more hatirjheels in the offing? a child hawker the german invasion

Transcription

More Hatirjheels in the offing?
6
The German invasion
20
FRIDAY
MAY 24
2013
vol 1 Issu e 6
A child hawker
24
1
CONTENTS
This Week
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Hide and seek
Big Mouth Strikes Again
We need feminism because the
patriarchy is alive and kicking!
10 Post-Riposte
Is photography for everyone?
11 Top 10
Phuchka Vendors
12 6° of Connotations
Of mice and women
13 Photo Story
Four years since Aila
19 Realpolitik
Build it up with iron and steel
18 Digital Bangladesh
Warning on the go
17 Interview
Fooling people for 50 years
20 Game On
The German invasion
21 Stranger in a Strange Land
Dark and lovely
22 Tough Love
23 Backbenchers’ Club
24 Day in the Life of
A child hawker
25 The Way Dhaka Was
Hotel Purbani International
28 Last Word
2
4
5
A Weekly Pro du cti o n o f
Vo lume 1, Issu e 6
M AY 2 4, 2 0 13
6 Feature More Hatirjheels in the offing?
Acting Editor
Zafar Sobhan
Magazine Editor
Faruq Hasan
Weekend Tribune Team
Fahim Razzaq
Sumaiya Shams
Faisal Mahmud
Tamoha Binte Siddiqui
Sheikh Mohammed Irfan
Yusuf Banna
Photography
Syed Latif Hossain
Cartoonist
Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy
Contributors
Naheed Kamal
Wajed Al-Rahman
Bassema Karaki
Dina Sobhan
Ibtisam Ahmed
Phil Humphreys
Nilufer Ahmed
Design
Asmaul Haque Mamun
Mohammed Mahbub Alam
Production
Masum Billah
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.dhakatribune.com
26 Culture Vulture
An envelope full of remorse
27 Obituary
Asghar Ali Engineer
EDITOR’S NOTE
The brick-andmortar issue
B
angladeshis love a good bridge. Or a road. Or a
highway. Or a new railway station. Politicians, of
course, love taking advantage of our love interest
with all things brick and mortar. Charged with
massive corruption? Build the public a new flyover.
Lagging behind in the national polls? Give the
voters a new airport. Just don’t build us a new foot
overbridge, we hate them. Fortunately for us, the
new Hatirjheel Bridge is not a sop to an angry mob.
As Faisal Mahmud explains, the project grew out of
a genuine demand for balancing ecology and our
growing need to manage transport and traffic. And
it looks like it’s a keeper.
Elsewhere, Sheikh Mohammed Irfan looks
forward to a unique Champions League final match
between a German David-and-Goliath duo, Wajed
Al-Rahman writes about the infamous bridge that
never got built, and Phil Humpreys ends the issue
explaining why patriotic fervour and jingoism is
more of a hurdle to the tourist sector than lack of
good roads, bridges and airports. And lo behold, the
title has been explained. Have a good and restful
weekend everyone! n
W E E K E N D TR IBUN E FR I DAY, M AY 24, 20 1 3
2
THIS WEEK
INTERNATIONAL
REUTERS/Mohsin Raza
On May 14, a boy
covers himself from
the rain with an
improvised shelter
in a Rohingya
internally displaced
persons (IDP) camp
outside of Sittwe.
REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
On May 19, supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party of
cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan protest against the killing of Zara Shahid
Hussain, a leading member of the PTI, in Lahore. An upmarket constituency of
Karachi voted again under tight security, a day after gunmen killed Zara Shahid
Hussain in the district and a week after general elections. It was not immediately
clear who killed her.
REUTERS/Andres Piscov
On May 13, head of
the Belize Institute
of Archaeology, a
backhoe claws away
at the sloping sides of
the Nohmul complex,
one of Belize’s largest
Mayan pyramids in
northern Belize. A
construction company
has essentially
destroyed one of
Belize’s largest
Mayan pyramids
with backhoes and
bulldozers to extract
crushed rock for a
road-building project,
authorities announced.
On May 17, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos (L) receives a document from
Jose Miguel Insulza, General Secretary of the Organization for the American States
(OAS), during a meeting at presidential palace in Bogota. Insulza Santos presented
a report analysing the fight against drugs trafficking in America.
AP Photo/Jaime Awe
W E E K E N D TRIBUNE F R I DAY, M AY 24 , 2013
AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi
On May 15, a masked Palestinian
throws back a tear gas canister
during clashes after a rally
marking the Nakba Day outside
the West Bank town of Hebron.
Palestinians annually mark the
“Nakba,” the term they use
to describe their defeat and
displacement in the war that
followed Israel’s founding in 1948.
3
NATIONAL
Focus Bangla
On May 16,
people run to
cyclone shelters
and other safe
places under
the threat
of cyclone
Mahasen that
crossed the
Bangladesh
coasts in the
afternoon,
killing more
than 20 people.
Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
On May 19, the
families and
relatives of Rana
Plaza victims stage
a demonstration
in front of
National Press Club
demanding action
to find the missing
dear ones. The whole
country being under
a law and order
directive proscribing
meetings and
processions, the rally
could not continue a
few minutes .
Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
On May 14,
the rescue
operation at
Rana Plaza
was officially
called off.
4
whose line
is it anyway?
Hide and seek
“We are trying to get the opposition
party to have a dialogue with us, but so
far they have refused.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
“We have received no official letter from
the government asking us to have a
dialogue, and so we cannot sit with them.”
Opposition Leader Begum Khaleda Zia
Cartoons:Tanmoy/Dhaka Tribune
Big Mouth strikes again
5
Naheed Kamal
We need feminism because the
patriarchy is alive and kicking!
If you believe women’s rights are human rights, then you
recognise that the personal is the political
D
oes the idea of women’s rights
resonate with you? Do you
believe feminism is not just a
women’s issue, but beneficial for men
as well? If you answered yes, then pat
yourself on the back. You are a feminist, even if you are a man.
Feminism has had a bad rap. So
many women distance themselves
from the movement that it’s not surprising to find the losses mounting.
Contrary to popular belief, the
women’s movement for equality is
not based on hating men. It entails
removal of gender disparities by
means of legislature, judiciary, as well
as through education and awareness,
across all spheres of society – culturally, economically, physically, mentally.
Gender stereotypes become discriminatory labels, based on biased
attitudes shaped by social norms,
which are in turn formed by a society where patriarchal views dominate
all thought and action, ie women are
defined by men’s ideas about who and
what they should be. So women are
seen as weak, while men as strong,
but these are gender stereotypes that
are equally harmful for men in society.
These “taboos” are social constructs,
so society is free to break free of them,
right?
Easier said than done. Even the
most beautiful Hollywood star faces
insecurities about body issues. Last
week, Angelina Jolie revealed in an oped for the New York Times she’d had
a double mastectomy as a preventive
measure against breast cancer. There
are many reasons to praise Jolie: for
taking charge, for being pro-active, for
deciding to share the facts about the
surgery, so other women facing the
scary choice realise they are not alone
or helpless.
The removal of her breasts –
though she had corrective surgery and
she does gloss over the pain and gritty details those invasive procedures
entail – and the expensive screening
process are cause for concern. A drug
company owns the patent on the DNA
screening, which is very expensive and
beyond most people’s reach. But my
admiration stems from Jolie’s hope,
her decision will give others hope and
courage.
For women, breasts are intrinsically linked to beauty. Take Jolie’s case:
Lara Croft’s breasts are famous. So, it
is commendable of her to expose herself to public views and commentary.
Of course, the backlash was soon appearing online, where, to my horror, I
found posts that seem to infer these
people had the right to criticise Jolie
for removing her breasts! Her life and
health versus some people’s need for
gratification ... I know, it’s ridiculous.
Surely, Jolie should have risked her life
and health so a few men could get off
by ogling her mammary.
Of course, where women’s beauty and worth in general are linked to
appearance, Jolie assures women that
the absence of breasts does not make
her any less feminine. Granted, there is
the corrective surgery that entails silicone implants, but for what it’s worth,
this may save women the agony of
doubt and despair.
Jolie’s empowering action and decision played a decisive role in influencing my decision to write this column
and speak of one of the last taboos, ie
violence against women.
Where women are seen as “victims”
and also made to feel guilt for being
vulnerable, where a violent man places
the blame squarely on the women he
attacks, empowerment is a hard road
to climb.
An offhand comment triggered
the most cringe-worthy reaction from
a young man, with whom I had been
briefly intimate. Trusting his capacity
to misbehave and act up, and assuming I would be too ashamed and embarrassed to fight him, he came at me
with all guns blazing. Turning up at my
work place, and threatening to create a
scene, as if I would care, which lead to
a show down that any self respecting
“man” would be ashamed of, involving
shouting and tearing my clothes. My
reactions: appalled, shocked and disappointed. Self-control won that day,
but there was a price to pay for the
moral upper hand.
All the pent-up rage, which I had
oodles of, manifested psychosomatically in the form of raging fever and
blood pressure shooting up, then came
the mother of all fevers. I learned my
lesson: next time, let rage reign free.
See, for as long as there are taboos to
break, secrets to overturn, lies to uncover, violence to resist, and labels to
redefine, feminism will be relevant.
While I proudly identify or label myself
with the feminist tag, I am cautious. I
know how easily words and labels can
become counter-productive.
Labels serve a purpose, on files, boxes, items on sale in shops, for food or
other products. Labels list ingredients,
mark each as edible or poisonous, as
animal or plant, organic or inorganic;
they include instructions, warnings,
safety and other related information.
But what purpose do labels on people
serve? They only promote stereotypes
and misconceptions.
