a flock of white and brown ducks were swimming to their hearts content and resting in the mud. They did not even pay any attention to the sound of our boat's engine. This very simple yet vibrant scene of a rural household also looked great in the camera frame.
As we moved forward a little further, we came across a familiar scene of the agricultural people of Bengal. A few farmers were washing their jute after soaking it in the river water up to their waists. The laborious task of separating the rotten jute fibers that had been soaked in water for several days, beating them with bamboo and washing them in the river water is hard to understand unless you see it up close. The stories behind the farmers' hard work and harvesting the crops flow like the water of the river. These scenes repeatedly remind us of how closely our rural economy and the lives of these ordinary people are intertwined with the river.
While passing by banana plantations and dense bushes, I saw several huge buffaloes resting in complete peace, up to their necks in the muddy water of the river. Seeing the buffaloes playing and spending their lazy time in the scorching heat of Bhadra, our friends laughed a lot. One of them said, "Aha! These buffaloes have a more peaceful life than us!" I quickly took out my phone from my pocket and framed this funny scene.
Our boat moved forward at its own pace, cutting through the river. After covering quite a distance, we saw a large concrete bridge from a distance. People and small vehicles were moving on the bridge, and our boat slowly crossed below. Such river bridges are like a silent bridge between the lives of people on both sides. From below, the vastness of the bridge and the busyness of the people running on it looked quite different.
After crossing the bridge, the riverside scenery began to change a bit. At one point, I saw a large traditional cargo boat anchored on the bank, surrounded by a lot of floating garbage, and a few tin houses could be seen on the back bank. Those who work on these large boats spend their days on the riverbank. As we moved a little further, a magnificent historical structure caught my eye on the riverbank. An ancient Hindu temple stands tall on a dam made of stone blocks on the riverbank, with several monasteries or peaks painted in white and pink-red. The location of this old temple on the banks of such a calm river gave the surrounding environment a solemn and spiritual look.
However, the wild beauty of the riverbank occupied the most space in my smartphone camera today. Both banks of the river are like a huge canvas of greenery. At one place, I saw huge bamboo groves and unknown vines hanging from top to bottom along the riverbank, as if a whole natural wall or curtain of green color had been created. This wild form of nature is truly extraordinary. There is no human touch here, nature has decorated itself in its own glory at its own whim.
As I went a little further, my eyes were caught by a wonderful scene. Small red wild fruits or flowers were peeking out from the dense green foliage, which looked exactly like a picture. It is quite difficult to take a macro shot by zooming in from a moving boat, yet the creeping plants were hanging so beautifully that I was fascinated and took several pictures from different angles. These red wild fruits in between the green leaves created a great color contrast, which was very comfortable for the eyes.
As the afternoon passed, the river current and wind speed increased quite a bit. The wind was creating small waves and whirlpools in the murky water of the river, with scattered groups of kachuripanas floating along, and a small dinghy was tied near the bank in the distance. This whirlpool of the river water and the sound of the wind reminded us that it was time to return. The sun was also slowly sinking in the western sky.
These few hours spent with friends today passed in the blink of an eye. I would not have understood how important such a trip was for me in the midst of the daily routine without this refreshing feeling today. I am looking forward to sharing this wonderful boat trip and the beautiful rural beauty with the readers of my blog on the Hive platform. At the end of the day, when I was returning home, my body was a little tired, but my mind was completely relaxed. The calm river of our familiar Bengal, the simple lifestyle of the people on the banks, and the pure beauty of nature remind us again and again how fortunate we are. This wonderful afternoon was a great start to our plans to go on a bigger tour with friends in the future.
(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 | (River) |
| Photographer |  @mshbd |
| Location | Natore, Bangladesh |
| Latitude | Longitude | Map Link |
|---|---|---|
| 24.37339 | 89.25362 | [//]:# (!worldmappin 24.37339 lat 89.25362 long d3scr) |