Doing Dhaka!

Look beyond its grit and grime and Dhaka is sure to stun you silent with its innate beauty, subtle grace and immense cultural wealth, says Raul Dias after a recent tryst with Bangladesh’s chaotic capital

“You must be a die-hard cricket fan” was a statement I constantly encountered for weeks leading up to my maiden trip to Dhaka—with a strong emphasis on the ‘cricket’ bit. Right from my colleagues to the Indian immigration officer stamping my passport at the airport, all erroneously assumed that I (a total non-believer in the religion of cricket, as it were) was going there to partake in the back-to-back cricket mania that is gripping Dhaka even as you read this. Why else would any ‘tourist’ visit a city like Dhaka? But ask true blue, card carrying members of the ‘traveller’ brigade “why Dhaka?” and they, like me, will serve you with a volley of reasons to partake in Dhaka’s story. And what a richly-textured story this city by the Buriganga River has to tell!

So, resolutely ignoring the many strategically placed ICC T20 World Cup 2014 time tickers along the dusty roads, I set off on my day in Dhaka. All the while coughing my way through the potentially toxic fumes emanating from the city’s gazillion auto rickshaws or ‘Baby Taxis’ as they are referred to in the local vernacular, as I gaped at the cage-like bicycle-driven contraptions that ferry school children to and fro. Sitting ensconced in a colourful cycle rickshaw with an equally colourful driver, I decided to pay obeisance to the very vehicle I was riding in by visiting an iconic street housed in the precincts of Old Dhaka in the south end of the city.

Bicycle Street, which is more formally called Bangsal Road, is a meandering one lined with shops selling bicycles of all kinds as well as stalls that do the special kitschy rickshaw art that each driver tries to outdo the other by decorating his beloved cycle rickshaw with. A few yards away at the 300-year-old Hindu Street called Shankharia Bazaar my ears suddenly picked up a sonorous tinkling sound that was being made by the workmen fashioning intricate pieces of jewellery from gold and other precious metals. From there, I chose to have a go at walking through the labyrinthine alleyways that led me to the deliciously pink-hued Ahsan Manzil nestled at the top end of a very nondescript street. This 144-year-old edifice was once the official residential palace and seat of the Dhaka Nawab Family that is today converted into a museum with all the regalia on full display.

Having heard of this Dhaka oddity from a fellow traveller a few years ago, I simply couldn’t resist a glimpse at the serene Armenian Church in the Armanitola area of this part of Dhaka. I call it an oddity because this is the only known place where you can still see old gravestones inscribed in the traditional Armenian script. Just a mere 300meters north of the church, I discovered the Sitara Mosque thanks to the Tk100 (hundred Bangladeshi taka) note that has on its face a printed depiction of this mosque that is an icon, thanks to its four domes that are entirely decorated with mosaic tiled stars and hence the name—Sitara.

Still in Old Dhaka and dodging the omnipresent black smoke belching buses and eardrum shattering blearing of horns, I descended upon the rather paradisiacal 17^th Century Lalbagh Fort Gardens. This is where I found the very beautiful Tomb of Pari Bibi that is in the middle of the complex, flanked on either side by the Diwani-i-Aam hammam and the Lalbagh Fort Mosque on the eastern side. 

Feeling a tad peckish after that cultural overdose, I simply couldn’t resist the lure of the famed Dhakai snack called chotpoti that is hawked from almost every street corner out of glass box-like carts. Similar to our very own bhelpuri, chotpoti is made from potatoes and chickpeas that are mixed with chillies, onions, tamarind sauce, salt and spices and served in a paper cone topped with a grated hardboiled egg. I then chased it with a plateful of goodies like ros bhora made from lentil flour and the Bangladeshi version of the patisapta that I bought from a shop dotted with luridly coloured sweetmeats. And only after washing it all down with a glass of borhani—the drinkable Bangladeshi version of raita—was I satiated. But only in the edible sense of the term, as Dhaka still had to fill me up with its other bounties.

And one of those bounties showed itself to me in the form of the red-brick Curzon Hall that is part of the vast Dhaka University. This 110-year-old structure built in the colonial-meets-oriental style of architecture intended to serve as the Dhaka town hall is today part the University’s school of science. A little further down the road, I savoured the sight of the stunning ivory Supreme Court building and its well-manicured lawns. But the piece de resistance for me was the startlingly modern and abstract looking National Assembly Building or Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Central Dhaka. A true architectural marvel, the building was finished in 1982—with work having begun in 1961—and is based on the designs of American architect Louis Kahn. With a moat-like water body surrounding it, thus referencing the country’s aqueous geography, the main building is made up of huge walls deeply recessed by porticoes and large openings of regular geometric shapes that let the light stream in.   

As my hotter than hot day about the city began to give way to the cool comfort of the evening, I decided to end it with something I was looking forward to. A languid cruise down the main arterial Buriganga River, sailing on a tiny wooden boat was just what I needed to see how chameleon-like and bi-polar Dhaka is.

The once grimy, grey waters of the Sadarghat Boat Terminal from where I boarded, suddenly seemed to take on a magical, shimmery orange hue as I sat in serene bliss and all seemed well in the world once again. But that’s what Dhaka does to you. It lovingly soothes away all the aches and pains it inflicts on you. And all is forgotten as it embraces you with all its might…

All pics by Raul Dias

   

FACT FILE
Getting There
There are a number of daily direct flights to Dhaka from New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata on airlines like Air India, Jet Airways and Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Visas need to be taken in advance at the Bangladesh High Commission in India and take three to four working days to process. Travel within Dhaka is easy with many auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and buses plying between its various attractions and neighbourhoods.

When to Visit
The months from October to April are the best time to visit Dhaka which experiences a pleasant climate, while May to September are the hot and humid months.

Accommodation
There is a good range of accommodation options available in Dhaka that suit most budgets. The average cost for accommodation is around 6,000 Bangladeshi Taka (Rs 5,000 approximately) per night for two inclusive of breakfast.

Besides Dhaka…
* Visit the tea estates that dot the hilly slopes of Sylhet in Bangladesh’s north east.

* Commune with nature in the wilderness of mighty Sundarbans mangroves that Bangladesh shares with India.

* For all you beach bums out there, plan a few days of sun, sand and surf in the beautiful coastal city of Cox Bazar.

(First published in the April 4, 2014 issue of the Afternoon Despatch & Courier newspaper, Mumbai)