A Trip to Maguri Motapung Beel : Prarthana Gogoi

A Trip to Maguri Motapung Beel

Prarthana Gogoi

 

Gungun and Mayur are excited when their parents plan a sudden trip to Maguri Motapung Beel, a wetland located in Tinsukia, Assam close to the Dibru Saikhowa National Park. Gungun is an eleven years old girl who is very fond of Japanese Manga and doodling. Her brother is a nine year old boy who loves superheroes and anime characters. Goku is his favourite. They also love nature and wild animals. They have read a few children's books too. Their world is vast- they love space, they keep themselves busy in various hobbies like dooling, philately and calligraphy. Their mind is curious to know more about the universe and at any time they are seen busy doodling, gaming, exploring the universe in 3D. They hardly watch TV, sometimes favourite cartoons and National Geographic. They are good at studies also. But they feel bored when their mother pushes them to do some physical activity and help her in household work. According to the daily routine, Gungun’s duty is to make the bed and Mayur's duty is to keep the shoes in the shoe rack nicely. Though their parents do jobs, they work hard to run the family well. Only parttime helpers come to do the household chores. So, no one is allowed to sit idle in their house.

Their mother said they live in a district which is rich in wildlife. Besides housing two national parks, the coal museums, oil museums in Digboi, their home district Tinsukia has a Beel which is a paradise for the bird lovers. The scenic beauty of the place also attracts nature lovers every winter. Flight of migratory birds visit this Beel every year.

It was the first day of 2026. Gungun and Mayur started their journey in their private car. They packed their backpacks with fresh oranges brought from nearby Arunachal market and water bottles. As the car is driven by their father, their mother warned them not to make too much noise inside the car. They are both chatter boxes, they could talk nonstop from Japanese Manga to anime characters, gaming to space. They shouted when they drove past the beautiful tea gardens. The scenic beautiful tea gardens of Doomdooma is a feast to the eye. Their parents taught them a lot about geography and history when they got a chance. Their mother started–This small upper Assam town is known as the tea town of Assam. Doomdooma was a tea hub during British rule, their mother said. Their father added that this town of upper Assam also had a Biman Ghati during the Second World War. The American soldiers put up an airfield to thwart their enemy soldiers of Japan advancing to India through Myanmar. So this town bears a legacy of the Second World War.

A few years back they heard about the Baghjan Oil Fire which was a nightmare to the entire people of Assam. The Oil leakage broke out a sudden engulfing fire that spread to the nearby villages. When they reached the Baghjan village their father told them about oil digging in such a sensitive area rich in bio diversity is a threat to the locality and wildlife.

Their car crossed the Roseberry Tea Estate, Rupai Tea Estate and Baghjan Tea Estate. Within one hour they reached Maguri Matapung Beel. They earlier explored the tea heritage bungalows as Mayur's friend Atharva’s father works in a tea garden and they live in such a beautiful bungalow.

On reaching their destination, their parents booked a boat at Rs 1000 and set out on their sailing journey on a traditional boat to watch the birds that fly and swim in the middle of the Beel. They were scared a lot as the boat does not have life jackets. Gungun can swim but her brother has not joined her yet to learn swimming. When they saw a flight of birds creating a canopy above their head, they forgot about the life jackets. Some birds were swimming in the river and some were just sitting lazily on the leaves of water hyacinth. They loved the sights of the bird and they were shouting in joy, spotting lots of local and migratory birds. What a beautiful scene under the open sky! Some ducks like lazy birds swimming near them creating a sound that they did not hear earlier. Their mother told them to keep quiet as birds fly away when they hear human sounds. Their hearing sense is too sharp. Mayur asked, “How can birds fly from foreign countries?” Their mother replied, “They can fly a lot and take rest when they become tired. During winter, they fly to warm countries seeking food and shelter.” Gungun said that she had known earlier as she had read the story, The Happy Prince in her English text. The swallow is about to visit Egypt. The happy prince also kept him waiting.

While boating lazily, they plucked some water lilies and water hyacinth. The purple flowers are in their hands. It thrilled them a lot. They are passionate about taking videos and asked their parents if they would spot the white winged duck there. Their mother replied the white winged duck is spotted in Dihing Patkai and Dibru Saikhowa National Park. For one hour the boatman sailed his boat to some of the nice spots where they had spectacular views of the Beel as well as the flight of birds that did fly and sit on the leaves of the hyacinth. Their bird watching tour ended with having coffee and pokora in the adjacent restaurant. They preferred to take some hot noodles in the nearby restaurants. They smiled to taste the spicy noodles that were so delicious. Their mother rode the bicycle for a few minutes hiring from a local boy who runs a street food vendor there.

On the way back, their mother said Maguri beel is in Matapung village and it is on the south bank of the Dibru river which finally meets the mighty Brahmaputra. It is an eco-sensitive biosphere zone of the Dibru Saikhowa National Park. The adjacent grassland is a grazing for the cattle. The entire ecosystem comprising the wetland and grassland is home to several species of local and migratory birds. The winter guests come every year to this Beel and attract the bird lovers not from the state only but from the entire country. The rare mandarin duck was spotted here last year.

The bird watching tour made the two children happy. They came back with nice memories and photographs. Earlier they visited the Kaziranga National Park and spotted one horned rhinoceros, the pride and symbol of Assam. Mayur still recalled the colourful reptile that he spotted on a branch of a tree.

(Prarthana Gogoi is a writer hailing from Assam, a state of India known for the rich tea heritage and biodiversity. She writes non fiction on various socio-cultural themes such as gender, identity, feminism, heritage, culture, etc. She is a book reviewer and a library educator who works for the Uplift Libraries passionately to inculcate reading habits among the rural students. She has published her first novel namely ‘Ipshit Aakash” from a reputed publishing house of Assam. She can be reached at prarthanagogoi269@gmail.com.)