Until recently, I was tempted to try
and convince every woman that they
must recognise and identify themselves with Feminism, and announce
they are all Feminists. But luckily, I
came to realise it’s not my responsibility or place to make anyone believe in
anything. Feminists must help create
a world where negative stereotypes
are debunked, so women don’t need
convincing or distancing from feminist
ideals, where they become one and the
same.
In Afghanistan, extremists who
think lifting a ban on child marriage
and not accusing women raped of
adultery would destabilise society vetoed a bill in parliament. Elsewhere,
life continued as usual. In fact, in some
parts, the clock was turned back, with
neo-conservatism becoming the norm.
In America, the debate raging between
pro-choice and anti-abortion (I find
the term pro-life misleading; everyone
is pro-life, surely!), with states legislating to limit women’s control over their
bodies, access to contraception is now
a battle. Health, especially women’s
reproductive health, is going to be a
decisive factor both personally and politically in American society.
friend after watching a film. The incident cracked open all the horrors of
ingrained cultural attitudes that keep
women under constant fear, and men
unaccountable for any wrongdoings
against women. When judges decide
someone is a liar and pass judgement
on their sexist ideas of feminine behaviour, it is not possible for justice to
prevail. The debate rages on.
Naheed Kamal is
an irreverent and
irreligious feminist.
An old soul of
indeterminate age,
with one too many
opinions and a very
loud voice (for a little
person), she laughs a
lot, mostly at herself.
She lives in Dhaka,
against her best
judgement. Mostly,
Ms Kamal rants, a lot!
Bangladesh is where over 60% of men
surveyed think it is okay to beat their wives,
where nearly 40% don’t have any idea what
constitutes as violence, where 40% think it
is perfectly justified to keep women socially
dormant so they can be controlled by men.
It is number four in the world for violence
against women
February found mass protests taking over Dhaka, and with it came a
welcome change; women in the public arena were not immediately and
automatically subject to harassment.
Where on Millennium New Years a
young woman was assaulted and
stripped naked in a frenzy, images of
which still leave me cold, I was free to
come and go as I pleased at any time
of night or day, without fear! The absolute absence of threats was such a positive result for all Bangladeshi women,
who took the lead at the epicentre of
protest. n
N
ow, men having difficulty with
feminism I can kind of understand, though not accept, but women
who fight against women’s rights and
demean other women, assuming a
superior position, they hold a special
place of scorn in my books.
2013 has so far been a year of ecstatic highs and morbid lows for women. The New Year found Indian women finally raising their united voices
against the very high prevalence of
violence against women after the
Delhi gang rape on a bus, of a young
woman returning home with her boyW E E K E N D TR IBUN E FR I DAY, M AY 24, 20 1 3
6
Development Projects
More Hatirjheels
in the offing?
Faisal Mahmud
writes about
initiatives like
Hatirjheel to save
Dhaka’s water
bodies
Syed Latif Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
Faisal Mahmud
is a staff reporter at
Weekend Tribune
who specialises
in writing IT and
telecom articles
with depth and
analysis. He is also in
charge of the weekly
Tech page for the
newspaper
FEATURE
H
Hatirjheel
personifies
what local
government
can do if it
puts its will
to it: convert
a veritable
garbage dump
into one of
the most
picturesque and
eco-friendly
spots of the
capital
atirjheel, with its spacious
roads, beautifully lit bridges
and neat walkways centring a
picturesque water body, seems to be
what the city dwellers used to envisage when they thought of a modern
Dhaka. The embodiment of that vision
seems to be loved and embraced by
the Dhakaites in a euphoric manner.
Following the huge success of
Hatirjheel, now the government
has two other mega projects in the
pipeline, aiming to strike two birds
with one stone. Ergo, the beautification
of Dhaka and revival of its dying water
bodies.
Officials at Rajdhani Unnayan
Kortipokkho (Rajuk) said that the two
projects – the Gulshan-BaridharaBanani Lake Development project and
the Kamrangirchar area development
project – will cost over Tk 800 crore.
The tentative date for completing both
the projects is set in 2017.
“We’ve undertaken two mega
projects similar to Hatirjheel to
protect the city’s water bodies. It will
ensure the ecological balance of the
expanding city as well as its water
retention capacity,” Rajuk chairman
Nurul Huda told Weekend Tribune.
Huda also said that Hatirjheel used
to be as a waste dumping zone for the
capital before the government took
up the project. The lake there used
to be a ditch that carried household
and industrial waste coming from the
surrounding localities.
“Moreover,
as
massive
sedimentation took place due to the
choking of Begun Bari canal, people
living in areas surrounding Hatirjheel,
including Magbazar, Tejgaon and New
Eskaton, suffered waterlogging during
the rainy season, as the rainwater
couldn’t get drained away,” he said.
“Now look how beautiful the
whole area has become. It not only
serves as a recreation area, but also
serves the purpose of a flood draining
system to avert waterlogging during
the monsoon. It also serves as a
much needed bypass to reduce traffic
congestion,” he added.
Hatirjheel is also a reminder to
the city dwellers that conservation
of water bodies, including lakes and
canals, is imperative to ensure a
healthy environment for a liveable city,
as Huda implied.
He also informed that there are
preliminary plans to construct an
amphitheatre on the banks of the lake
behind Tejgaon Industrial Area, where
people can enjoy small events while
sitting in the open air, by the waters.
There is also a plan for a water deck
at Magbazar, which will be an open
platform on the lake for entertainment
purpose. Another plan includes a
forested island called Eco-Centre in
the middle of the lake near Badda
and West Rampura. “None of these,
however, have been finalized yet;
they’re still ideas,” Huda commented.
The Rajuk chairman said that
planning the development of GulshanBaridhara-Banani Lake has long been
7
Dhaka Tribune
A
source at Rajuk informed Weekend Tribune that the cost of the
Gulshan–Baridhara-Banani Lake Development project estimated at Tk 410
crore.
Under this project, a 6,200 metrelong walkway, 2682 metre-long
driveway, 189 metre-long causeway
and over 20 open spaces and parks
by the side of the lake with recreation
facilities would be constructed, the
official said.
The concerned official also said
that the Ministry of Housing and
Public Works is going to lead in the
project, along with Rajuk, while Dhaka
Water Supply and Sewerage Authority
(WASA) and Local Government
Engineering Division (LGED) will be
supporting partners.
Rajuk has taken the responsibility
of land excavation, site protection
and waste disposal. WASA is put in
charge of building the storm water
and sanitary drainage system and
water supply network around the
lake. LGED is given the responsibility
of constructing roads, wide walkways
and bridges at the project site.
Rajuk consulted an architectural
firm named Vitti to finalise the
design of the whole project, and the
firm already submitted the design,
according to the official.
Architect Iqbal Habib, managing
director of Vitti and a renowned
environment activist, said that after
completion of the project, it would
change the look of the whole GulshanBaridhara-Banani area.
“As of now, Badda and Baridhara
areas are devoid of any sewer
system. As a result, all the waste
from the residential buildings in the
surrounding areas is being dumped
into the Gulshan-Baridhara-Banani
Lake on a regular basis,” he said.
Also, the biggest slum (Karail) in the
capital is located right beside the lake.
“In truth, about 40% of that slum is on
illegal land, occupied by land grabbers
on the side of the lake,” Habib said.
“That’s not all,” he continued,
“Systematic sedimentation has long
been going on there in the name of
development of the lake. More than
100 plots have been created by filling
up the lake over the years,” he alleged.
Incidentally,
the
GulshanBaridhara-Banani Lake was declared
an ecologically critical area in 2002 and
Gulshan-Baridhara
Lake project
l Estimated cost Tk4.1bn
l Detailed design completed
l A 6,200m walkway,
underway. “We have already prepared
the final detailed design of the
project,” He said. About the project on
Kamrangirchar area, he said that the
feasibility study of the project was still
ongoing, after which a detailed design
would be created.
The successful
implementation
of Hatirjheel
is also a boon
for homes
around the area.
Not only has
there been a
significant jump
in the property
and rental value
in the locality,
residents
actually wake
up to the sight
of a beautiful
lake with no
sight of trash or
dumpsters
2,682m driveway, 189m
causeway and over 20
open spaces and parks
8
FEATURE
Development Projects
Kamrangirchar
development
project
l
Estimated cost Tk4bn
l
Feasibility study
ongoing, after which
detailed design will be
done
l
The project includes
a detailed systematic
plan for sewage and
rainwater drainage for
the area
l
Focuses on the
beautification and
establishment of
recreational facilities
on the 3km stretch
between Kamrangirchar
to Babu Bazar
the Department of Environment (DoE)
was given the charge of monitoring
the situation, according to Habib.
He also said that Rajuk had
previously leased the lake to
Bangladesh Fisheries Development
Corporation (BFDC). BFDC was in
charge of introducing land and
aquatic organisms as well as fish
through appropriate and sustainable
technology.
At that time, four amateur
fishermen committees (AFCs) were
also involved in the cleaning of the
lake. “Those committees kept the lake
clean of weed and hyacinth so that
they could cultivate and catch fish
there,” he said.
However, Rajuk stopped leasing the
lake out to the BFDC from 2005. “Since
then, the lake’s condition only grew
from bad to worse,” Habib claimed.
In the detailed design that Habib’s
firm has prepared, they have ensured
a balanced environment for the lake
where it could be used for recreational
activities, like fishing, as well as an exit
for rainwater to flow away.
“This would serve two purposes:
the water that will be drained into
the lake during the rainy season
will ensure continuous recharge of
groundwater. Not to mention that
it will help avert the waterlogging
during the monsoon,” Habib said.
However, Habib
feels
that,
9
Other
development
projects
Preliminary plans for an
amphitheatre on the lake side
behind Tejgaon industrial area
alongwith the implementation of this
project, the community around the
area should be informed and educated
to keep the lake free of pollution
and littering. “The area surrounding
Dhanmondi Lake was developed
long ago, but lack of maintenance
and ignorance on people’s part have
nullified the purpose” he said.
