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
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, It’s never a surprise to find corruption where there is poverty. The link is universal and easily explained. The problem, of course, for a developing nation is that entrenched corruption is hard to eradicate, even many years after passing through the pre-industrial phase. Bangladesh has its share of corruption. In fact, …Read More
Shuvo shokal from darkening Dhaka, When Napoleon Bonaparte likened China to a sleeping giant, he was warning the rest of the world about the impact of the Chinese behemoth waking up and stretching. We are all living through the moment in history when Napoleon’s prediction is taking shape. Neighbouring India also has a massive …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, We have taken delivery of our new rickshaw and the paint job is superb. There’s Linda standing alongside the rear of the new rickshaw. Kalam Kalam is the rickshaw walla who proudly pedals a little slice of Australia around the streets of Banani, Baridhara and Basundhara (three contiguous suburbs of Dhaka). For …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, This may seem a strange vantage from which to argue for public education. Better to study the behaviour of the fox from within the fox’s den, I would contend. There is in fact no better position from which to see the pertinent issues crystallise right in front of one’s eyes. It …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, Perhaps one of the biggest surprises about living in this part of the world has been to discover how vibrant the environmental movement is. I have to be honest: I would not have thought poverty-stricken people who are battling to fill hungry mouths would have any time or inclination to worry …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, Travellers to South-East Asia will know that Asian people typically love their colourful bling. Bangadeshis are unashamed bling lovers, too. The taxi driver in Bangkok has flowers hanging from the rear-vision mirror. The bus driver in Sri Lanka has coloured lights and brightly adorned religious figurines on the dashboard. The truck …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, Running a Melbourne Cup sweep in a foreign culture is hilarious. Apparently, this hasn’t been done routinely at our school, so I took on the gig. I tried to include all of the staff, as I have always done with such things, but this is not as simple as publicising the …Read More
Shuvo shokal from Dhaka, “You can live like a king,” was a common refrain in the international school community. It was never our motivation for coming here. From the outset, we’ve been interested in the differences in wealth and happy to act as minor agents for redistribution. We knew we would struggle to some extent …Read More