Enjoying Dhaka in the Holidays

Photos: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo

Next week, Bangladesh will be experiencing one of the longest holidays ever. This year the government announced a 9-day-Eid holiday – one of the longest ever official holidays ever to be announced in many years. Gone are the days when officials and professionals would leave their work city and head for their home towns, along with family and children, for a month or two – enjoying the train rides and hot cups of station tea. As Humayun Ahmed notes in his autobiography – as a child, he along with his family would spend one Eid with his paternal side of the family and spend the next Eid with his maternal side. His stories of Eid holidays are filled with adventures, discovering the villages, food, delicacies and once again – hot cups of tea in the middle of the night. 

Living in Dhaka, however, the Dhakaites can't wait for the traffic jams to disappear for all the nine days – a feat rarely experienced by many of us (let's try to avoid speeding though!). Other than enjoying the empty spaces and the rickshaw rides on VIP roads, there are three more things that we can do to enjoy Dhaka during the Eid holidays.

1.    Enjoying the Dhaka delicacies: Why should the food-fests stop just because it's the end of Ramadan? Get the cousin-brigade together, hop on a few rickshaws and visit the Dhaka University area for some delicious kababs, potato chops and parata rolls. This is the best time to visit the area, which will also be partially filled with visitors and families from all over the city.

2.    Catch up on your reading: Haven't had any time to read for a while? Attack those books that have been piling up for months! One of my favourite pastimes (if I had enough time that is!) would be to get my old school bag out, dump all the books that I have always wanted to read and make my way towards a park bench. There are parks every where now, where you can sit and read (provided that you have friends with you as well. Better to stay safe!) There are the Baridhara Park, Gulshan Park, Niketan Park, Ramna Park and there is a park in every sector in Uttara and also in Dhanmondi. Worried about security you say? Build a group and go hit the benches with your books. If you don't dare to do so now, you will never be able to do it!

3.    Walk: Ever thought how long it would take you to walk from Mohammadpur to Gulshan? Or from Uttara to Baridhara DOHS? Or from Farmgate to Motijheel? Well, you can do that now! Wake up early in the morning, create your walking maps and get out there for the ultimate walk. Better still – you can even challenge friends on facebook!

All said and done, always remember to stay safe and be in a group. Let's enjoy Dhaka to the fullest!

Eid Mubarak!