Local food makes the experience come alive on your taste buds, with aloo pitika packed with mustard and chillies; spicy Assamese preparations in duck gravy, and the fragrant, rustic pork belly cooked with mustard greens and roasted sesame in a banana leaf, those mini coconut-gur laddoos evocative of Bihu celebrations, together with the pitha making way to your plate.
The sun scalds as it climbs the sky, and when it descends the colours of the sunset pour themselves across the blue, perfectly captured in your camera as you stand on the machan on the banks. Then the temperature nosedives suddenly when the ball of fire dips into the horizon around 4 pm, plunging everything into thick darkness.
Call it luxury of a different kind. Toasting your palms against the bamboo-powered makeshift bonfires by the river, tracing the shapes of different constellations in the sky, watching the Bihu performed by locals, and relishing songs by Papon in Assamese while huddling in tribal shawls is a surreal feeling, special to this small slice of the world. Peace comes dropping by in the stillness, as the silent searing wind slowly parts ways to usher in the thick fog that blankets the entire island, and the river till late morning.
There is no rush, amid the rush of the river. Gambol with solitude, soak up the serene, indulge in a spot of archery, and play a game of volleyball with the locals on the sand to warm up.
Speed solo across the river on a jet-ski, or kayak at leisure by the banks till the speedboat takes you back to Lachit Ghat that comes alive with the vibe of the Brahmaputra Carnival every day.
Strains of Assamese music belted out by live bands fill the air as if serenading the crackling silkworms, tiny mud crabs, and juicy shrimps on the skewers above the fiery coals. Savour the local preparations—rice beer, silkworm chaat, and kurkure chicken momos. Enjoy the hum of the chilli on your lips as you shop around for tiny keepsakes and home essentials crafted in bamboo and cane.
The draw of the disappearing destination in Sandbar island brings you in close communion with your own self in this precious part of the North East—knitting you in a multitude of ways to the ancient crucible that forms part of our cultural heritage.
(Brahmaputra Carnival at Lachit Ghat in Guwahati ends on March 15)