A
Engineering in BUET who is working
as a consultant on the Kamrangirchar
development project, told Weekend
Tribune that, after the completion
of the project, the riverbank of the
Kamrangirchar will be an attractive
place.
“When you think about a large
metropolitan city, the picture of
buildings by the side of a beautiful river
comes to your mind. Unfortunately,
the river Buriganga can’t serve that
purpose for Dhaka. If what we are
planning for that area bears fruit, that
vision will come true, if only partly,” he
said.
E
xperts lauded the government’s
initiative to retrieve Dhaka’s lakes
and build planned constructions
around them to increase their recreational values, improve the sewage and
sanitation system, and ensure floodwater transportation.
Dr Sarwar Jahan, professor at
Department of Urban and Regional
Planning in BUET, said that Dhaka was
once a city like Venice or Amsterdam.
“It was a city known for its canals and
lakes, which were connected to the
three main rivers that encircled it,” he
Another plan to create a forested
island called Eco-Centre in the
middle of the lake near Badda and
West Rampura
said.
“The interconnected canals and
lakes were once a part of its natural
drainage system; in the not-so-distant
past, they formed a convenient
network of communication as well.
Besides, they used to function as water
retention basins during the monsoon,”
he said.
“There was a time when Hatirjheel
and Begun Bari canals were connected
to Dhanmondi Lake. Then government
planned to develop Panthapath, so box
culvert and box drainage lines were
placed at the Dhanmondi Lake and
Begun Bari intersection,” he added.
If the connection among the
Dhanmondi Lake, Begun Bari canal,
Hatirjheel, Mohakhali canal, Gulshan
Lake and Banani Lake still existed, it
would have been a great means of
communication.
“Interestingly, it is still possible to
link them up, except for Dhanmondi
Lake, perhaps,” he said.
About the projects, Dr Jahan agreed
that Gulshan-Baridhara lake has been
one of the last remaining big water
bodies in the capital. As the land
price of the surrounding area kept
skyrocketing over the years, many
encroachers devoured a good part
of the lake. “A permanent solution
is to develop the area like the way
Hatirjheel is developed,” he said.
However, Dr Jahan was sceptic
about the implementation of the
Kamrangirchar Development project,
fearing that it would be difficult for
the government to make it a reality.
“It is not like retrieving a lake and
carrying on with the development
activities. The project will be carried
out on the banks of river Buriganga,
and Buriganga needs to be elevated
from its appalling state,” he said.
Brig Gen Abu Saeed Mohmmad
Masud, project director of the
Hatirjheel project and Chief of the
Engineering Core of Bangladesh Army,
said that if the engineering core is
provided with feasibility study and
detailed design, it can implement any
project.
“We implemented the Hatirjheel
project in a disciplined manner amidst
various problems and pressure from
different groups. We can successfully
complete similar projects anywhere in
the city,” he claimed. n
s for the Kamrangirchar project,
the Rajuk official said that it was
still in its early stages. The planning
division of Rajuk started studying the
feasibility of the project, with the help
of experts from Bangladesh University
of Engineering Technology (BUET).
According
to
Rajuk
data,
Kamrangirchar has nine residential
mouzas, namely Bag Chand Khan,
Char Kamrangir, Daksin Sona Tengor
1 and 2, Kalunagar, Enayetnagar,
Nawab Char, Rajmusuri and Baroikhali
under Mouza-3, all of which has been
subjected to unplanned urbanization
over the years.
The official said that most of these
areas of the char doesn’t have proper
sewage system and dump all the
household waste in the Buriganga.
This makes the environment around
the river appalling.
He also said that, under the
proposed project, a detail planning
of the whole Kamrangirchar area will
be made to prevent unplanned urban
sprawling in the area.
Under
the
project,
around
three kilometres on each side of
the Kamrangirchar Lohar Pool will
be developed and beautified with
walkways, parks and recreational
arrangements. The scheme will
be
integrated
with
Buriganga
river cleaning project taken by the
government.
While speaking with Weekend
Tribune, Rakibul Islam Talukder, an
engineer at Bangladesh Inland Water
Transport Authority (BIWTA), said that
a total of Tk. 16.93 crore has already
been spent in the river cleaning
project.
However, the consistent waste
dumping on the riverbanks between
Kamrangirchar Bridge and the second
Buriganga Bridge has made river
cleaning a futile exercise.
“Hundreds of tonnes of waste are
dumped into the Buriganga every
day, polluting the water severely.
Also, there are many factories on the
shores of Buriganga, who release their
industrial waste into the river, and
cause further damage,” he said.
He warned that, unless the
factories are removed or the waste
dumping is stopped, the river cleaning
project will not see success.
Dr Abdul Matin, professor at
the Department of Water Resource
Plan for a water deck at Magbazar,
which will be an open platform on
the lake, mainly for entertainment
purpose
10
POST-RIPOSTE
Photography
Is photography for
everyone?
E
ver since digital photography
was introduced, there has
been a massive growth in all
aspects of visual art. Over the last
few years, imaging sensors have
been incorporated into all sorts of
communication devices and gadgets,
giving people an opportunity to take
photos as they please. This is where
I see people getting self-educated,
motivated by an inspiration towards
the aesthetic sense of art.
American poet Amy Lowell once
said: “Art is the desire of a man to
express himself, to record the reactions
of his personality to the world he lives
in.” I’ve come to think that those who
are bugged about there being more
photographers than viewers nowadays
is actually a good sign. With the grace
of modern technology, there’s a
camera in everyone’s hand. People can
capture everything happening around
them in frames – both the good and
the bad ones. With this practice,
they are not only getting skilled and
knowing their tools better, but also
representing individual perspective.
Consider the Shahbag Movement, for
instance; the different points of view
of numerous photographers, amateur
yet contributing to the bigger picture,
were very moving. Their works might
not be pieces of art, but they shot
from their soul. Just like renowned
photographer Peter Adams said:
“Great photography is about depth of
feeling, not depth of field.”
Even 20 years ago, there was
little encouragement from the
society for those who wanted to
take photography as a profession or
hobby. Photographers in those days
lacked both the financial stability and
the advantage of gadgets that even
an amateur can get their hands on
today. Many youngsters are getting
self-established,
creating
their
own identities and even receiving
international recognition for their
work. Photography is not only confined
to being visual art, but has become an
integral part of our lifestyle. n
I’m a
photographer,
deal with it
Fazle Rabbi
Bigstock
Everyone’s a
photographer
... really?
Fahim Razzaq
L
et’s assume for a second
that anyone can become a
photographer. The way to being
one would literally boil down to
following a few simple steps:
1. Buy a camera that has a built-in
function of taking continuous shots
2. Simply point and shoot a
thousand pictures in any direction
3. Choose the best 100 out of the lot
and tune up using a photo enhancing
software. Voila, a rare talent is born!
Picture a scenario where that
was really the case. In that scenario,
the great works of, say, Charles C
Ebbets, known for his iconic photo
titled “Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper,”
wouldn’t be anything of significance.
The same would apply for revered
photographers from Bangladesh, such
as Rashid Talukder, who is famous for
his images of the Liberation War. The
many patrons who went out of their
way to buy posters of the works of
these great artists just wouldn’t exist.
Photography is an art. If anyone
could be an artist, then today there
would be a thousand Dalis, Picassos,
Poes and Keats. The difference
between the masses and the greats,
the icons and those capable of taking
a photograph that speaks a thousand
words, lay in knowing what angles
to look for, how to use the light to
your advantage and what moments
are worth capturing. While some of
these can be learnt, most of it comes
naturally to only a select few.
In the end, while today one can
find an array of photo enhancing
software, without a vision nothing
great can come out of it. So go ahead;
buy yourself a camera and a good
software. If anything, it will get you
an inch close to becoming “great”! But,
actually, becoming one is …
I rest my case. n
TOP 10
11
Phuchka Vendors
In search of tangy delights
10
Mofiz Mama’s
Phuchka and
Chotpoti,
Uttara
For people living in
Uttara, Mofiz Mama’s Phuchka and
Chotpoti is a household name. His van
is a hotspot for the Uttara-dwellers,
who indulge in afternoon addas over
mouth-watering phuchkas and “tok.”
9
WT team lists 10 places in Dhaka that serve the best phuchkas
in town. They have been selected based on their taste, hygiene,
popularity and accessibility
Lalbagh Fort
The phuchka stall
owned by Selim
Hossain near Lalbagh
Fort in Azimpur
offers phuchkas whose taste is one
of a kind. Selim’s dexterity in serving
delectable phuchka and chotpoti to
his customers is enough to make him
stand out from the rest.
8
New Market
7
Situated right across
the bustling Lalmatia
ground for the last 15 years, this stall’s
spicy phuchka is served with hot and
sour sauce made from tamarind juice
and chilli flakes that can make you
sweat with just one plate. The best
part about these crunchy delights is
the kick they give you when you first
swallow them.
6
1
Mamar
Phuchka,
Lalmatia
Kumudini,
Gulshan
Tucked away a couple
of blocks next to
Gulshan 1 square,
Kumudini Phuchka Place is a rare
commodity in the phuchka market,
a place where hygiene and taste
happily merge. It’s a bit quixotic to see
gloved phuchka merchants handling
their plate with the utmost care and
cleanliness without compromising
on taste. They have been serving for a
decade now, to customers who want
a mouthful of taste without getting a
bellyful of ache.
5
TSC
The phuchka stall at
Teachers Students
Canteen (TSC) in
Dhaka University is
a renowned and one of the oldest
phuchka stalls in Dhaka. The hot,
tangy taste of the phuchkas spice
up the addas which are a common
occurrence there. The crunch of those
puffed up dough and the filling is
somehow addictive.
