Journey by Launch : ILISH UTSHAB 2024

 

DATE: 14/11/2024
VENUE: BARISAL CLUB
BARISAL TEAM

Arranged by ALL BD 1989 SSC & 1991 HSC Group

Article Written by Musab Bin Surzil

14th November 2024 me and my parents got ready to head down to BIWTA(Bangladesh Inter Water Transport Authority) Sadarghat Launch terminal. We were headed to the district of Barisal by launch. I had never been on a launch before, so my parents decided to go by launch instead of bus, when it was still an option. We were going to Ilish  utshab 2024. The preparations were made by the 89 Batch of all Bangladesh [arrangements made by people of Barisal in the 89 batch. 89 batch meaning the people who gave SSC in 1989 and HSC in 1991. Anyone who wanted to go could come. My father was also in the 89-91 batch and he was also interested in going, so that was the reason we went to Barisal. 

The timing of the launch leaving the docks was delayed 2 times. We were scheduled to leave at 8:00, but the time got pushed back to 8:30. we ended up leaving at 9:35 because some people left their homes late, so after everyone got on board, the launch  undocked. There was a slight jerky feeling when the ropes were detached, but otherwise, the ride was smooth. You could not feel the waves all the time, there would only be slight jerking. The launch was moving really quickly, and so it was a bit cold on the roof. Some of my dad's friends told him to go up to the roof, and so we went. It didn't feel  cold at the beginning but afterwards, it got really cold. We were up on the roof for some time. While we were up there we saw a young man  with a guitar who was singing many well-known Bengali songs. He was not in the 89-91 batch and was going to Barisal on his own. 

The young man playing the guitar was sitting on a mattress. On this launch you could also rent mattresses on deck in Bengali, because not everyone had purchased a room and a mattress was a cheap option for sleeping. One of my dad's friends, Runu uncle, had also rented a mattress for sleeping. He did rent an air-conditioned cabin just like us, and his family slept there. This launch had two types of room options: an air-conditioned cabin with one or two beds, and the other being a non A/C cabin with one or two beds.  There were also many other businesses in the launch. There were some people selling salted chicken eggs.

When the launch reached the Barisal BIWTA terminal, we had to wait. When some people carrying musical instruments came to the terminal. I thought they were going back to Dhaka, but shortly after, they started playing a tune as a reception party. Then we passed by them carrying rajanigandha flowers. Some people also gave us chocolates and  gave us the rajanigandhas , Then we went outside the terminal and called an Autorikshaw and then went to the Barisal Club, which was the venue that the Barisal team 89-91 had booked. The man at the reception desk gave us three rooms for keeping our luggage. Two of them were on the third floor and the third one was on the fourth floor. We kept our luggage on the fourth floor where there was a glass wall from where I could see the streets of Barisal. I noticed that there was very little traffic, unlike Dhaka, where the roads are always full of cars, rickshaws, and autorickshaws. Soon afterwards, we went into the Dining Hall where we were given breakfast, which was Khichuri, meat, eggs and a few other items. It was a buffet, so we could serve ourselves. After eating we went to the Auditorium, where many people would perform. The first people to perform sang our National Anthem, called: Amar Shonar Bangla. after that a person read a Du'a. Then, many other people karaoke sang songs. The volume of the speakers were very high, so my father told the people to lower the volume. But soon afterwards, me and my mother got tired of the noise, and so we both went out for a walk in the City of Barisal. It was very quiet and there were only a few private cars and Autorickshaws out and about.  It was very peaceful, and there were barely any people on the sidewalk. There were a lot of trees, and the city was much less polluted than Dhaka, probably because it was Friday. The walls were coloured with writings from students of the  Quota revolution [ boishommo biradhi chatro andolon- June, 2024] . Then we returned to the club, where the Karaoke songs were still being conducted.

Then a little while later, me and both my parents decided to go see some parks in Barisal. We called an autorickshaw and told the driver we wanted to see some parks. He took us to the Planet Park, where we paid for the tickets and went inside. We sometimes go to the Ramna park near our house in Dhaka but this was much better. After getting inside we roamed around the park. There were very few people, so it was nice and quiet. There was a giant picture frame in front of a lake so we took some pictures standing behind it. 

One hour later, we left the park and headed back to the Barisal club again. Around two or three 'o'clock my family decided to rest a little. we went up to the reception, were there were very comfortable sofas. The armrests also had bulges like pillows so that somebody could sleep. We spent a lot of time in the reception and when we came back down again, it was already time for lunch. We had many items of ilish fry and ilish curry for lunch.  

Just after lunch, we went back to the auditorium. A man sang a song very well. He could sing songs very well as my father told me, but the volume was extremely high. Nobody was complaining about it though! After about ten minutes my father decided to go back to Dhaka, so we called an autorickshaw and told the driver to take us to the bus terminal. There was a Shohagh bus leaving for Dhaka at 7:00 PM, but we were at the terminal at 4:30 PM, so we paid for the tickets on a Hanif Enterprise bus instead. The autorickshaw driver helped us get our luggage on the bus. We came back to Dhaka crossing the Padma bridge, and came back home in Dhaka by 9:30 PM.  

This was my first time coming to Barisal and travelling by a launch. I enjoyed my time in Barisal and enjoyed the launch journey. This was also my first time crossing over the Padma bridge.