Down on the Chameleon River-Abu sadat

The boatman, Chacha, named it- The Chameleon River. You know Chameleon is a little reptile which changes its colors. The old boatman’s eye, however, viewed the mysterious little river as a Chameleon. The locals know it as Shaari. It is a river I am talking about less explored by the tourists. If you wish to spend your holiday in a place far away from everyday hassle, I think it’ll be a splendid choice. So did we on a bright October morning of 2008 heading towards Jaintapur, 35 kilometers north-east from Sylhet. After a ninety minute’s trip, started from Sylhet, the tired-old-bus made a stop at Shaari Ghat. (I am sure that you will choose your personal/rented automobile to travel on, which will take no more than forty minutes to get over there). We, then, hired an engine-boat and jumped onboard. The boatman, chacha, began to propel his boat slowly. Chameleon River welcomed us with cool splashes of her crystal-blue water. The gentle October wind will make music in your mouth and the River Shaari will begin to unfold her mystery to you slowly in the way it did to us. The green scenery of both the riverbank was wonderful, as it always is. The cloud race up above in the sky was amazing too. When we turned our eyes back onto the river, surprisingly we found it turned jade. The blue ripples were disappeared. Soon we realized it happened because we took a left turn earlier. So the angle of sunlight seemed to us to be the opposite relative to its earlier direction. The little river took hundreds of turns to make its way through. She will elude you with her ever changing color display. You may see people standing on the banks, leaving all their routine tasks for a moment, waving their hands to you. The tranquil environment all around made us silent. Soon the boatman, chacha, raised his finger pointing to the Laalakhal Bazar. On reaching there we were dined and headed towards the Magnolia tea garden. The lush green scenery of the tea garden is awesome, you know. You will enjoy watching the hillocks covered with tea plants. We did walk for 4 miles and reached to a dead-end of the tea garden. There the air was thickly filled with wild floral fragrance. All we could hear was the wild birds chirping from up above the treetops. It’s quite amazing indeed. This place seemed to me like a kept-secret. The age old river knows all of it. Silently she has been flowing on since time immemorial. We turned back to Laalakhal Bazar and found chachca waiting for us. The evening sky then reflected on shaari turning it into a silver sheet. The rippling waves will thank you for your visit to her. I know I’ll be there again to watch this Chameleon River and someday you too. Adios for now.