Heart in paradise

'Home is where the heart finds its place' I always think about this quote when I leave Sylhet for Dhaka.

 No matter how happy I am I always feel a sense of unease weighing on my heart. I did not understand this feeling when I was younger and I used to console myself saying that all of this will go away once I get older but I still feel the same. The only difference is I don’t cry out loud when I'm leaving home. A friend once told me that the day before leaving home is the shortest day of the year. It feels like the time is running at full speed and  I have to follow the time cause there is no place for me to stay behind. 


My hometown Sylhet is the most beautiful and perfect place in the world, sure the people are a bit iffy but that place is everything to me. The weather, the nature, the air, everything makes me feel alive again. We all know that Sylhet is famous for tea and its amazing landscape but did you know that Sylhet is also famous for lemons,shatkora or as we call it ‘hatkora’. Shatkora has a very specific taste and it's extremely bitter when eaten in the wrong way but to me it's delicious. It has a very strong citrusy taste and looks a lot like grapefruit but tastes nothing like a grapefruit.

Sylhet is also home to many indigenous communities such as the Khasia and Monipuri community. The Monipuri dance is well known to everybody and as far as i know Khasia people are well known for their betel leaf farming and of course Khasia pineapples are a well known local  delicacy. I don’t think I have tasted anything sweeter than the Khasia pineapple and just the smell tells you a lot about the pineapple itself.



 Personally I don't like going to the tea gardens because this one time I went to Brindaban tea estate ( a beautiful place by the way) and I saw a very big snake and apparently it was venomous. I highly recommend going to Brindaban because the tea gardens look like waves of just green mountains. 

Also Sylhet is very famous for its mazars, folk stories, spiritual beliefs, folk music, legends, myths and ghoul stories. Did you know about the hidden city of Jaflong? Me neither but apparently beneath the hills and rivers of Jaflong there used to be a hidden city which disappeared due to a curse given by a very powerful sage. Interesting right? But do you know what’s even more interesting? The vanished island of Hakaluki haor, so there was a small island in the haor and it was inhabited by fisherman and farmers. But one night out of the blue the whole island and its people disappeared leaving the water behind. The legend says that the island was swallowed by the spirits of the water because the villagers disrespected a local pir who had once blessed them. It is also said the one who finds the island will be blessed with good fortune. I don’t know how true these stories are and I heard them from my uncle.

We know Hason raja is a famous poet, songwriter and composer but there are other famous poets like Sufia Kamal, Shah Abdul Karim, Mohammed Abdul Hakim, Syed Shamsul Haq Radha Raman and many more. 

I remember going to Hason raja’s house which is now turned into a museum and is called the museum of rajas. It's an interesting experience nonetheless. But I never understood the hype around it. Maybe folklore enthusiasts will love it but that's not me.  


Apart from all the legends, stories and histories the thing i most love about Sylhet is my own home. Maybe I'm biased but my home is the most beautiful home in the whole world. It is a very ordinary house with ordinary things but it's filled with memories and happiness. My home is called the Paradise house and it truly is a paradise. There are numerous trees surrounding the whole house, so many trees that even the sunlight can’t get in and that’s why most of the time there is a subtle coldness in the house. On certain nights the piercing smell from flowers fills my heart with joy and during different seasons the different kinds of fruits fill my appetite.  It's more of a traditional house and I think it's more like a bungalow than just a house. Humble is the perfect word to describe it. It’s a humble home ok? There are 4 cats and 5 humans living in the house and I think they get along with each other just fine. 


Just the thought of my home makes me happy. The laughter, the fights, the ugly and the beauty, the good and the bad makes my home even more beautiful. Every moment is engraved in the walls and

in my brain. It echoes in my thoughts every waking moment. It haunts me but protects me. I am here

but my heart is in paradise. Do you also love your home like I do? Where is your heart?

   



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