Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh - Faraha Mamun

My Watermark is Cox’s Bazaar Beach, which faces the Bay of Bengal.

My family and I went to Bangladesh two years ago, during Ramadan season. The one month my family and I went to Bangladesh, it was the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the holiday of the Islamic world, where we don’t eat food or drink water starting from sunrise to sunset, to experience the feeling of those without food or water. This is called “fasting”. Our relatives told me that I should try fasting. So I did, and it was a pretty hard challenge. It wasn’t easy…

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like fasting. You don’t realize how precious water can be without losing it for a while first. So I guess you can see this was a game changer for me. For some reason, I was more thirsty than hungry. I wouldn’t even want to talk because my throat felt all dry, and when I did, all I did was complain and ask how much more time I had left to go.

My relatives eventually got tired of me whining all day, so on the last day of fasting, they took me to Cox’s Bazaar Beach and needless to say, it was amazing. The water was like diamonds, all shimmery. The sounds that the waves made! I always thought that movies had been faking the sound effects, but water in real life was so much better. Because I was fasting at the same time, it made me appreciate the water so much more. Fasting, combined with actually seeing water as a large body up close, struck me really hard. But at the same time, I felt okay, and for once, I wasn’t whining. Before I knew it, the sun was setting and it was time for me to break my fast.

Today, even back home in the States, I still use water in moderation. I don’t take long baths like I used to and instead take shorter showers. I learned that water is an important everyday need, and it is important to have an essential amount of water every day. Because of Cox’s Bazaar Beach, I feel that I am more connected to the water, and I also continue fasting every Ramadan.
 

Collector
Natasha Anita
Contributor
Faraha Mamun

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