4
Gulshan 2
Ideally located in
Gulshan 2 market, this
phuchka vendor offers
choices of sweet and
sour “tok,” a variety of phuchkas and
chotpotis and a hygienic environment.
Be warned: great food comes with
high price.
3
Dhaba,
Banani
The perfect
combination of
taste, hygiene and
accessibility, Dhaba is mainly an
Indian restaurant, so they have
phuchkas and chotpotis that are
heavily doused with Indian flavours.
Nonetheless, the taste is amazing and
the setting is more than agreeable.
The food is a little pricey too, but then,
all good things are.
2
Dhanmondi
Rd 6
Every evening, people
flock towards the lone
phuchka stall beside
Mirpur Road at Dhanmondi Road 6
(not to be confused with Road 6/A) for
its delectable phuchka and chotpoti,
with a tok so tasty that you won’t
find anywhere else in Dhaka. By the
Dhaka standard of hygiene as far as
road-side food is concerned, this place
is pretty much above average. n
Iqbal Road,
Mohammadpur
Imran, the proprietor of Imran
Phuchka and Tea Stall, has been
making chotpoti for the last
15 years. One crunchy phuchka
bite, and you know this guy is a
connoisseur. “The key to making
either good phuchka or chotpoti
is the right mix that goes behind
the tok that goes into every plate.
And I have perfected my secret
recipe over a decade and a half,”
confides Imran with a grin. And
his loyal customers will never
disagree. n
Bellayet/Wikimedia Commons
When roaming
through the hustle
and bustle of New
Market, it doesn’t
take long before you start craving a
refreshment and snack. The phuchka
stalls in the area will take no more
than a minute to whip up – just what
you’re looking for. With a mouthful
of crispy delight in every bite, these
phuchkas will give your taste buds the
perfect mix of spice and tanginess.
12
6o of connotations
Nilufer Ahmed is a
columnist, gourmet
cook and a profound
thinker, presently
mediating between
the President of the
Bangladesh Beggars
Association and the
Chairperson the Part
time (chhuta) Maids
Organisation of Dhaka
City (south)
Nilufer Ahmed
Of mice and women
When pest and vermin is the order of the day
L
ately, Dhaka city has had the
look as if it has been bombarded
by aliens from outer space.
The humongous holes in several
plots, especially in Dhanmondi, are
a common picture. Walking on the
footpath is next to impossible, and
the five- and six-storey buildings are
overshadowed by the 14-storey underconstruction buildings. The noise is
there all day and even till the middle of
the night, and all the creepy crawlers
including mice and rats from the huge
craters scurry to the nearest buildings
and houses.
The other day, a friend called and
asked if I could give her contact details
of any pest control organisation.
“Cockroaches?” I asked.
“No,no no! You won’t believe it. It’s
mice! MICE! Mice in my kitchen, mice in
the storeroom, mice in the cupboards,
mice everywhere! What shall I do?” she
sounded pretty desperate.
The Pied Piper is perhaps the best
allegory to describe about life in
Dhaka: we dance to someone else’s
tune every day of our lives
“Hmm ...” I thought. That situation
called for a drastic action. Something
no less than the Pied Piper of Hamelin
himself to the rescue.
“Listen,” I told her, “How about
rat poison? There are several kinds
in the market. The super-glue like
that’s mixed with food, and when
the mouse touches it, it gets glued to
it. In the morning, you’ll find culprit
stuck and at your mercy, and you can
do whatever you please. Then there is
the little device like a mini guillotine
– you know, the French used it during
the Revolution. It’s mentioned in ‘The
Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens.
It has a hook for the bait; as soon as
the mouse or rat gets to it, its head is
chopped off. It might be a bloody affair
for your tastes. If you are stoic enough,
you can watch the criminal being
guillotined. Didn’t you read ‘The Tale of
Two Cities’?”
I went on and on with different
kinds of mouse traps there were.
“There is the old-fashioned devices
too, remember? During our childhood
days, we used to have traps that kept
the mice or rats hanging upside down
until morning? If you are not the
screaming type who jumps on the
nearest chair or bed as soon as she
sees a scurrying rodent, take the trap
along with the mouse and throw it
into the crater that the developers
made for the 14-storey building. “After
all, that’s where they all came from,
ejected from their cosy holes.”
She listened, and finally said: “You
know, I’m not joking.”
“Neither
am
I,”
I
said
sympathetically. “I was just trying to
help you.”
“I was standing on the chair for
half an hour until my maid came. That
mouse followed me from the kitchen
to the dining room,” she confessed, her
voice full of tears.
So, she was the screaming type, I
concluded.
I
was genuinely sympathetic, as I
myself had jumped on the bed as
soon as I found one tiny creature
sitting on my husband’s revolving tie
rack in the wardrobe, having a joy ride
on it in broad daylight! As I jumped
away and on the bed, that mouse kept
staring at me, sitting on its haunches,
wringing its tiny front paws.
I was pretty much tired of my
friend’s rambling. Why couldn’t
Promises are made, promises are broken.
Yet we still keep hoping that one day it will
come to an end, and it will all get better
she just tell her maid to go kill it?
My household help had found and
killed all the mice in the flat. When I
suggested that, my friend told me her
maid had refused to kill a mouse and
said she was not paid for it and it was
not in her contract, killing pests and all.
“Listen, I need to hang up,” I said.
“I would prefer to call the Pied Piper,
the Bangladeshi edition, of course, to
play his flute and make all the mice
and rats in Dhaka follow him to the
River Shitalakhya or Buriganga, and
make them jump into the waters. The
water in those rivers are so toxic from
the chemical, industrial waste and the
garbage that Dhake City Corporation
dumps into those rivers, that those
mice will be killed instantly.”
“What bliss!” I thought to myself, “if
that were to happen ...”
“But what about the rivers?” my
friend retorted. “The rivers are so
polluted with garbage and grabbers
that thousands of mice will be floating
in the rivers, rather than drowning.
Even Shakespear’s Ophelia in “Hamlet”
did not drown when she committed
suicide, and was found floating as the
water was shallow.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I replied, a trifle
complacently.
The concerned authorities promised
to dredge all the rivers in Bangladesh.
That is on their agenda. The City
Corporation can rid Dhaka of all the
mice and rats, and we women will not
have to jump on a chair at the sight of
a scurrying vermin inside our “digital”
and designer flats and houses. n
PHOTO STORY
13
four years since aila
Aila
A photo
story by
Shekhar
Mandal
It’s been almost
four years since
cyclone Aila
lashed the shores
of Khulna, killing
300 people
and destroying
almost 4,000km
of roads and
embankments.
And yet the
scars of that
tragedy linger on.
Livelihoods were
forever destroyed,
thousands of
people displaced
from their homes,
never to return,
while the reality
of what climate
change can do
became all too
apparent.
And yet people
fight on. These
pictures reflect
some of the
bravery and
resilience that
Khulna residents
still exhibit on a
daily basis just to
make ends meet.
For them, Aila
was just another
storm. And they
are ready for
more. n
14
PHOTO STORY
15
16
PHOTO STORY
INTERVIEW
17
Mainul Khan
Fooling people for 50 years
Faisal Mahmud talks with the veteran magician
More about
Mainul
Mainul is the
president of Ring
295 of International
Brotherhood of
Magicians (IBM). IBM is
the biggest society of
magicians, which has
its branches known as
rings in more than 50
countries
n
Arif Asgar
I
t is not easy to enjoy being fooled.
Magicians like Mainul Khan would
make you think otherwise, though.
It’s not only the tricks or the dexterity
of the classy magician that brings you
sheer joy; the serene smile with which
he greets you and fools you would
make you like him, instantly.
His first encounter with magic was
in 1952, in Asasuni thana of Satkhira,
when a snake charmer came to a
young Mainul’s home and showed
magic tricks and snake charming.
“I was mystified with the tricks
that artless snake charmer showed me
that day. I fell in love with the art and
decided to learn magic,” he said.
Mainul’s formal training began
in 1958 when he met Professor
Abdur Rashid of Mina Magic Party,
later known as Sadhona Lion Circus.
Rashid introduced him to the world of
professional magic.
“The main attraction of the circus,
Professor Rashid used to perform all
kinds sleight of hands and illusions in
the circus,” Mainul said, adding that he
had also played a significant role in the
life of renowned magician Jewel Aich.
The beginning of the ’60s saw
Mainul doing many shows in Khulna
city. Then he moved to Dhaka to study
architecture in BUET. In 1965, at the
age of 22, Mainul appeared on his first
ever television show on PTV (now BTV),
which was also the first ever magic
show of the channel.
After the independence, Mainul
helped form the first magicians’
society in Bangladesh in 1972, named
Bangladesh Gono Jaduchakra (BGJC).
He was its founder secretary general.
BGJC organised the first magic
show in the newly liberated country
on November 19 and 26 in 1972 at the
British Council Auditorium, where
Mainul’s performance was much
applauded by the audience.
“In 1978, I went to work in Saudi
Arabia as a senior architect. I lived
there for 19 years, and during this
time I performed in seven-star hotels,
homes of sheikhs and on the Saudi
national television,” he said.
Mainul came back to Bangladesh in
1997. Besides his profession as a fulltime architect, he started performing
in private parties and posh hotels.
Mainul can be dubbed as the
pioneer magician who brought the
modern sleight of hand technique on
stage in Bangladesh. Even with all the
technological development in the art
of magic, he still awes his audience
with simple tricks using ordinary
objects like coins, ropes, thimbles or
cards.
“I
still prefer the old school tricks.
I believe in the old saying that
magic is not in the magic props, it is in
the magician,” he said, adding that his
favourite style is close-up magic.
