Oddball Life

Well the TS has been snapping so to speak.  I did think about taking picturesque reportage style photographs and then I asked myself why?!  Why not show the readers of oddball life in Dhaka.  Below is a wee snapshot.

Construction  - A Big Hole

Construction  - Foundation Preparation

Construction  - Foundation Preparation

The Barbers - Cut and Shave Anyone?
Less than £5 for the package.

Somone Using Their Initiative and Directing Traffic

A Typical Traffic Jam

Building A Marquee

A Rickshaw Pitstop

 

Someone Protecting Their Self From the Rain

A View from Banani Bridge

 The Nordic Club Cinnamon Roll

Its All Gone Green

Well readers, you won't believe it but it actually rained yesterday!  Now it was a bit of a shock on two accounts - firstly that it rained at all which was completely unexpected and secondly coming from a wee city in Scotland - Glasgow, nicknamed Raintown, immortalised in a classic Deacon Blue song - I realised I miss the rain!

Now OK, I will hold my hands up and say the rain was warm - not the usual typical cold dreich (pronounced dreeech) drizzle that you would get back home, therefore making the experience that more pleasing.  What was amazing was (a) this was the first time that it had rained since I had arrived in country  i.e. early November 2012 and secondly (b) the rain washed the dust that had accumulated on the trees, bushes etc and suddenly and the place looked green.  Now at this stage I do not mean we have been invaded a marauding groups of Celtic fans - I mean the place looked fresh and somewhere you would like living.

The thing supposedly about the rain out here, is that when it rains, it comes with full force for a short period of time each day flooding the streets.  When walking about the place you wonder why the pavements in some paces are at least 2 feet high - well because of the rain!  It has been known that the rain has flooded the lakes in Dhaka affecting not just the roads, but embassies, missions and generally business from taking place.  Wellington boots become the norm here in the summer.  Deja Vu there readers - rain in the summer!

One scary piece of advice that I was issued with by a local last week, was when it rains don't walk about.  Now being an intrepid TS I was quite dismissive until I heard the reason why.  Due to the number of holes in Dhaka, and they are deep.  Deep enough either to lose a person or in some cases big and deep enough to lose a car.  Walking was in-advisable due to the holes filling up and potentially falling into one encountering who knows what that could be in the water or just in fact floating there.  Must remember a big stick when it rains.

Anyhow, the rain that fell today was light and long enough to wash the place in a sort of way.  The only problem all the muck the rain washed off the trees went onto our car and left it with a mottled mosaic pattern - not chuffed.  Of course Madam never noticed!  So apart from sprinkling the place with colour, the sound and smell of the rain made me realise I missed it.  I probably won't be saying that in a few weeks time - ha!

The 13th February!

The 13th February is an auspicious date in anyone's calendar - especially men!  It is the day before Valentine's day.  The realisation that irrespective of what their beloved says like -  'don't get caught up in the commercialism darling' or 'we will do something later' or even 'look darling, you don't need to get me anything', is in fact a warning shot.  It is 'gentle' reminder to (a) don't forget (b) don't believe anything they have just told you! and (c) don't forget!!!!

Now your TS has prepared for this occasion - oh yes!  I mean I need an easy life, and if that means planning ahead - well so be it.  Mind you there is no point buying any flowers - we have no vases!  But what I do find odd slightly, is the amount of stuff advertising Valentines Day .  I just didn't realise that they went in for that kind of thing here in Dhaka.  Maybe it is just a ruse to get all expats to spend more cash.

In Bangladeshi terms, the 13th February is also an auspicious day  - the start of spring!  Now I know the 'proper' start of spring in the northern hemisphere is the vernal equinox (20 March 2013), but here in Bangladesh they have six seasons: Grisha (summer), Barsha (rainy), Sarat (early autumn), Hemonto(autumn), Shhet (winter), Boshonto (spring) and each season appears with it's own beauty, color, sign and sound.

Boshonto utshab is a traditional festival to welcome the spring with allegedly each year thousands of people coming to Dhaka to enjoy a big, colorful celebration with folk dances,  music, rallies etc.  That is of course there are no hartals or they are stuck in traffic for the next day or so.

So when Madam came home last night in a fashion panic attack I was confused to say the least.  Her driver had informed her that the 13th was the start of spring and women should wear something yellow or green.  Now this is where Madam was fretting - not because she didn't have anything to wear.  Trust me she does - I emptied all the boxes that came out of storage and filled a number of wardrobes.  

No, traditionally Bangladeshi people celebrate this occasion wearing yellow color dresses, called "bashoti rang",caring flower on their hands, wearing Marygold flower ornaments, as well as singing spring songs - all very happy if you ask me. Some people even paint their faces to make the celebration more interesting.   So in relation to Madam, she was more worried about how awful she looks in yellow and could she get away with never mind the face painting.  The things I endure as a TS!

So readers when the 13th February comes about, it isn't purely a late reminder to do what you should have done for the following day.  It is also the start of spring in Bangladesh!

The Shahbag Conflict Question

An interesting phenomena is taking place in Dhaka and even in surrounding Bangladesh.  An apolitical demonstration.  

The activists are calling for the death penalty of Abdul Quader Mollah who was convicted of various atrocities and sentenced to life at the international war crimes tribunal.  The public were outraged as the first person to be convicted (Abul Kalam Azad) was sentenced to death.  At this moment he has left the country or in hiding.

The tribunal was set up in 1973 to prosecute those who caused atrocities in the Liberation War of 1971.

