Travelling by train along the Silk Road in China recently, I was struck by how many young Chinese are travelling these days, backpacking, staying in hostels, discovering the cultural and scenic riches of their country. Many of the hostels are brand new and tastefully done, with mixed dorms and common washrooms like in hostels in the West.
Nothing similar, in value or scale, is happening in Southasia. Among the young, there has been a rise in highland trekking, and some expansion in adventure sports like whitewater rafting and hang-gliding. However, even today, much travel is restricted to the affluent. There is little movement across the borders of the Subcontinent, and even less to nearby destinations in Africa, Southeast and Central Asia. Bangkok, Dubai and Singapore seem to set the limits of our collective imagination.
The Southasian neighbourhood is full of fascinating places beyond the tried and tested destinations such as the Taj Mahal, Dal Lake, the Khajuraho temples or the Benaras waterfront. Few would think of going down to the Buriganga docks in Dhaka, to mingle with the masses and board the steamers and shuttles that go to the far corners of the Ganga-Brahmaputra (Padma-Jamuna to the Bengalis) delta. Getting on to the 'Rocket' shuttle is itself an adventure, with people scrambling on and off the steamers on the crowded jetty even as the engines rev up to push away.
I was on the 'Rocket', headed for Khulna in the southwest, and before long the shore receded and we seemed to be at sea – that is how wide the Padma is. The boat heads downstream and reaches for the far shore, entering channels and sub-channels, passing rich emerald-green countryside. All along, we cross steamers going the other way, blowing their horns and signalling with their powerful strobes as darkness envelopes the delta.