Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of Dhaka. Let me introduce you to two non-fictional cases of humanity that have something in common with each other. There’s a young boy – perhaps 16, perhaps older – who has been placed on the pedestrian …Read More
Namaste from the Andaman Islands, Naomi Klein – that courageous journalist from Canada – wrote about disaster capitalism in her book “The Shock Doctrine” in 2007. She outlined the growing number of cases in which right-wing ideologues had taken advantage of a people/community/nation at a time when they had just endured a traumatic natural disaster. …Read More
Namaste from Havelock Island, When the flames of freedom light up the hearts and souls of the people, how long can they be stopped? How long indeed. The abandoned prison in Port Blair on the Andaman Islands is testament to the way suppression can only be temporary. The Andaman Islands are idyllic tropical paradise in …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, There’s nothing like sport to boost a nation’s self-confidence. The cricket World Cup has provided Bangladesh with a chance to prove themselves worthy. It’s the talk of the town (at least amongst the blokes). Bangladesh’s fast bowler Rubel Hossain spent a night or two in gaol recently for reneging …Read More
Namaste from the Sundarbans (on the Indian side of the border), We have made our third foray into India, for a third dose of sensory overload. By happy coincidence, we’re in India on the day when India plays Australia in the semi-final of the cricket World Cup. In India, the passion for cricket intersects …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, “There’ll be higher education for the toilin’ starvin’ clown, An’ the rich and educated shall be educated down.”So said Henry Lawson in his poem “For’ard”. The message resonates here. I know that bringing a western education to Bangladesh has its doubters. After all, it’s a bit like imposing imperialist dogma on …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, Bangladesh the nation was born in bloodshed, in a nine-month war of liberation from Pakistan in 1971. Local folklore has it that the principal progenitor of the war was Pakistan’s determination that the national language would be Urdu. For East Pakistan (well over 1000 kms from the seat of power in …Read More
He hottun Saint Martin’s Island, It was the American band The Eagles who penned the aphorism, “Call some place Paradise: kiss it goodbye”. They were absolutely right about that. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has ever been in a beautiful place and been mystified by the propensity of some predecessor to leave …Read More
Na dam ma? from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, The people of the sub-continent are a bit difficult to categorise, anthropologically. They seem to be an amalgam of the Aryans, the Mauryans, the Guptas, the Muslims and the Moghuls. They appear to have some negroid, some caucasoid and some mongoloid. One Bangladeshi girl in my Grade …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Chittagong, Getting around on the sub-continent is always interesting. Traffic in Dhaka is a study all on its own. Being in the middle of it can be infuriating and exciting in equal proportions. And perhaps the most exciting mode of transport is the CNG. CNGs The CNGs are gas-propelled three-wheelers which …Read More