Boro Bhromon Day 1: Tangail, Sirajganj

Thursday was the first day of our long trip to Rajshahi and Western Bangladesh. We started late and got caught in Dhaka traffic on the way out of the city, so we weren’t able to make it to all the places on our schedule. We spent most of the day in the car. One exciting thing was that we passed over the Jamuna Bridge, the longest bridge in Bangladesh crossing a river that is very large by American standards, but only somewhat large by Bangladeshi ones. Our first stop was at UBINIG in Tangail district. UBINIG is an NGO that promotes the organic cultivation of local varieties of crops (thereby trying to avert the switch to single-variety cultivation like we have in the US). To do so, they have seed banks in which they store the seeds each year and then redistribute them to area farmers for planting. UBINIG also promotes traditional methods of food processing, and has examples set up to demonstrate them. We saw mustard oil produced (by a cow walking in a circle attached to a grinding device), and rice flour pounded by a simple lever on which two people stood. In one building there were three women processing grains – one grinding dal with a stone wheel, and two making varieties of puffed rice over an open flame. They used broom-like whisks to stir the rice and whisk it out of the pot when done. After we finished seeing all the demonstrations and discussing everything with the head of the NGO, she led us through the village to their guest house. It was a lovely location; I would love to spend more time there. At the guest house, they fed us food that was grown organically in their gardens. It was delicious. There was ruti made with the rice flour we had watched being made, some delicious potato dish, pumpkin, and, to finish it off, Tangail’s special mishti, chumchum. And, of course, tea with real milk. This was supposed to be our breakfast, had we left at the planned time. After the meal, we said goodbye to the head of the NGO and walked next door to see some weavers. Tangail is known for its cotton saris. We talked to some of the weavers and watched them work, then got back in the cars and left. The next place we stopped was also a weaving area, where they are known for making good quality gamchas (=towel, many men wear them around their neck or waist). While the other were haggling over prices, Audrey and I were led away by an elderly man who showed us his gamcha workshop and house. We met his family, including a very old woman who I believe was his mother. After having a conversation with this group, we got back in the vans and drove to Rajshahi, arriving there after dark. For all three nights, we stayed in a Parjatan Corporation hotel, run by the Bangladeshi government’s tourism board. The facilities were similar to a standard American motel that was built in the 1980s.