Comilla My Hometown

Maharaja (Photo credit: Nina Klein)

Kazi Nazrul Islam, the revolutionary Bengali Muslim who is now the National Poet of Bangladesh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Comilla Bypass. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Comilla Cadet College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Comilla Medical College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Comilla Maynamoti Bihar বাংলা: কুমিল্লা ময়নামতি বিহার (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Comilla Victoria College academic building (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Comilla Maynamoti Bihar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Susan,Alphie and Gepetto,before I begin today,I would like to share a poem written by my favourite poet,Rabindranath Tagore.He has written numerous poems in his lifetime. My mind tells me to pick this one.

Closed Path

I thought my voyage had come to its end

at the last limit of my power,—-that path before me was closed.

that provisions were exhausted

and the time has come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.

But I find that thy will knows no end in me.

And when old words die out on the tongue.

new melodies break forth from the heart

And where the old tracks are lost,

new country is revealed with wonders.     Rabindranath Tagore

I would like to take you back to the year 1905.A communal tension spread when a Muslim was shot during the partition of Bengal in 1905.On 21st November 1921. Kazi Nazrul Islam , a very famous poet of Bengal composed patriotic songs and tried to awaken the people of the town to protest the visit of  Prince of Wales in India.There were other major incidences,when a sizable number of people were killed.There is nothing strange about that. What we  the citizens of the 21st century, must try to stop wars,they just bring out the evil nature of human beings.

Comilla covers a total area of 11.47 square kilometers.It is bounded by Burchiganj and Tripura on the North,Laksham and Chauddagram  on the south, and Barura on the west.The major rivers that pass through Comilla are Gumti and Little Feni.Comilla is a hub of road communication for the eastern part of Bangladesh.One of the oldest highways of the Indian sub-continent ,the Grand Trunk road passes through the city.At present the most important Dhaka-Chittagong highway by-passes the city from the cantonment to Podua Bazaar.

“Gepetto,there are a lot of names which will sound strange to you,I would like you to make a note of them.When you are back in school you can give your friends a quiz,see how many of them they can pronounce.It will be a good exercise for the brain.” Gepetto was on his feet searching for his notebook, “What a neat idea,he thought.”

Tourism

Comilla has a number of tourist attractions.There are various archaeological relics discovered in the district.They are preserved in the Mainamati museum.There is a red soil rock ,it is named Lalmai Pahar.It has an ancient Chandi temple on the summit.Another temple, the Jagannath temple built by Maharaja of Tripura is a tourist attraction as well.

My father told my mother that we should settle in Comilla.My Mom liked the idea,her home in the village was near it.  My brother Shams bought a house.We moved into the house from our Grandpa’s home in the village.My younger siblings went to ,”Our Lady of Fatima Convent School.” Two of my brothers went to Comilla Zilla School. It was a very good school.The headmaster told me,my father was a student of this school as well. When I gave him a puzzled look.He described my father ‘wasn’t he tall and thin’.I knew then he was right.

Comilla was a small and quiet town when we lived there.at that time they had a few schools and two colleges. Now there are a lot more people.And they have a lot of schools and colleges and universities.When I went for a visit,I was surprised to see how much it is developed.

For me it was fun to be there even if it was for a short while.I remembered going to college near my home.I could hear my professor telling us about Civics.I grew up in a large family,making fun of people was what we thrived on.Karim Sir would pick up his book,he wore a large  round pair of glasses, get up on the platform to go to his desk and would look from side to side making sure we were not up to any kind of mischief. Then his daily routine would start, Civics from the Western point of view there was always a very loud emphasis on the words,  “western point.” ,then I had the Urdu Professor,who used his eyes not his tongue, to speak. I would come home and act it out.My mom would be furious,she said,” bad tameez,you should respect your teachers.” Now at my age ,sixteen will not come again,when I laughed and joked about my Profs.who certainly taught me what I know. I sometimes go back to my childhood to make sure everyone including Gepetto knows how evil I can be.

Okay my good friends Gepetto looks tired,Susan wants to learn more about my little town, Alphie hasn’t opened his mouth yet,I am afraid to ask.It has been quite a pleasant ride.We thank God and all His supreme creation for putting up with me,Ranu the guide extraordinaire and her little friends,Alphie,Susan and Gepetto,So long,till we meet again!

Comilla (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The cook who outwits his employer Part—–Two

Gepetto with marionettes (Photo credit: Peter E. Lee)

Remember,Alfie the cook?you might wonder what kind of stunt is he pulling now?You will be sad to know,”he is simply resting on his laurels .” He compares his achievement to Roger Federer’s Seventeen Grand Slam tennis titles.While Roger wants to add to his collection,Alfie thinks of  his remarkable talent as something no one can surpass,even Roger.

Well ,we all know the proverb, ” Pride goes before a fall.” Alfie did not care what people thought of him.He spent his time cooking for his master and,thereby improving his skill.He was doing well in the Art of cooking and  feeling extremely chirpy.One day his mother said,Alph my darling it’s time for you to tie the knot.He of course was not in a hurry where that is concerned.His mom would not give up coaxing him.Being a dutiful son,he gave in to his mother’s request.He had a very quiet wedding,his motto was to spend the least possible amount of money for the occasion.Luckily for him his would be in-laws were just as stingy.

Alphie’s  friends noticed he was getting so fat.he could almost be compared to a balloon.A year later Alfie’s wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.Mr. smart was very happy.He made plans,how he was going to raise his son.His son must learn how to cook and be a smart person.These are the two things that will help his little boy.

The teaching started,when his son Gepetto was twelve,he loved this name and thought it would be perfect for the teenager.Meanwhile Gepetto was slowly but surely acquiring his father’s two important skills, learning to cook and being witty.The cooking was done well by the young man.To outsmart anyone was rather iffy.

The father  and son decided to challenge each other before displaying their talent in public.The challenge was to be held on a rather unique day.They both agreed they will pick one day in winter.A day when nature was having a good time treating people with the strongest blizzard in living memory.As expected the dreaded storm started early in the morning.The house where they lived was covered all around with snow.Within a few hours the roof was filled with snow.The question that came  in the mind of the father and the son was how are they going to outsmart nature.None of them were willing to give in.They said to each other,”We will succeed,but how are we going to do it,we cannot stop it,we cannot talk to it.Frustrated,both sat down and began to weep.The agony of defeat and the fear of losing their house because of so much snow on the roof,brought them down to earth.Each said to the other,”we have been too sure of ourselves and dared to outsmart the weather,it has taught us one lesson,”Pride goes before a fall”.They calmed themselves and got up on the roof to clear the snow.They saved their house and promised never to lie again.The lesson they both learned is lying to outsmart someone is a trait God does not like.But if one uses their intelligence to help themselves and others will win out in the long run.

Roger Federer beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-3 6-4 7-6 in the Semi Finals of the Wimbledon Championships (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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