Uttarbanga 0.1 — Part 3 | উত্তরবঙ্গ ০.১ | তৃতীয় পর্ব

24 January 2023

Such deep sleep that nine-thirty arrived unannounced. Shuvro woke everyone. Breakfast: plain rice, mashed potato, aubergine curry, vegetables and beef. Tea with Niloy's sister's father-in-law, a warm and easy man to talk to. We washed up and caught the bus to Kurigram.

On the way out, a small scene. We all went to see the family's German Shepherd. Rashed, feeling bold, decided to mimic a dog to frighten it. The dog lunged. Rashed was outside the main gate and gasping for air before anyone could react.

Kathalbarhi Union — Azmain's home, ten to fifteen kilometres before Kurigram town. We arrived at lunch: polao, chicken, beef, mutton, hilsa and fried aubergine. This time the hilsa was the standout for me.

Then to Ullipur, the old zamindarbari at Dharanibari. A sorry state of disrepair. On the way back, kheer malai in Ullipur — the name promises everything and the taste delivers.

Afternoon at Dharla Bridge. Evening had come, the river wind cold but soothing. We sat and talked. Back at Azmain's to meet his parents — warm, gracious people. Dinner: duck, sindel, taki fish and mutton. The duck curry was exceptional — comparable only to a duck I once ate in a village in Bandarban.

Half past eleven, we slipped out to the riverbank. Low water in winter, no moon, but a sky full of stars. Sitting there I heard Azmain's childhood stories and learned something I had not known: Kurigram's name does not come from twenty villages — it comes from twenty Muslim fishing families whom the King of Cooch Behar once relocated to this region.