Close-up magic, or table magic,
is performed in an intimate setting
usually no more than 10 feet away from
the audience. It’s worth mentioning
that Mainul performed table-hopping
magic in Hotel Intercontinental in
Saudi Arabia for five years.
As he is reserved about stage
illusion using modern techniques and
props, Mainul usually does not take
the offer of performing at a stage in
front of large audience. “I would rather
perform in front of a small audience of
magic connoisseurs,” he said.
However, in the magic community,
he is held in the highest position, as
he has taken hundreds of magicians
from all around the country under his
wings, nurtured and honed their skills
and eventually created professional
magicians out of them. In the
magicians’ community, he is known as
the “professor of magic.”
When asked about the current
state of magic in Bangladesh, he said
the new generation has potential for
great performances, but the number
of events has dropped in recent times.”
“Magic has a broad appeal and
people of all ages enjoy it, but the
organisers are yet to realise it,” he
said. In his opinion, the solution of this
matter is to take the good shows to the
people, and the number of events will
increase automatically. “I think magic
has a great prospect in Bangladesh.
People here has a natural inclination
for being fooled,” he said with a smile.
So, can anyone fool this master
magician? In his words: “I do not know
about fooling, but a good performance
of even a known magic trick never fails
to amaze me.”
Note: Arif Asgar, a physicist and a
magician, who is also one of Mainul
Kahn’s disciples, contributed to this
article. n
Mainul was awarded
the Order of Merlin in
2002 and the Order of
Merlin Shield in 2012 by
IBM in recognition of
services for magic and
magicians. He is the
only magician in the
Indian Subcontinent to
receive these awards
n
In 2006, he published a
book named “Closeup Magic,” which is
quite popular in the
magicians’ community.
He recently retired
from his architectural
firm and now spends
his time doing magic
shows, reading books
and mentoring
professional magicians
n
Dai Vernon, Tony
Slydini and Paul
Daniels are among his
favourite magicians
18
DIGITAL BANGLADESH Mobile Forecast
Asmaul Hoque Mamun/Dhaka Tribune
Dial 1 to know about
weather forecast
Faisal Mahmud
is a staff reporter at
Weekend Tribune
who specialises
in writing IT and
telecom articles
with depth and
analysis. He is also in
charge of the weekly
Tech page for the
newspaper
DIAL
10941
Dial 2 to know about
alert in river and sea ports
Dial 3
to kno
w
flood a about
lert
Warning on the go
Faisal Mahmud writes about disaster forecast on mobile phones
W
ith over 90 million mobile
subscribers in the country,
the Disaster Management
Bureau (DMB) of Bangladesh has come
up with an innovative idea to warn
people about the imminent disasters
within a short time.
The DMB, in coalition with the
state-owned mobile phone operator
Teletalk, has started providing the
updated information on weather
conditions, including floods and the
alert signals at river and sea ports,
through mobile phones.
As a part of its pre-disaster
management
programme,
DMB
has jointly taken this step with the
Teletalk on an experimental basis.
Later on, based on the outcome of the
initiative, the service will incorporate
all the mobile operators in the country,
sources from DMB said.
An official from Teletalk said
that the mobile operator gathers
all sorts of primary information
from the Bangladesh Metrology
Department, Flood Forecasting Centre
of the Ministry of Food and Disaster
Management, and the office of
Comprehensive Disaster Management
Programme (CDMP).
The interactive voice system (IVR) is
used to disseminate the information,
such as regular weather updates,
the rise and fall of water levels in the
major rivers, any update on the signals
at the sea and river ports, and updates
on potential natural disasters, the
sources from Teletalk said.
Ahsan Jakir, the former director
general of DMB, said: “In the past
few years, disaster management in
Bangladesh has achieved a paradigm
shift. Instead of solely focusing on
response, it has put equal importance
on preparation and adaptation.
“In Bangladesh, with the rapid
development
of
communication
outlets, different media has taken
on an increasingly important role in
promoting preparation measures at
the local and international levels, as
well as advocating for stronger policy
frameworks for disaster management
and climate change adaptation,” he
said.
“Disasters like floods, cyclones
and droughts are recurring. There are
About
the service
n
An initiative under the
CDMP
n
Teletalk has been chosen
to forecast the potential
disasters through SMS
n
Same service from other
mobile operators by
June this year
n
Each call to be charged
Tk2/minute
patterns in the vulnerable areas and
the sections of the populace over the
years. As the country now have 98%
coverage for mobile phones and the
technology is accessible even to the
poor and rural people, DMB planned
to incorporate disaster forecast with
the mobile operators’ value-added
service,” he added.
Teletalk was chosen for the
experimental run as it has better
network coverage in the coastal areas
of the country. “By the middle of this
year, we will incorporate the service
with other telecom operators of the
country,” Jakir said.
He also said the DMB had sent
a letter to Teletalk and the BTRC to
change the number 10941, as it is too
big and difficult to remember. DMB
had asked for a three-digit easy-toremember number in its letter.
Meanwhile,
when
contacted,
officials from other mobile operators
said they were interested to integrate
the disaster and weather forecasting
to their value-added services. n
REALPOLITIK
19
Padma Bridge
Build it up with iron and steel
Wajed Al-Rahman writes about the much controversial Padma Bridge project
Wajed Al-Rahman
is a student of
economics with
a great love for
theatre
A
lmost like a children’s game,
it seems Padma Bridge rises
and falls down repeatedly.
The cold hard facts about the project
seem to have been swallowed up
in the process of who will be paying
for its construction. The project itself
is a bridge be built from Louhajang,
Munshiganj to Shariatpur and
Madaripur. The plans drawn up
speak of a four-lane highway on
top and a rail track on a lower level.
The bridge will also accommodate
electric and telephone lines, and gas
pipes, with a provision for fibre optic
cables as well. To emphasise on why
it is so important, we must consider
that the area benefitted socially
and economically by the bridge is
estimated to be roughly 29% of
the country, home to more than 30
million people. It takes roughly 10
hours or more to get to Khulna – the
majority of this time spent agitating
at the ferry crossing in Mawa,
Munshiganj, waiting for ferries that
take hours to arrive and load and
more hours to cross. That whole
ordeal would take about 15 minutes,
including the line at the toll plaza,
should the bridge be built according
to the plan. For those frequenting the
southwest Bangladesh, that’s more
than enough, but the bridge will
also allow us to take full advantage
of our second and less used sea-port
Mongla in the Barisal division. The
project, in any light, is a win-win for
us. Unfortunately, economists claim
that the bridge is out to wreck our
economy, rather than revitalise it.
While
that
may
sound
counterintuitive, the problem lies in
who pays for this project, which costs
roughly $3bn (Tk233bn). Originally,
when the plans were presented to
the World Bank in 2011, the bridge
was supposed to be up and running
by 2013. The money was supposed
to come from a variety of sources,
including $1.5bn from the World
Bank and the rest from the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), Japan
International Co-operation Agency
(JICA) and others. The problem:
World Bank accused Bangladesh
Padma
Bridge plans
n
Length
6.15km
n
Width
21.1m
Bigstock
government
of
corruption
in
association with funds intended for
the bridge’s construction and made
the provision of future funds in this
project conditional to said corruption
being rooted out.
Thus, the only reasonable course
of action was followed, and in early
2013, Bangladesh withdrew its
application for funds from the World
Bank. This resulted in both ADB and
JICA ultimately going back on their
commitments towards the project as
well.
In February 2013, Finance Minister
AMA Muhith finally informed the
nation that the bridge would now be
built with “our own funds,” adding
that this was not impossible.
While the National Board of
Revenue (NBR) and various financial
institutions scrambled to take up
the challenge, as well as the Dhaka
Stock Exchange (DSE) offering up the
suggestion that shares be floated
on behalf of 50% of the bridge’s
construction, economists cried foul.
Quite simply, while on the outside,
the economy may look robust at
this point. However, such a move
would radically redirect funds from
priority sectors urgently in need of
government spending, chiefly the
building and upkeep of hospitals,
schools and such, not to mention
other road and development projects.
Such a manoeuvre may debilitate
any developing country and stagnate
growth.
Fortunately, it seems that talks
have begun with India in line of
$200m (Tk16bn) being diverted
from their previously promised
$1bn (Tk78bn) line of credit for
development purposes. Also, as
the old allies fell out, Malaysia and
China have offered a helping hand.
A Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) has already been signed with
Malaysia, and the China Railway
Engineering Corporation is said to
have presented a better offer than the
World Bank.
That being where it currently
stands, unfortunately, all of these
talks and arrangements will take
some time to reach fruition and we
will not be seeing Padma Bridge
before 2018 at the earliest. n
n
Approach roads
15.1km
n
No of lanes
4
n
No of railway tracks
1
n
Estimated cost
$3bn
The progress so far
April 2010
Bangladesh Bridge
Authority invites
tenders for the project
2011
Construction
scheduled to start
February 2012
Bangladesh
withdraws application
of funds from WB
April 2012
MoU with Malaysia
signed
2018
Tentative completion
date of Padma Bridge
project
20
Game On
Champions League final
The German invasion
Sheikh Mohammed Irfan anticipates an exciting UEFA Champions League final
Sheikh Mohammed
Irfan is a pragmatist,
bringing spotlight
to the persistent
problems in
Bangladesh
REUTERS
The European
Champions
League, aka
the UEFA
Champions
League, is a
competition
where the
best clubs of
Europe compete
each year for
continental
supremacy.
Winning this
competition is
an unparalleled
honour for
players and
the highest
achievement
possible in club
football
T
his year, we will witness the
fourth Champions League final
between clubs of the same
country – played by the Germans
for the first time. Wembley is the
showcase for an epic finale between
two of the biggest rivals in German
football. Bayern Munich and Borussia
Dortmund have managed to reach this
year’s final in comprehensive style.
