I remember the first time I landed in this beautiful country of Australia some ten (10) thousand miles away from where I was born and brought up. About 7 years ago now my Australian Dream came true (back in 2013).
Today, I feel like it was yesterday. Seven years have gone by – swiftly, like in a blink – so fast. And those memories – some are still fresh, some stale and some very vivid. I remember the night I went to see the fireworks. Fireworks in Sydney is very special. Thousands of travellers from all over the world and thousands of locals from all places near and far gather around iconic Sydney harbour Bridge every year to enjoy this spectacular display of colours and lights. I was living back then in the eastern suburbs. We anticipated the crowd and to get a clear spot we set out about midday. I met my friends and went to circular quay first and was shocked to see the placed already full. Without wasting time we boarded the train from Circular Quay and went to Milsons point.
One thing I must mention here is my experience riding public transportation here in this part of the world. When I board the train it was filled with people – men, woman and children – from all walks of life. Mingling of many cultures in one compartment of a semi-crowded public transport. Thousands of miles away it was a different feeling altogether. In the country (Bangladesh) I was born we have much more crowds but not much variety in skin colours and languages they speak. So when I saw the gathering of all different cultures it was something of an experience I can barely put into words. If there are some memories I would love to cherish for long it will surely be one of them.
Breaking through the crowd we found some spot from where we could see the fireworks. And then the wait begins. We went there about five pm and it was almost full by the time. And since then we went in and out many times without losing our position. After it was dark it was still a few hours before the celebration could begin. We engaged in gossip with ourselves or other fellow travellers. But the time does not pass. By the time it was eleven pm our patience was on the edge. Hunger and fatigue gripped us as the almost twelve hours have past since we started from our home in the middle of the day. However, we continued to resist our fatigue. This went on for about an hour and finally at about quarter to midnight with much delight to the audience the fireworks in Sydney began. The screams and boos and shouts and clappings went up and from the boredom and fatigue and exhaustion soon the madness of the crowd began. People were singing, clapping every time the spectacular lights went up the sky and invaded the darkness.
However, like every good thing in life comes to an end rather abruptly we also had to come under its realization in about half an hour when the fireworks ended. The madness of the crowd once again felt unrelenting as we started walking to our destination. The buses, trains, taxis, cars – anything and everything were full. People need to go home but how? We made our way through in two hours or so. My first fireworks celebration in Aussie land came to an end. The memories are still quite fresh even after seven years as I write about it.
When I came home that night I was overwhelmed by the toil of walk and sweat but surprisingly this long episode was somehow suppressed by the thrill and excitement I felt afterwards.
