Dibrugarh And It's Familiar Smells and Sights

                                                   

Brahmaputra at Dibrugarh

                           

                A familiar fragrance suddenly teases you  in Upper Assam as you drive along the National Highway 37 that traverses Assam from Pancharatna to Saikhowaghat in the east. It takes over as you approach the city of Dibrugarh and you start wishing for a cup of hot tea. That's  exactly what you have been getting a whiff of. Surrounded by tea gardens, Dibrugarh is the oldest municipality in Assam. The mighty Brahmaputra flows by this city having changed it's course after the massive earthquake measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale. I remember a few old black and white photographs of cratered roads in my father's album. Come monsoon and this city is always in the news for being on the brink of a deluge of the swiftly swirling waters. I remember accompanying my father and uncle to the embankments to check the level of the brimming angry river pushing against the banks, looking for a weak spot to release it's restlessness.There was a time when the monsoon rains would so counter the oppressive humid heat that my aunts would be pulling out the woolens and the blankets that were sunned and stashed away. On other days, the  breeze lulled all of us into an afternoon siesta with the river flowing barely half a kilometer away.

               Dubbed as the tea city of India, the famous flavour of Assam Tea is derived from the numerous tea gardens that abound here.  It is only natural that Dibrugarh is the hub of tea tourism with relaxed stay in the bunglows and organised tours. The Jokai Botanical Garden houses the germ plasms of many endangered flora species of this region. It also has a collection of orchids, medicinal and aromatic plants of this region. Almost fifty kilometers away is Digboi, the place where the British first struck black gold. In their excitement of having discovered crude oil, encouraging cries of "dig boy!" is believed to have lent this name to the place. There is a well curated oil museum in Digboi that chronicles oil history in this part of the country. Dibrugarh is also the gateway to many parts of  neighbouring exotic Arunachal Pradesh. A major military hub during the World War II and a transit for the evacuees of Burma, Dibrugarh now is considered as an emerging leader for trade with neighbouring South East Asian countries once the Stilwell road is re-opened for commerce. This historic road once was built to facilitate supplies to the Chinese by the Allies to stop the Japanese.

               It was much later that I realised the historic significance of Dibrugarh that only confirmed  the snippets of the War anecdotes that I overheard as a child. Of black outs and air raid alerts, digging shelters in the frontyard, of American soldiers passing by. Has any place of your childhood fascinated you with it's history?


This post was written for A to Z Challenge 2014