Coming Home To The Brahmaputra

When we were children, we crossed the Brahmaputra by ferry, from Pandu to Amingaon, to catch the train to Calcutta. On the way, a five-course dinner from soup to nuts was served during the crossing by waiters in achkans, jaunty turbans and red sashes to match. On the way back, in the mornings, it was bacon and eggs and a hearty English breakfast. We used to watch with delight as the khalasis, whose job it was to throw the ropes (which they did with uncanny skill), and the anchor gave orders in an East Bengali dialect. And now the Brahmaputra at Pandu-Amingaon has one of the finest bridges in India and the mighty river also has a longer bridge near Tezpur. And at places the river is so broad it looks like the sea.