Senior citizens, however, have vivid memories. Ninety-five year old Sohrab Hossain Sarker, son of Hazi Babar Ali, of village Char Gobindopur, adjacent to Gayanar Ghat has his own viewpoint. To quote the trader who used such sailing boats, "We had to stay in the boat for days together to reach Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Bikrampur, Taltala in Dhaka division to ferry our commodities. Sometimes we had to make our way by train but in many cases the boatmen took us with them for their security."

Here's a trip down memory lane: Driven by the wind, these boats used to navigate their way on the rivers crisscrossing Bangladesh. This was the only form of transportation for many rural denizens to ferry their goods. These boats used to travel to Mymensingh with coconuts, betel nuts and earthen pots from Noakhali, Barisal and Pirojpur, mostly in the rainy season.

Muscular and stout boatmen were engaged rowing these boats, carrying passengers on long routes. In the course of these journeys the boats became temporary homes to the boatmen.

As the Brahmaputra and many other rivers, including Dhola, Kangsha, Mugra, Shomeshwari and Khiru run through the greater Mymensingh region, traders would use the boats to send their goods from remote areas of the district to other destinations. In the days of the British and Pakistan regime, when the Brahmaputra river was at its height, hundreds of people from rural Bangladesh would make their living through haat or bazaars at different points.

The ghaat, some 2 kms from the district town, was named after a sweet shop owner called Gayan Dey Sarker. Later the ghaat earned recognition as a major trade centre. Though an array of shops and hotels were set up here for the benefit of traders, today there is no sign of the ghaat.

Cut to the hard reality of the present: Many ghaats have faded into oblivion, a fall out of the long years of massive silting in the Brahmaputra river. With the dredging of the major rivers properly, river routes -- an easy and comparatively cheap transport system -- can survive.

There are some saving graces: Though the sailing boats are rarely seen today, people in the haor areas of Netrokona and Kishoreganj districts still rely on engine driven boats to cross the waters. Visitors are enchanted by the sight of boats decorated with coloured paper and the booming of huge drums on occasion of marriages.