Page 50 - GOTIL (ENG) Sample

18 Glimpses of Traditional Indian Life

Rivers and Floods

Most of Bangladesh lies in the delta of the Gaṅgā (Ganges),
where that mighty current splits into innumerable rivers
and sub-streams. Here Gaṅgā is known as Padmā and is
joined by the Brahmaputra and several other zealous
rivers that force their way through the flat terrain toward
the Bay of Bengal. There are numerous ferries where roads
and rivers intersect, although gradually more bridges are
being built. The rivers themselves serve as roads, for there
are almost as many miles of navigable waterways as there
are of roads. People go on three-, five-, twelve-, or even
twenty-hour journeys by launches and steamers. When
they get to a main ferry ghat, they may get a smaller boat
to their village, or walk.

Bangladesh is quite unlike dry parts of the subcontinent,
such as Rajasthan. Although parts of Bengal become arid
and dusty during summer, most of the country is lush and
green. Almost all the land is barely above sea level and
exceedingly flat. In the rainy season all the great rivers
swell and rush down from the Himalayas, through north
and northeast India and also Bangladesh, on their way to
the sea. This onslaught, coupled with the profuse rainfall
in Bangladesh itself, ensures that every year most of the
country is seriously flooded and that nearly all of it is at
least partially inundated.

When flying over Bangladesh during the rainy season,
the entire country appears like a huge lake, with clumps