How is everyone? I hope everyone is healthy.
Today at noon, I had to go to a little bit of a bill for some work, and when I was sweating in the hot afternoon sun, my condition was bad, that's when I saw the shadow of a date tree. When I stood in the shade of a date tree in the hot sun of Baishakh, I saw the unique view of the date tree, and my heart was filled with the refreshing look of nature. Without delay, I took out my phone from my pocket and quickly took some pictures - pictures of our very familiar local dates. Yes, these pictures were taken today, on 23/04/2026.
Those of you who are city dwellers may be used to seeing big Saudi dates in the market. But for those of us who grew up in the dusty countryside, this local date tree is a passion for us. Today, on this hot afternoon, when I see bunches of raw dates hanging between the green, thin leaves of the date palm, I feel a kind of cool peace even in the hot sun. While taking the pictures, I thought, how strange is this gift of nature! Even in the hot sun, these date seem to be giving a message of life.
Memories of that juice in winter:
These date palm trees take on their true form, but only in winter. Can any other expensive drink give the satisfaction of the icy raw juice taken from the tree in the fog on a winter morning? I clearly remember that in the afternoon or evening of a winter day, when the tree-keepers skillfully pruned the trees with sharp blades and hung the earthen pitchers, we used to wait for that fresh juice. The next morning, to eat that fresh juice. The taste of this juice cannot be explained in words. The whole village used to smell the pure jaggery and patali made by boiling the juice. My tongue still waters when I remember eating the steaming chitai pitha and bhapa pitha made by my mother with that jaggery.
Our neglected local dates:
Unlike the foreign Maryam or Ajwa dates, our local dates are not that big in size. Even the shell or fleshy part inside them is quite thin. The pit is a little big. But their taste? Those who have tried the pure ripe dates of our country know that their sweetness is not less in any way. The shell may be thin, but the sweet smell of our soil and childhood memories mixed with it, a taste that no expensive date can give. Especially at noon, the joy of eating ripe date that has turned reddish-black from a tree next to a bamboo grove is indescribable.
Photography and my thoughts:
When I was taking pictures with my phone, I was really surprised to see the sun glint on these thick green grains of dates. How beautifully nature arranges each fruit! Although nowadays, people do not want to accept it as photography without very expensive DSLR or hi-fi cameras, but I think that if the picture speaks the mind, then that is real photography. These bunches of raw dates taken in the afternoon sun today seem to speak of our heritage.
Introduction at a glance:
In Bengali, we call it Desi Date Palm. In English, it is called 'Wild Date Palm'
And in scientific language, its name is Phoenix sylvestris.
How did you like these pictures I took and this short story of my area?
Did you remember any of your own memories after looking at the pictures taken on this hot noon today? If so, please let me know in the comments!
All the pictures were taken by me. Some compression has been done to reduce the size of the pictures. The pictures have not been edited at all.
Nator, Bangladesh. 🇧🇩