Seven trashes collected by the senses.
January 27, 2012
January 26, 2012
The classick adventures of DS and Dr Gonjo 3
This is part three of a series by Dhaka Shohor, who visited Desh recently. Please direct comments appropriately. — JR
These posts will contain inappropriate language, rampant racism/sexism/age-ism, random references to things good Bangladeshi boys and girls are not supposed to know about until one day they get married and magically become experts. — DS
It is December 2011 and there is an hour till midnight. Dr Gonjo and I have finished our cigarettes. The crowd is much larger than we were expecting.
DS: Accha, ekta Monty Python style youtube video kortey hoibo Cox’s Bazarer jonyo. Dui jon loke, punjabi, shaal pora. Aastey aastey hetey jacchey beacher paasher raasta ta diye. Dekhtesey amader moto manush concert e jaachey, raat 11tar shomoy Cox’s Bazar er raastaay Moghbajarer traffic jam. Ekjon arek joner dikey takabey. Kichu khon chup thaakbey. Music baajbey – shanai! Tarpor ekjon arekjon ke bolbey, khub khaati Banglay, “Jaygata ar nirob thaaklo na.”
DG (laughs): Eito, eitarey boley filler DS. Kisu bolar nai, kowar nai, tai pechaal mara. Non-stop. Tui kintu chup thaaktey parosh na. Tobey idea ta kharap na.
DS: Arey dhur miya. My bullshitting skill is my livelihood.
But it’s true. Cox’s Bazar wasn’t like this when I visited 5 years back. A lot more people seem to be having a lot more fun this time.
January 25, 2012
The classick adventures of DS and Dr Gonjo 2
This is part two of a series by Dhaka Shohor, who visited Desh recently. Part one is here. Please direct comments appropriately. — JR
These posts will contain inappropriate language, rampant racism/sexism/age-ism, random references to things good Bangladeshi boys and girls are not supposed to know about until one day they get married and magically become experts. — DS
It is 2005 and I am at university. New continent, new country, new friends, new music. On those faraway shores for the first time I hear Gari chole na, Bioscope and Chader Shohorey. It’s also the first time I have good friends from Bangla-medium schools. Because over there, away from Dhaka’s status games, we are all Bangladeshi first.
Chikna is one of those friends.
So is Guitarman.
Standing there on the beach at Cox’s Bazar on 31 December 2011, I remembered both fondly. But I also remembered how awkward it was with Chikna during the first couple of years. He would tend to make snide remarks about English-medium students or “Dhaka’s elite” every chance he got. Guitarman was too much of a gentleman to ever join in.
January 24, 2012
Destination Bangladesh
Some time ago, I posted about what to do in Bangladesh. Of course, that was addressed to diaspora kids (at heart, if not literally). Dhaka Shohor’s adventures made me think about the subject again, with foreigners rather than Deshis in mind. What would I suggest to any foreign friend?
I’ve played host to Desi friends in the past. I had taken them to the historically relevant places in and around Dhaka — Lalbagh Fort and Ahsan Manzil, Shaheed Minar and the National Memmorial, Dhaka University and Ramna, Liberation War Museum and Dhanmondi 32. I had taken them to the eateries — Nirob Hotel and New Market, Star and Razzaque. I had even bought them Economist from the footpath.
Had they stayed longer, I’d probably recommend them Sylhet, Chittagong Hills, and the Sunderbans.
And I would try to organise a crossing of the Padma or Jamuna during a full moon.
But what about if I was advising a Firangi friend? Why would any westerner want to go to Bangladesh?
January 23, 2012
The classick adventures of DS and Dr Gonjo
This is part one of a series by Dhaka Shohor, who visited Desh recently. Please direct comments appropriately. — JR
These posts will contain inappropriate language, rampant racism/sexism/age-ism, random references to things good Bangladeshi boys and girls are not supposed to know about until one day they get married and magically become experts. — DS
In other words, this is not family friendly, not politically correct, and is bound to offend someone. It might not even be accurate or honest in any way, which is its own crime.
Oh, and it’s long. Really long. Longer than an MP’s praises for the “greatest man in our history” and his daughter/wife. It has been split into several parts.
Names have been altered to protect the identities of the participants because the events depicted herein do not do credit to any parties involved. Read on at your own risk.
Hushiar.
January 20, 2012
January 19, 2012
The politics of synthesis 2: society and economy
Had he not been killed in 1981, Ziaur Rahman would have been 76 today. Despite the twists and turns of politics, over three decades from his death, when things actually work in Bangladesh, they work along the path set by this military strongman turned a very popular politician. And they work because the politics of synthesis crafted by Zia had continued from the work of his predecessors, and his successors saw the merit in keeping them.
And yet, the discourse about Zia is dominated by lies of various degree. Even his own political creation, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, doesn’t try to engage in a serious discussion about his synthesis. In a modest attempt at rectifying this, I started a five-part series last May. The first part covered politics and governance. Over the fold is a discussion on various socioeconomic issues. Future installments will cover sociocultural issues and the foreign policy, while the final post will point out how along one crucial dimension, the Zia synthesis has completely been abandoned. Not in all aspects does this blog agree with the synthesis — the disapprovals are also pointed out.
January 17, 2012
How does the Indian slowdown affect Bangladesh?
Indian economy may be in a bit of rough spot. After a spate of bad news, the rupee slumped against the dollar in November. Then the government officially acknowledged an economic slowdown, while making a case that the fundamentals remain intact.
What does this slowdown mean for Bangladesh?
Not much, directly, as far as the production side of the economy is concerned. After all, as Bangladeshis never tire of pointing out, Indians don’t buy Bangladesh stuff. With about 2% of its export going to India, any slowdown there isn’t likely to matter much for Bangladeshi producers.
But there might be good news for the households. Food prices in India are on the wane. That’s likely to affect prices in Bangladesh. Further, as the rupee falls against taka, inflationary pressures should ease. In fact, rupee had already fallen by over 10 paisa against taka between July and November. This was accompanied by food price inflation in Bangladesh easing to 10.4% in the year to December, compared with 13.4% in the year to July. Rice price isn’t likely to fall to 10 taka a kg, but if the rupee falls further, there will be some respite on the prices front (assuming, of course, all else equal — which might not be the case thanks to Messrs Muhith and Ataur Rahman).
There is, however, another channel through which Bangladesh might be affected. What if the slowdown proves sharper and more prolonged than currently believed? What if India has a hard landing? There is no statistics, official or otherwise, about the undocumented Bangladeshis working in India. But there is no question that if the Indian economy seriously falters, it will have an impact on these folks. Perhaps the result will be a return of the monga?
January 13, 2012
January 12, 2012
Back to the future
I could also have named this post ‘An anniversary not noted’, but decided not to because I haven’t checked every newspaper headline or every talk show to air in the past day. I can, however, reasonably confidently say that the two largest newspapers, the largest news site and a few major talk shows had nothing on the fifth anniversary of 1/11. Nor was there any message on facebook or major blogs. Everyone has been talking about Ghulam Azam (hell, even UV has a post on that!). Maybe it is a big deal — though I don’t see exactly why it is. And maybe I am one of those guys obsessed with the last crisis and therefore miss the next big thing. But I do find it strange that no one has anything to say about 1/11 even though we seem to be on course to repeat the crisis that preceded it.
Ah well, instead of asking ‘why no one is talking about 1/11′, over the fold I am going to note my thoughts (as they stand currently — incomplete, tentative, open to revisison) on what led to 1/11, and what might still happen.