It may come as a surprise to observe
an all-German final in the Champions
League, but rest assured that the rise
of the Germans was no fluke. Most
football pundits have already signalled
German supremacy in Europe, and the
final is a perfect way to summarise the
achievements of the German League
(Bundesliga). For the last five years,
German clubs have been improving, as
opposed to their counterparts like the
Italian and English.
In the past five years, Bayern
Munich has managed to reach three
finals, including this one, and at least
one German club has consistently
represented the country in the last
four of the competitions. This year,
three German clubs managed to reach
the second round of the competition,
as opposed to two from England. This
improvement was further cemented
by Pep Guardiola’s decision to join
Bayern Munich the next year.
On the other hand, Bundesliga
has managed to create a competitive
environment, as clubs like Borussia
Dortmund, Schalke 04 and Bayer
Leverkusen rose to challenge the usual
monotony of Bayern Munich. This not
only created renewed enthusiasm in the
Bundesliga, but also attracted a large
number of foreign players to ply their
trade to Germany. This influx resulted
in a large number of attendance.
The Bundesliga is the number one
football league in the world in terms of
average attendance: out of all sports,
its average of 45,134 fans each game
during the 2011–12 season was the
second highest of any sports league
in the world. It is also ranked third
among the leagues in Europe in terms
of UEFA coefficients – statistics used
for ranking and seeding teams and
leagues according to their seasonal
performances – overtaking the likes
of Serie A, Ligue 1, etc. Therefore, the
emergence of German domination
is not at all surprising and, after this
year’s performance, the Germans will
most probably be able to snatch the
second spot from the English.
Bundesliga is looking at a bright
future; they are not only facilitating
foreign stars, but are also breeding
grounds for the brightest new stars
in the world. Take the likes of Mario
Gotze, Marco Reus, Xherdan Shaqiri
and Robert Lewandowski – a few of
the stars developed by Bundesliga.
The most benefitted is, of course, the
German national team, which now
lists second in FIFA rankings. They are
ready to pounce on this rise of the
Bundesliga and finally manage to win
major trophies. With the World Cup
knocking on the door, timing couldn’t
be more perfect for the Germans to
snatch the spotlight from Spain.
T
his year, German performances
in the Champions League were
cutting edge. They blended a fine game
of attacking and counter-attacking
techniques that enthralled millions
of football lovers. They dominated
the beginning of the league and
exposed their pedigree in the semifinals. During the group stage, Bayern
Munich, Borussia Dortmund and
Schalke 04 were group winners.
Borussia Dormund was placed in the
“Group of Death” with the likes of
Real Madrid, Manchester City and
Ajax Amsterdam. They managed to
win this group in style and made sure
the likes of Manchester City would
not even progress to the next round.
This was followed by Bayern Munich’s
demolition of FC Barcelona in an
unimaginable manner. Finally, the
best of the Germans have managed
to secure a final all for themselves,
leaving the rest of the world in awe of
their performances.
Although there was no power
shift in the Champions League for
over a decade, this year’s shift was
actually expected. Since last year’s
Chelsea triumph, it was known that
traditional powerhouses would have
to battle with new, upcoming powers
in football. The additions of Paris St
Germain, Manchester City and Zenit
St Petersburg in the event meant
that games would be tougher, as
these financial powerhouses decided
to spend heavily for continental
supremacy. Hence, we are looking at
an exciting new era of football where
the Champions League will be more
challenging than ever before.
Bayern Munich deserves to win as
they have played phenomenal football
throughout the season. However,
history and statistics go in favour of
Borussia Dortmund: they won the
Champions League trophy in 1997 and
surprisingly handed their two years of
domestic supremacy over to Bayern
that same year. Both the teams seem
to have the potential to be champions
as they worked to grant Germans a
dream final. Whoever may win, a great
final is pretty much expected this year,
and new faces in next year’s league. n
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
21
Obsession with Fair Skin
Dark and lovely
Bassema Karaki observes how the Bangladeshi society is infatuated with fair skin
W
hy is it that most women in
Bangladesh strive to be “fair
and lovely”? As if one cannot
be “dark and lovely”? Miss Universe
2011 was dark, and she was voted most
beautiful among all the fair-skinned
contestants in the competition. Yet,
women here insist on covering their
faces in powder and foundation in
a struggle to look as pale and dull as
Bella from “Twilight.”
Perhaps it began during the British
reign, when people were brainwashed
into believing they were inferior to
“blue-eyed, white devils,” as Malcolm
X would call them. Or maybe it’s a
belief that has been adopted from the
Hindu culture, in which the darker you
are, the lower your caste is (the caste
system is called varna, which literally
means colour). Whatever the case is,
the entire Bangladeshi society seems
to be programmed to believe that
fairness is a sign of beauty. Women
aren’t only judged by their skin tone;
they are ruled by it.
Recently, I read the unfortunate
account of a Bangladeshi lady suffering
discrimination because of her dark
skin tone. She wanted to get married
and received several proposals, but as
soon as the potential groom and his
family met her in person and saw how
dark she was, they rejected her. Now,
she’s struggling to find a suitor who
will not run for the door the minute he
lays eyes on her.
This particular woman claims that,
had she been born with a lighter skin
tone, she would have had a completely
different life. She believes she would
be distinguished by her looks and
have suitors lined up at her door. She
believes she would’ve married into
a wealthy family and lived “happily
ever after.” The saddest part about all
of this is, along with everybody else,
this woman judges herself based on
her appearance. She blames all of life’s
misfortunes on her skin colour, and she
is mentally bound by the notion that
her appearance determines her fate.
Switch on the TV, and the first thing
you’ll probably see is a commercial
for face cream, face wash, or face
scrub. Such ads have infested every TV
channel there is – cable or no cable.
Garnier, L’Oreal, Fair and Lovely, Dove,
Neutrogena – the list goes on and on,
and their targets are both women and
men. Use this face mask, and you’ll be
as beautiful and happy as Priyanka
Chopra; use that face wash and you’ll
be as handsome and successful as Shah
Rukh Khan! Not only do all the actors
Bassema Karaki
is a LebaneseAmerican married to
a Bangladeshi. She
shares how strange,
crazy, and humorous
life in Bangladesh can
appear to an outsider
looking in
Ladies, unless
you have some
hidden desire to
be a vampire,
please stick to
your natural
colour. Michael
Jackson looked
much better
with his natural
complexion, and
so do you
Tanmoy/Dhaka Tribune
starring in these advertisements have
fair skin, but so do all of Bangladesh’s
idols, who are mostly Bollywood stars.
The media promotes skin fairness so
strongly that people have become
conditioned to believe that skin is a
representative of social status, and the
lighter your skin, the better!
M
edia has a way of penetrating the
subconscious, so whether you
believe it or not, this fairness campaign
will get the best of you. Several months
after moving to Bangladesh, I found
myself unnaturally concerned with my
skin. I began buying face creams and
scrubs of different brands in order to
determine which was best. All of them
claimed to have magical effects that
would make the skin glow and shine,
and after a year my bathroom cabinet
was completely stacked with products I
had never needed or used before. It was
only when one day a friend pointed
out how ridiculous my cabinet looked
that I realised what was going on. I
had fallen prey to the media! Because
of the constant display of commercials
promoting smooth and fair skin, I
had spent a large sum of money on
products I didn’t actually need. I was
even using sunscreen for all the wrong
reasons (ie to prevent a tan rather than
cancer). I had become a victim of their
mind-control, and I was ashamed of
myself for being so gullible.
After my rude awakening, I
struggled to free myself of this
subconscious obsession. I disposed of
all unnecessary creams and went out
for a tan, which looked much better
than the pale skin I had before. For all
the readers out there, remember that
white people get tans because they
think dark skin looks better than light
skin. So, if you want to be “Western,”
start by adopting their mentality! Or
simply accept the fact that white is not
superior to black, and there is beauty
in every creation. I encourage you to
listen to Bruno Mars’ song “Just the
Way You Are” and stop obsessing over
an idea that has been planted in your
head. You don’t need fair skin to be
radiant. Just free your mind and your
soul will shine through! n
22
Dina Sobhan
is a freelance writer
and cautions readers
not to take her
“advice” here too
seriously!
TOUGH LOVE
1
I am 45 years old, have been
happily married with two kids
for the last 10 years, and have
a very well-paid and reputable job.
Recently, I started coaching my son’s
football team, which led to the school
principal offering me the position of
full-time coach. I was very passionate
about football at one time, and gave
up a shot at the big league when I got
married. Now I want to quit my job
and finally follow my passion even
thought my wife will have a fit and
everyone else will probably think I’m
having a midlife crisis. What should
I do?
DINA SOBHAN
Newsflash, old-timer: you ARE having
a mid-life crisis, which is basically that
period in your 50s or 60s when you
take stock of your life and attempt to
rectify past mistakes and relive your
youth to avoid the stench of mortality
that looms over your very existence.
Most men (man)handle it by getting a
hair transplant, a spray tan, a fast car
and/or a fast woman to make them
feel sexy and 17 again. You, on the
other hand, just want to be a humble
football coach. While it’s not the most
thrilling of mid-life crisis solutions,
it’s a rather innocuous one. Make
sure you emphasise the other options
you might have embraced when
explaining to your wife why you have
to move from Gulshan to Badda, and
maybe she’ll be more accommodating
of this one. Also, you better hope
you’re a damn good coach, because
with your new salary the only way
your son is going to college is on a
scholarship. n
2
For the past couple of months,
I’ve been getting bullied
by a kid from school. To get
back at him, I hacked his Facebook
and Twitter accounts and wrote a
fake status about how he’s gay and
ready to come out of the closet. I
even doctored some pictures of him
making out with some other douchebags from our class. What I thought
would be a funny joke has turned
nasty and everyone has now started
bullying him. I’m feeling a little guilty
and want to confess my crimes, but
that will mean facing the wrath of the
school bullies all over again. Should I
just keep quiet and let him get a taste
of his own medicine?
