Changes

The blossoms of the cotton tree that came out in a brilliant red song to welcome a fleeting spring, are gone. The rice paddies are yellowing with maturity and, with their recently acquired height and thickness, ripple like waves when there is a breeze. Water hyacinth is blooming into carpets of delicate purple over ponds and rivers. Jackfruit trees are hatching strange bumpy 'national' fruits from their trunks. Watermelons seem to have fallen spontaneously from the sky into neat piles on the side of the road. Heat has crept in, enjoying its period of reign before the monsoons arrive from where they wait in the wings, eager to perform their ritual flooding of this delta. Everywhere, new leaves of fresh green are pushing their way into the open, in anticipation of the downpours that will soon irrigate them.

I love to watch things change here. It’s a delight to live in a place where they all happen out in the open, on display. And it’s a particular pleasure for me to be seeing some of these changes for the second time, noticing things about this season that last year I missed.

Perhaps I’m particularly attentive to my surroundings at the moment because, due the changes in my own life, I don’t quite know how much longer I will be here. I have finished my contract with TAC, with much sadness for the people and the projects I leave behind (at least for the moment) and much pride in what I have accomplished. I am now taking advantage of unemployment to do some volunteer work, learn some new things, get out of Dhaka as much as humanly possible, and plan some travels in the region. And of course, to think about what to do next…

Suggestions welcome!