Driving through the zigzag
roads, the breeze
in my hair
gently tickling my face,
I woke up
to the first rays of
the sun in the lush green valleys of Assam . The iconic tea gardens on both
the sides of the road, made the view
across the horizon
more fascinating. While the
rest of India
was still deep asleep, I was surprised to see an elderly
Assamese woman with
a
basket attached to her back making
her way towards the tea
plantations, all set
to work. Hell
it was only 5 o’clock!
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| Tea Garden Estates Of Assam |
It was then that our bus
driver decided to halt.
He spoke something
in Assamese- a language that was completely
alien to me. I asked
a fellow companion sitting next to
me what the driver
had said. The kind
gentleman explained that the bus
would halt for 15 mins. Sighing and stretching my legs
for what had
been almost a 6 hr.
journey from Guwahati
airport to Tezpur,
I descended from the
bus. I couldn’t
wait to reach my aunt’s house in Tezpur.
I was tired, hungry and extremely
thirsty. From across
the road, I
decided to watch
a woman picking out tea
leaves. Maybe she
could sense me
for she turned
around and smiled.
With a flowery,
colourful knee length dress, and beads
around her neck, I
was mesmerized by her ,
innocent big blue
eyes and fair complexion
After a pleasing
nature
bound ride through the dense
forests of Assam, slightly touching the border of Meghalaya on the left, I
reached Tezpur - “ The city of blood
” as the locals say. Situated on the
banks of
the mighty river Brahmaputra,
Tezpur is a
land of mythology and archaeological
ruins. Upon reaching
the bus depot
at Tezpur, I took a rickshaw
to my aunt’s
house in the heart of
the city. The city
was filled with
traditional bamboo longhouses
of colourful , vibrant colours. Every other
corner of the street, had shops
selling sarees and
the “gamcha”- a thin,
coarse, traditional, Assamese cotton towel.
Bihu, the unique
festival of Assam
which portrays its spirit
and culture is
like many festivals
of India associated
with farming, as Assam
is predominantly agricultural. Bihu is
also used to represent
the traditional folk dance and folk
songs of Assam.
Men and
women together perform the Bihu
dance to welcome
spring. Men wear
a
dhoti and the traditional
gamcha while the
women wear a clothing item draped
as a saree
called “ mekhala” with an
off-white base and
red borders. They also wear
ornaments and flowers
on their heads
to add to the festive
look. Luckily, when I
visited Assam, I got to witness
this first hand
and even
tried a step or
two for fun,
wearing the costumes!
Being passionate about the
wildlife, I was really looking
forward to visiting
the famous kaziranga
National Park. Unfortunately it was closed for renovation.
So I ended
up visiting a
couple of places in and around Tezpur
instead. Bamuri Hills,
Agnigarh are some
places which one
can visit if interested in the mythology, history and culture
of Assam, which give from
a height give splendid
views of the city and
the
Brahmaputra. Nestled in
the valley of Brahmaputra,
Tezpur is a very beautiful, tranquil place, away from the
hustle bustle of
city life with a unique mark
of its own.
