A few days ago, my English teacher Dr. Ranjit called me and said, “Can you manage to have some free time in the afternoon to accompany a group of Nepalese today?” I replied in the affirmative.

It was a nice Tuesday afternoon. Abu Sayed Shakil and I went together to guide the team to show around different places in Dhaka city. Brother Sayed, who has done his undergraduate, is a very friendly person. I could discuss everything with him without any hesitation even though he is my senior. I was extremely excited because it was for the first time that I accompanied some foreign people.

I did not know their language. Although I could speak English, I did not think my level of English was good enough to interact with them. That is why I was a bit scared. Dr. Ranjit understood my fear and told us the story of his first train journey with a foreigner and how he managed the situation. He advised me to have confidence.

Then, I got some courage and felt that I could handle it! Ranjit sir gave us some suggestions so that we could guide them successfully. We got mentally ready for the tour. We received the Nepalese team the next morning at 8.30 AM.

At first I thought they would be 4 or 5 in number but they were 32 people. I was a little bit nervous but contained myself. We welcomed them and offered to stay at NAEM hostel in Dhaka. After breakfast, we got to know each other. By this time, a sense of friendship developed among us.

At 10 o’clock, we started our journey from the NAEM hostel and the bus which we got was provided by the NAEM authorities. Our first destination was the University of Dhaka, known as the Oxford of the East. At the beginning of the journey, we encountered a traffic jam in the Newmarket area. After about 20 minutes, our bus started moving again. We reached our destination at 11 o’clock.

There, the chairman of the Department of Peace and Conflict Dr. Saber sir received us and took us to his classroom and introduced all of us to the entire class. After that we moved to his department. After having some food which was offered there, we left for lunch at the Dhaka University teacher’s canteen.

Then, we had our lunch there with the courtesy of Dr. Saber sir. After that we thanked him and left the place. At 3 o’clock, we went to the historic Curzon Hall of Dhaka University. This red Coloured building was built by George Nathaniel Curzon and is one of the most visited tourist spots in Dhaka city. After clicking some photos there, we left for our next destination. Most of the team members were Hindus and had a considerable interest in visiting temples and holy places in old Dhaka. That is why our next destination was ISKCON Swamibag Temple.

On the way, brother  Sayed  and I talked about some architectural monuments of Dhaka city. In front of Doyle Square, we had to face another traffic jam again. One of them said that tourists are reluctant to come to Dhaka due to traffic jams. Otherwise, Dhaka city is one of the best tourist spots in Bangladesh. Well, after some time our bus started moving.

We reached our next destination, Shamibag at 4.30 p.m. At first, we explored its surroundings and then entered the temple. The Nepalese guests were surprised to see the artistic design of the temple. After visiting the nearby Baba Loknath Mondir Shamibag, we got ready to return.

Centuries-old buildings of old Dhaka caught their attention during the traffic jam and its architectural style took their fancy. They also loved the artistry of Dhaka. Satisfied with the look of old Dhaka, we returned. The tourist team returned to the NAME hostel and brother Sayed and I came back to our hostel. 

While speaking with the visiting team, I discovered that their level of speaking English was also like mine. But, this cannot be said about the whole team. There were also a few people who spoke English quite well. Despite that, I naturally spoke to them in English. After all, I was able to conduct the team with full confidence. Indeed, this experience improved my leadership skills. English speaking has also been practiced well during the day. It also improved my level of speaking English. I will remember the event for a long time.