Shahpur Bazaar

Shahpur is still “Amar Shahpur“. I was fortunate enough, to spend the Eid Holidays in the most relaxing and peaceful environment with my aunts, uncles and my cousin brother Jarrar.

What fascinated me is that people pretty much lead their daily life according to sunrise and sunset on the countryside. They get up very early and once it is dark outside, they gather in their homes, watch TV, have dinner and go to bed early as well.

Somehow, I adapted to that schedule immediately. I got up before 7 a.m. and before breakfast I was off to visit the local bazaar. It was a lot of fun, taking a walk in the mornings and then sitting down at one spot of Shahpur bazaar and watching the people come and go; bringing items to sell or going back home with fresh milk, vegetables and fish. So after basically spotting people and the vivid market life, I went off to take a look around myself. This intrigued me to buy fresh vegetables, sweets, toys and drinks during a couple of morning visits. My bazaar spotting contained lots of conversations with local people, such as the development of the milk prices the previous few days. And from time to time, people came up to me, had a quick chat, because they knew who I was: the grandson of Hiron Doctor.

Milk prices went down to 70 Taka

I bought him candy. Trust me, he can smile!

Paan Wallah

Little fish

Tea/chai - very important in Bangladesh

Bhilladge

Dulalpur 2011

Ceiling

Those, who do not have the luxury of a tiled bathroom...

Not dirty - Muddy Waters

Before Jumah - Friday prayers

The way to make rice flour

Rice - unpeeled

Aunties

"What do you want to eat?"
"Nothing."
"You should eat something!"

"Are you cold?"
"No."
"Wait, I'll get you a blanket."

"When you came to Bangladesh you looked all pretty. And now the sun has made you this dark."

"This weather must be hot for you!"
"We have similar temperatures at times in the summer in Germany."
"Exactly. You come from a country where it is really cold. All this ice..."

"Come to visit me. You neeever come to my house."

"What do you want to eat?"
"Nothing."
"What should I prepare for you?"

"Are you hot?"
"No."
"You should go sit under the fan?"

"How were you able to sleep on this little space?"
"This is a double-bed."

"I am never able to cook you anything. What do you want to eat?"

"You all are so bad. Don't ruin your cousin!"
"See auntie, they mess me up with all their baaad influence."

"When are you coming to Bangladesh again?"
"I've just been here for six months."
"Are you coming back this year?"

"You didn't eat anything at all!"
"I ate a lot at your house, auntie. See: my belt doesn't even fit anymore."
"You look so skinny. What is your father going to say?!"

Amar Shahpur

Over a long weekend recently I went to Shahpur, the birthplace of my mother. I had four fantastic days and the trip was more than worth it. Everyone who missed out so far will never experience the beauty of this village.

Shahpur is a place, where you can shower under the open sky and feel the warmth of the sun, where strangers know you when you say who your grandfather is, where the milk tastes like fresh milk, where you can experience what real mosquito bites feel like, where little school boys will take you on their boat along the river into the rice fields to earn some pocket money, where dragon-flies accompany you on your boat ride, where you can take a walk and realize that within a few hours you have walked all the borders of the village, where people are happy to see you and ask how your family is doing, where your aunt makes homemade pastries, where the sunset is incomparable, where you can drink the water of green cocos from your own tree, where little kids ask you to take their photos, where goats chill on the walkways, where your baby cousin is amazed by baby goats, where you just greet random people on the way to the bazaar, where the bazaar is probably the size of a western playground, where you pump the water from wells, where tourists would pay a lot of money to spend their vacation at, where eagles fly in the sky and frogs walk on the earth, where people sometimes don’t bother too much about time, where Jute is hung up on trees to dry, where tea at little stalls is made with real milk and not milk powder, where old ladies tell you that they have seen you when you were “sooo little”, where people meet to chat and update on who has been doing what recently, where “peace” really has a meaning, where you just don’t care and take things as they come, where I should go more often, where hardly any cars or CNGs go, where at sunset you see farmers riding home on the river, where the silence at night is only interrupted by the sound of birds and crickets, where you can watch stars and fireflies at night, where you can flash the torch light into people’s faces and ask with a big smile who they are. Shahpur is a place where I wanna go again.