Raptors of Ashulia

by Enam Ul Haque

Ashulia is just next door to the Uttara residential area of Dhaka but the contrast between the claustrophobic concrete maze of Uttara and the wide, open lowlands of Ashulia is as great as you can imagine.

You feel the difference the moment you take the road to Ashulia. The concrete structures recede fast. The river Turag comes to the right of the road and races with you all the way to Ashulia.

A few kilometers along the way, the landscape changes in every aspect. The road winds through an enormous paddy field dotted with occasional palm trees and gigantic billboards. Human habitations hide behind the green fringe of the field. You see the sky through every window. Numerous humps on the road rightly slow you down lest you should hurry past this great view.

You will, of course, see lorry drivers racing past this formidable array of speed-breakers, merely for the pleasure of the rodeo ride. The toll collector will soon stop you to prove that a great feast, albeit only for your eyes, cannot be altogether free.

Once you come between the two bridges over the two channels of the river Turag, you may roll your windows down and stick your head out. You will hear the heart warming whistle of the wind punctuated occasionally by the wailings of lovesick raptors and the ramblings of descending aircraft.

The planes go darting through the sky rather tentatively but the raptors circle endlessly in the warm air over the field. Raptors rule the skies of Ashulia and are its best adornment.

Brahminy Kites and Black Kites are the two ubiquitous raptors here. You can identify the Brahminy Kites by their white necks and shorter rounded tails and the Black Kites by their long wings and very long forked tails.

You will often see them hovering over you in great circles. Sometimes they will swoop down on water, take some unfortunate fish or frog in their talons and devour it while doing their hovering routine.

None of these raptors are accomplished hunters and are not a great threat to a healthy fish but they can be deadly to the ones gasping for air in the murky water of the Turag. Sometimes they will sit on a billboard and snooze or meditate. But they will never keep an earthly admirer waiting for too long to see them take to the air and do their soaring routine.