Fire at Bailey Road shopping mall doused Some banks hit by capital squeeze Air purifiers for Dhaka: hope or hype? Chinmoy shown arrested in Saiful murder case The zoobr Known as the Wisent or European Bison in English where lengthy journeys to previously unheard of lands are no longer possible had become a varnished brown strip of reflection twisted willow and spongy rotting leaves were imaged upon its surface I wonder: do you think the great explorers of ages past found a quiet place to partake of contemplation Zoobr – the largest of the European mammals Of Europe's largest mammal I knew little and being in the city of Brest there seemed nothing for it was the wilderness which straddled the Polish border and in it Ibn Battuta's first journey in 1325 lasted twenty-one years Marco Polo travelled for twenty-four years from 1271 and the Muslim Hui navigator Zheng He accomplished seven voyages within twenty-eight years from 1405 It might be that I had just a day in hand to find the zoobr The island in the Mukhavets is a place of reverence for Belarusians It is the site of Brest Fortress where two Soviet regiments stood their ground when the Nazis attacked in 1941 six hundred bombs and lasted a month before the fort was lost at the start of an occupation that would claim one in four Belarusian lives At the island's centre an eternal flame burns watched over by a massive stone head sculpture called 'Valour.' It is said he had over three hundred ships would find me rather more like Ibn Battuta Do you think the great explorers of ages past went to bed early on the night before their departures The village of Kamyanyets clean boulevards with older painted stone cottages and towering unsightly blocks On the morning of the grand expedition the preparations were tiring and endless or at least they would have been had it been several hundred years earlier In the twenty-first century I could not match the magnitude of Marco Polo's preparations But I did pack my things and check out of the hotel before walking to the bus station wholly unaided And just as Marco Polo once met the various tribes of Central Asia I met a taxi tout who sought a hefty fee for a private voyage to the forest Zheng He might have had his fleet but Ibn Battuta went under his own steam and I followed that example I was having trouble making the bus ticket seller understand my intended destination the village by the forest called Kamenjuki I was able to seize the taxi driver's enthusiasm Do you think the great explorers overcame various difficulties with the help of locals It was the expedition's second dilemma: to hope I was not going somewhere entirely different there was nobody to fill in the gaps on the maps for Zheng He (left)A November afternoon in Kamenjuki An hour on my imaginarily blistered and sore feet later I burst from the vehicle spent and flailing: or I would have had I rather travelled on foot and by camel Indeed it was Kamyanyets: but fortunately Kamenjuki was a short bus ride further A good explorer half-hour later I'd arrived in Kamenjuki Ibn Battuta once sought assistance in the mountains of Kamaru I asked a girl from the bus where the forest was I had to negotiate a snowy bridge over a frozen stream Belavezhskaja Puscha: 1300 square kilometres of primeval I relied on my natural instincts to hold my direction noting the way moss grew on the tree trunks The pine needles were damp and quietened my stride It would be another good ten minutes of arduous hiking before the first zoobr set eyes on me In fact it was a small herd led by a large male The 'Valour' Monument I wonder what Zheng He thought when he reached Africa and saw his first giraffe Nor did I set up a trilingual stele to mark the occasion as Zheng He did upon arriving in Sri Lanka He didn't stray from violence when he was threatened there was nothing to do but flare my nostrils right back One shouldn't let large wild animals sense one's fear The beast took four lumbering steps towards me When Marco Polo crossed the Pamirs he found a mountain sheep which ultimately took his name: the Marco Polo sheep was described in 1271 and in English it is called the European bison or wisent It could have crushed me without a second thought given that I've never heard of anyone suffering death by zoobr and am rarely first at anything; given that the danger was somewhat reduced by the well-constructed wire fence between us there was no point randomly scouring the forest when a few zoobrs had been confined to a pen for easy observation so it wasn't quite like the great explorers but in the twenty-first century I didn't take back the riches that Zheng He did or even the spiritual fulfilment and new wisdom Ibn Battuta found And at the least I didn't suffer Marco Polo's fate Upon his return he found Venice at war with Genoa He was captured and narrated the tales of his journey to a fellow inmate The 'Valour' Monument, Brest Fortress. Photo: Andrew Eagle I wonder what Zheng He thought when he reached Africa and saw his first giraffe. He captured one and took it back to China. I thought not to capture a zoobr, except on film. Nor did I set up a trilingual stele to mark the occasion as Zheng He did upon arriving in Sri Lanka. Zheng He was said to walk like a tiger. He didn't stray from violence when he was threatened. Faced with a zoobr flaring its nostrils, there was nothing to do but flare my nostrils right back. One shouldn't let large wild animals sense one's fear, or so it might be. The beast took four lumbering steps towards me. We stood eye to eye, and if he charged, what would have happened? When Marco Polo crossed the Pamirs he found a mountain sheep which ultimately took his name: the Marco Polo sheep was described in 1271. But the zoobr had its name, in Russian, and in English it is called the European bison or wisent. It could have crushed me without a second thought. But I held my ground, given that I've never heard of anyone suffering death by zoobr and am rarely first at anything; given that the danger was somewhat reduced by the well-constructed wire fence between us. Well, there was no point randomly scouring the forest when a few zoobrs had been confined to a pen for easy observation. Okay, so it wasn't quite like the great explorers but in the twenty-first century, one has to make do. The expedition successful, zoobr sighted, I returned late afternoon to Brest, and on to Minsk. I didn't take back the riches that Zheng He did, from his voyages, or even the spiritual fulfilment and new wisdom Ibn Battuta found, but it had been a nice day. And at the least I didn't suffer Marco Polo's fate. Upon his return he found Venice at war with Genoa. He was captured and narrated the tales of his journey to a fellow inmate, in jail. I have the luxury of writing on a laptop, at home. |রাজনীতিখালেদা জিয়া শারীরিক ও মানসিকভাবে সুস্থ আছেন: ডা. জাহিদবিমানবন্দর থেকে গাড়িতে গুলশানের বাসায় আসতে দুই ঘণ্টার বেশি সময় লাগে।