Wow, talk about revenge of the nerds!
Unless he was routinely giving you
wedgies in the cafeteria, I think you
might’ve taken the retaliation thing
a bit far. It’s a little late to own up to
your ploy, and you will definitely get
kicked so badly, the past bullying will
seem like a happy memory. So, your
only viable option – as I see it – is to
hack into his accounts again, as well
as the account of the other people
bullying him (or even your whole
class, while you’re at it) and post
something that will convince them all
that an evil genius intent on revenge
was responsible for the whole thing.
That will take the heat off him, and
simultaneously broadcast a message
to the bullies to be nicer to the geeks,
who might not be able to hit back
with their fists but can bring the pain
in a whole new kind of way. n
23
BACKBENCHERS’ CLUB
Across
5 Unprofessional Don in a true pickle (7)
6 1D some more, you can’t drink on it! (5)
9 Floating junk floats around moon (6)
Down
1
2
3
4
7
8
Witty person, like Cheryl Cole? (3)
Bullfighter boy on a twisted road (7)
Guilt about fictional detective (7)
Sounds like path travelled by big boat (3)
Back of a boat, a boat with no front (3)
Hon. person increases volume (3)
Solution and clues for
last week’s crossword
Across
1
5
6
8
10
11
Sweetener for apprenticed knight? (5)
Movie legend spotted in Havant (3)
I am in a nutshell after one Northern race (5)
Alien in car, nothing old-looking (5)
For example, nil self-esteem (3)
Reminder altogether about big end (5)
Down
1
2
3
4
7
8
9
Mistake for Cinders’ footwear? (7)
Wrong gun for antelope (3)
Whittington’s enemy found in crate (7)
It holds a ring, a noble honour (7)
That is around a hundred diamonds (3)
The man in front (3)
A little bit of citadel (3)
24
DAY IN THE LIFE OF
A Child Hawker
Life on the crossroads
Sumaiya Shams meets a flower girl
Sumaiya Shams is
senior staff sub-editor
at Weekend Tribune.
When she isn’t
busy with grammar
corrections, she tries
to write. You can reach
her on Twitter:
@sumaiya_s
Photos: Syed Latif Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
I
first noticed the little girl with
the big brown eyes when she
approached my car at the traffic
lights. Unlike most street children
who are rowdy and loud, she went
about selling flowers in a businesslike manner, with no banter. Intrigued
by her personality, I tried to get her
to talk, but with no luck. I thought if I
agreed to buy her flowers, I could keep
her attention long enough to learn a
little about her, but she quickly moved
on without revealing much. I found
myself trying to catch a glimpse of her
as we drove away.
My curiosity made me return on a
weekend to try and find the intriguing
flower girl. She sat on the sidewalk,
with the other street children and
assorted hawkers. To my delight, she
noticed me as I approached. She ran
towards me with flowers in hand, but
when I tried to make conversation, she
lost interest. Absurdly I asked: “How
is business?” “Not good,” she stated
with a nod at the road. “Not many
cars today.” Most of the children were
talkative, but Nargis was the silent
type. She was reserved and dreamy
when not focused on work.
Nargis likes to talk about her work.
Hartals are not good for business. “We
can only sell flowers when people
are commuting. During hartals,
there is no one to sell to,” Nargis said
with a nod. “Weekends and public
holidays are also slow but it picks up
in the evenings.” One of the girls (an
older sibling) declared: “Except on
Bhalobasha Dibosh (Valentine’s Day);
people buy lots of flowers then!”
Nargis is one of five brothers and
sisters. They live in one of the slums
in Dhaka with their mother, who sat
nearby sorting flowers. Their father
lives in Gaibandha and they only see
him once a month. When asked how
long she had been selling flowers,
Nargis shrugged. “A long time,” she
said. The family is up and ready by 6am,
so they can be at Shahbagh flower
market to make their purchases. They
are ready for business by 8am to catch
the first of the day’s many traffic jams.
The street children work all day, with
barely any lunch breaks or time for
rest. It isn’t unusual for them to stay
till past midnight to try and sell all
their stock.
“No time to spare, not even for
school?” I asked, surprised. Nargis
revealed her sadness at having to drop
out of school. Touched, I wondered
aloud if there was a school she could
attend if she wanted to go; the look in
her eyes answered my question.
E
very time cars stopped at the traffic
lights, the children made their way
with flowers, but mostly they returned
without much luck, even though
they sold the flowers for as little as
Tk10. Life on the busy intersection is
dangerous and harsh; when I asked
Nargis about how people treated her,
she shrugged. “There are good and
bad people, but most are good.” On a
good day, the family can earn Tk1,000.
“We get to eat a good meal then,” Al
Amin, Nargis’s brother, quipped. I had
to ask Nargis if she saw her future only
as a flower seller, to which she replied
without hesitation in a clear and firm
voice, “No, I don’t always want to do
this. I want to go to school.”
As the day turned to dusk, I could see
their mother giving me uncomfortable
looks as I said my goodbyes. I assured
Nargis I would try and find out where
she could enrol for classes. Before she
headed towards the cars with her
flowers, she had a question for me.
“Apa, are there really schools where I
can go to study again?” n
THE WAY DHAKA WAS
Hotel Purbani
International 1978
Bangladesh Old Photo Archive
For me, Hotel Purbani is
synonymous with their
quality pastry that they
used to have. Back in
the 70s, my father used
to take me to the bakery
for a treat if I did well
at school. Sometimes
I would even cut a
haircut at the hotel
barbershop. It was a
grand treat! Nowadays,
we are spoilt for choice
as far as entertainment
is concerned, and
Purbani has become a
lost gem to us
25
Hotel Purbani International
Fuad Aktar, 42, physician
Nashirul Islam/Dhaka Tribune
Today
26
CULTURE VULTURE
Shumon Ahmed
A page from
Shumon Ahmed’s
Novella
Yusuf Banna is a staff
writer at Weekend
Tribune. He would be
happier if he could
be a poet, 24x7. He
also dreams of being
a painter and is
envious of those who
can paint
An envelope full
of remorse
Shumon Ahmed
Yusuf Banna talks to the visual artist about his past and inspirations
Of all his
photographs,
the most
hauntingly
beautiful is the
photo of a very
young Shumon
and his mother,
carefully
montaged
on a mystic
foggy scene of
winter trees,
symbolising
the fragility of
memories that
he’s tried, heart
and soul, to keep
alive
S
humon Ahmed likes to identify
himself as a visual artist, rather
than a photographer. In his
own words, he takes his photographs
in such a way that “redefines the
actuality of the subject by placing it
in a centre, and then exploring and
experimenting with its periphery.”
And that periphery is surrounded
by nostalgia, repentance, angst
and isolation. Almost all of his
photographs show these subliminal
human elements.
“I don’t know why my photographs
are like that. It probably has something
to do with my traumatic childhood,”
Shumon, a man with dark look and
permanent stubbles, confessed.
It was indeed difficult for him to
reveal that bit of his past. “My mother
was diagnosed with mild intellectual
disability due to iodine deficiency. I did
not understand it when I was a child,
and grew up seeing both sides of my
family ridiculing her,” he said.
“I was traumatised by the
humiliation my mother had to
face. My aunts used to tell me: ‘Your
mother is mad.’ I was ashamed of her.
Somehow, I felt guilty,” he said.
For a greater part of his childhood,
Shumon hated his mother, Khaleda
Begum. “I simply didn’t want to be a
mad woman’s son. But, as I grew up,
I started to see the sadness behind
my mother’s eyes and realised how
helpless, beautiful and caring she
was,” he said.
When Shumon realised how unfair
his thoughts and behaviour towards
his mother were – which were the
reflection of how people around him
behaved – he became angry, then
guilty, and then sad.
This anger, guilt and sadness
pushed him towards uncovering the
deeper feelings he has always hidden
away. “Taking snapshots then became
my refuge, my way of expressing how
I felt,” he said.
Interestingly, when digital SLR
camera is all the rage nowadays,
Shumon uses old-school devices –
from different models of Polaroid
camera to cheap, medium-format
plastic camera, or even large-format
camera – when taking his photos. “I
love to see the instant print-out of
my photos,” he said. “I love it when an
photo appears instantly on a Polaroid
print, or an unexpected light leak on
my film that I shoot with a plastic
Holga. Going against the dogma of
the so-called perfect frame, perfect
moment or perfect exposure, I choose
to showcase imperfections through
my photographs.”
His subjects are trivial – ordinary
household things like a light bulb,
or a plant in the tub. He also takes a
lot of self-portraits; they are out of
focus sometimes, as if to indicate the
meditative state of his memories,
figuratively.
“I
like the idea of investigating
‘self’ by characterising them in a
different way through photography.
Sometimes, I take the shots and make
those images emerge from the waves
of ocean or a foggy forest in winter, or
I simply use a dull background to give
them a haunting look,” he said.
He has also created several collages
with original letters from his mother,
as well as different envelopes. “These
collages are my favourite. I expressed
my remorse through those,” Shumon
said. His book, a novella, was launched
on May 11 at Bengal Art Lounge in
Dhaka and on May 17 at Sylhet Station
Club. Its cover and content page are
designed as an envelope to depict an
allegory for the longing to reconnect
with near and dear ones. In the book,
there are lines from his mother’s
letters to him, photo collages and a
series of snapshots depicting both
memories and remorse.
“I know that my photographs
aren’t for everyone. They were recently
exhibited at Whitechapel Gallery in
the UK, and a visitor there told me that
my photos are very sensitively dark
and dour. I am aware that,” he said.
Shumon thinks that people who
can stand the darker side of human
emotions can relate to his photos.
“Photography is not about just taking
the perfect shots. Artists have colour
to lay out their emotions on canvas.
What we photographers have is just
the visual sense. A traumatic past
would surely reflect on that,” he said.
His novella, titled “What I Have
Forgotten Could Fill an Ocean, What
Is Not Real Never Lived,” is available at
Bengal Art Lounge at Tk800 only. n
OBITUARY
27
Asghar Ali Engineer
He thought ahead of his time
Ibtisam Ahmed is a
student of history
and politics. He lives
in a fantasy and
writes about reality
Ibtisam Ahmed remembers the noted theologist
Asghar’s life
at a glance
1952
After graduating
with a degree in civil
engineering, begins
work for the Bombay
Municipal Corporation
1972
Voluntarily retires from
his post after violence
in Udaipar makes him
focus his attention on
religious reform
1980
Sets up the Institute of
Islamic Studies
I
t is becoming increasingly rare to
see theologians actively seeking
positive reform in mainstream
religion. It was, therefore, a huge
blow to the Muslim community when
Asghar Ali Engineer passed away on
May 14. He was known internationally
for his liberation theology and leading
the progressive Dawoodi Bohra
movement within the Shi’a Muslim
community. He was a strong advocate
for religious tolerance and worked
hard to prevent communal violence
in India and in South Asia at large. An
advocate of a culture of peace, nonviolence and harmony, Asghar has left
behind a truly indelible legacy.
Asghar Ali was born on March 10,
1939 to Shaikh Qurban Hussain, a Bohra
priest, in Rajasthan. He was trained in
Qur’anic tafsir (commentary), tawil
(hidden meanings of the Qur’an), fiqh
( jurisprudence) and hadith. He learned
AshLin/Wikimedia Commons
to fluently read, write and speak in
Arabic from an early age, despite
growing up in a region where the
dominant language was Hindi. After
graduating from Vikram University in
Madhya Pradesh with a degree in civil
engineering, he served for 20 years in
the Bombay Municipal Corporation. In
1972, he took voluntary retirement to
dedicate his life to the reformist Bohra
movement after a revolt took place in
Udaipur, Rajasthan. He made a strong
impact in a very short time. In the first
ever conference of the Central Board of
Dawoodi Bohra Community five years
later, he was unanimously elected as
their general secretary.
1980 saw him set up the Institute
of Islamic Studies in then Bombay to
bring together progressive Muslims
from around the world, but especially
in India. Through the next few decades,
he wrote extensively on Hindu-Muslim
relations as well as communal violence
in India. In 1993, a year after the
Bombay Riots, he founded the Centre
for the Study of Society and Secularism
to promote religious harmony. He
authored more than 50 books in
his lifetime and held various posts,
including the director of the Institute
of Islamic Studies, chairman of the
Asian Muslim Action Network and
working closely with reformers from
other religions, like Dr Ram Puniyani.
A
sghar was particularly vocal about
women’s rights, stating that the
interpretation of Islam that forced
women into subservience was grossly
incorrect and that women deserve
equal rights and respect according
to the Qur’an. He pointed out that
religions needed to ensure that they
did not become obsolete at the same
time as maintaining their strongest
principles and creeds, something
he felt that mainstream Islam was
failing at in the 1980s. He was not
without detractors, however. His
comments about the Dawoodi Bohra
religious establishment becoming
stagnated led to him being expelled
from the community. Nonetheless,
he kept working to improve relations
within and between various religious
communities.
Asghar Ali Engineer is not an
individual many people might
have heard of. But with religious
tensions once again boiling over
in the subcontinent – especially
in Bangladesh – it is time that his
lessons combining common sense
and spirituality were remembered and
practised. n
1993
Founds the Centre for
the Study of Society and
Secularism
2004
Expelled from the
Dawoodi Bohra
religious community for
criticising it
28
Phil Humphreys
is a British
former journalist
currently working
as a development
consultant
in northern
Bangladesh. As
a committed
Yorkshireman,
he likes what he
says, and says
what he likes
LAST WORD Phil Humphreys
The tourists are not coming
The inherent shortcomings in the tourism sector of Bangladesh
T
here is no point planning for
when the tourists come. Nor
should Bangladesh be asking at
what point they will come. It is not
even, I am afraid to say, a question of
“if.” The tourists are not coming, and
this is why.
Right now, I am working as a
development worker in Rangpur.
There is an inherent assumption here
that all such work must be good, that
development must necessarily take
something undeveloped and make it
better. Even if that were proven true, the
word evokes very different emotions
when applied to construction. Then, it
becomes possible to “over-develop,” or
develop in the wrong way. You might
build it, and still they will not come.
Worse than that, you could ruin what
was already there in the first place.
Music legend has it that when John
Lennon was asked whether Ringo Starr
was the best drummer in the world,
he retorted that Ringo “was not even
the best drummer in the Beatles.” In a
similar vein, I have heard friends and
colleagues laud Cox’s Bazar as though
it were the one beauty spot on the
whole face of South Asia, when in the
warm light of a summer’s day, it is not
even the best beach in Bangladesh.
It may be the longest continuous
natural one on earth (is there a longer
unnatural one?), but I do not need
125km of sand on which to build a
sandcastle.
National pride is also a national blindfold:
amidst patriotism, Bangladeshis lose
sight of how far the country is falling
behind as far as tourism is concerned
Many years ago, I spent a long
weekend on Fraser Island, just off
the coast of Queensland in northeast
Australia. It is the world’s largest sand
bar and can boast a 120km beach,
running more or less uninterrupted
up one side. They let you hire 4x4s and
drive all over it. They even call the flat
sands a “highway.” But there are no
hotels, and there is mercifully little
concrete. It may not be heaven on
earth to all, but what it does, it does
well.
In my eyes, the national pride
of Bangladesh is both the country’s
greatest marketable asset and its
biggest obstacle to the development of
a tourist economy. The Bangali people
are wonderful, but their assumption
appears to be that Bangladesh is the
greatest country in the world, without
having any firm basis for comparison.
Those bases are found in Australia,
Russia, western and northern Europe –
the places where the tourists will come
from – and in the bounteous countries
in south and southeast Asia, where
they already go. In any market, you
cannot hope to sell your produce if you
do not understand your competition,
or know your customers’ every want
and whim.
In discussing the rationale for this
article, Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”
came up. The philosophical construct
holds that a prisoner brought up
watching only shadows dancing on
the walls of his cave will deem these
superior to what causes them, were
he ever to be freed. More than that,
in time he would even begin to resent
the one who freed him. In other
words, it can often seem preferable to
preserve the illusion, rather than face
the reality by shattering it. In the film
“Shawshank Redemption,” a name is
given to this: Institutionalism. You are
what you know.
Samuel Johnson saw travelling as
a means to “regulate imagination by
reality, and instead of thinking how
things may be, to see them as they
are.” Accordingly, tourism broadens the
mind and opens it to new possibilities.
Of course, it is not the fault of the
Bangladeshis if they do not possess
the means to move beyond their own
borders. It is not even their fault if their
mind remains closed to the possibility,
however remote, of one day doing so.
But it is negligent of the Ministry of
Civil Aviation and Tourism to have not
accepted things here for how they are.
Instead of imagining what tourists
want, have they actually been abroad
to see what they already get?
T
he development of Cox’s Bazar
continues at a pace, of course,
presumably to cater for the bus loads
of weekend trippers who will flock
there from Chittagong, Dhaka and
elsewhere. But someone, somewhere,
has surely asked the developers why
anyone would travel from outside
Bangladesh to visit this vast expanse
of hotels and nothing? It is not just
that they face a 10-hour bus journey
to get there from Dhaka, their likely
port of entry, or still half that from
Chittagong, or even that given a
choice, they would rather not go near
either of those two places. It is because
on holiday, people want a break.
For me, I want as little stress as
possible, and I want convenience. I
want everything I can and cannot get
at home in less than five minutes. I
want to sunbathe and I want to strip
down to my trunks and swim. I want a
cocktail or two for less than the price
of the bus ticket back, and I may want
to let my hair down in ways I might
not ordinarily consider at home. None
of these, I readily accept, will ever be
permissible here.
The world is getting smaller and
international tourists are a finicky bunch.
The slightest drop in local competitiveness
can mean a substantial loss for domestic
tourism as a whole
So, if my body needs a beach
holiday, I know I could peg myself out
on the golden sands of Goa, Kerala, Sri
Lanka or Thailand. If I seek adventure,
I might try trekking in Nepal. And if
a guided tour of ancient wonders
tops my bucket list, I will find them
nestled deep inside the dense forests
of Cambodia, Vietnam or Laos, or
Thailand again.
Of course, there is far more to
Bangladesh than Cox’s Bazar, just as
China can offer many wonders beyond
the Wall. Here, the Sundarbans is the
undoubted jewel in the crown, but if
it cannot promise tigers, then tourists
must at least be delivered there with
ease. When I visited, it took an arduous
bus journey from Dhaka punctuated
only by a one-hour crossing of a river
that looked like a sea, on a boat which
felt ready to sink.
These harsh words should not be
misconstrued. I love Bangladesh. I love
living and working here, and I love
everyone around me. But what makes
me stay to work for two years is not
the same as what made me leave my
work in the UK for two weeks of every
year. The world is shrinking. The world
has choices. The world is filling up with
tourists, only they are not coming to
Bangladesh. It is time to let the reality
regulate your imagination, and start
seeing things for how they are. n

more hatirjheels in the offing? a child hawker the german invasion

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