Irrespective of politicians, political parties, the youth of Bangladesh have used social media to harness support, set up camp in Shahbag, an intersection at the heart of Dhaka, near the university campus, and stage a small sit-in.  Their only demand - capital punishment for Abdul Quader Mollah.   

Last Friday when organisers called a rally, the sit in (already a week old by this point) attracted somewhere between 100,000 - 500,000 people in a family friendly violent free demonstration who exercised their democratic right of free speech.  Even the Bangladeshi cricket team turned up to support them.  This is where the conflict is.

A country which has prided itself on setting up a democracy and believes that the verdict 'sends out a strong message that Bangladesh has now evolved as a society' - please read statement from Bangladeshi Foreign Minister to foreign diplomats - can they reconcile the evolution of the country with the fact that the public want capital punishment?

What is more interesting that the movement has not aligned itself with any political party (a headache for the party's as they don't know how to respond and cannot relate to the group), the organisers are predominately women and ultimately the use of social media and satellite news is organising and garnering support.  Some have even started to compare it with the demonstration in Egypt at Tahrir Square.

Some say, the movement do have an opportunity by representing the youth of Bangladesh as all current politicians are in the late fifties and older.  The question is do they want to or just demand one thing - capital punishment which has been abolished by most societies that have evolved.  They want the wider world to support them, but they can't because of their demand.

The Shahbag Conflict Question is a unique and confusing question which apart from the Bangladeshi political elite taking notice, it has also raised other questions about what is democracy and its societal evolution.  Watch this space readers.  This will run and run ...

Hartal Today - Must be Tuesday!

Well readers there is a nationwide hartal today – therefore it must be a Tuesday.  They always seem to happen on a Tuesday - hey ho.  Now just to recap for you, a Tuesday is a Wednesday and hence it is the middle of the week out here.  A Saturday is the equivalent of our Sunday, making our Sunday a Monday – follow?.  So a Tuesday is half way through the week, your Wednesday our Thursday – easy.  So when you are all at work on a Friday we are enjoying the equivalent of a Saturday.  It is pretty straightforward me thinks.  Now, another ‘great’ day for a hartal is a Thursday which is our Friday.

A hartal on a Friday or Thursday, depending on which parlance you want to communicate in, is a bit naughty as more often or not it is a half day hartal which conveniently ends just after lunch and thus no point going into work – long weekend – hurrah!  From my limited time here ensconced as your roving Dhaka TS, the hartal wheeze is a nice way to have a day off in the middle of the week at the golf course – ask the garment sector expats who will be teeing off around lunchtime at Kurmitola.  Yep, it is that predictable.  Shame their golf isn’t.

So what is a hartal and why was this one called you ask?  Its that kind of burning question which itches away at you until your Dhaka TS reveals all.  Well a hartal is a strike basically and can either be local, regional or national.  It's normally called by a political party to emphasise some issue or make a stance on something which they don’t like of course.  More often or not it is only one party calling it with the others jumping on the back of it so they can mump their gums as well.  The reason this is quite clever, associated around hartals are demonstrations which lead to violence and general chaos and anarchy.  The parties that didn’t call the hartal, but are using it for their own purpose, have the smug satisfaction they are not responsible for the unrest and can denounce it accordingly.  So this particular one was called by the Jamaat-e-Islami party in response to the verdict expected on Tuesday from the war crimes tribunal on one of their members - their leader no less - of atrocities he allegedly carried out during the war of independence in 1971.  Really!

Let me tell you readers there is chaos, pre, during and post hartals.  If you pick up the newspaper today, there will be headlines which give the impression the country has fallen into anarchy, the government has fallen, students have taken control and the place is generally crumbling around us.  Well actually in fact it is crumbling, due to the shoddy construction, but that’s a different issue.  On the contrary, the country is growing around 6% per annum and is doing quite nicely in some areas, but you know what they say about first impressions an a’ that. 

At the weekend, Madam and I where at a small soiree with various economists there.  Madam was in heaven, being an economist herself – mind you don’t ask her to do any arithmetic when shopping, as you will have an analysis of the figures applied to various theoretical models, only to be given the wrong answer anyway.  Anyhow, when approached on the issue of hartals as part of the country’s business plan so to speak, they commented that a percentage or so had already been factored in for the coming year and thus the projection figures were more realistic for growth, debt etc – smart cookies.  But it does show that the business of politics is actually harming business doing business and ultimately the country’s business, which in the end affects people doing the business.

So what about the TS?  Now I know you are all worried about the TS and his safety with all these hartals.  Well don’t fear readers as currently I am sitting in a coffee shop, enjoying the delights of a civilised coffee (café culture in Dhaka, no less) and pondering whether the chocolate brownie or pumpkin muffin is required.  Ahh….it must be Tuesday!

All Gone Deja Vu

This has been a weekend of firsts and 'what not again'.  It all started in fine style by attending a Burns Supper on Friday night.  Now before you think I am off my trolley and flying back to the UK to celebrate the life and works of Scotland's National Bard ('poet' for youz sassenachs) Robert Burns, though stranger things have happened, here in Dhaka the Caledonian Society was holding their own Burns Supper with haggis and everything!  My first and the start of deja vu.

As you will recall, November 2012 saw me attend my first St Andrews Day Caledonian Ball in Dhaka, which had all the trimmings, piper, ceilidh band (a Scottish country dance) and food to match.  There I was dressed in my kilt wheeking around the dance floor doing my fantastic Gay Gordon (its a dance readers - only a dance) and completely forgetting I was over 5000 miles away from my home shore.  Madam wasn't there, hence wheeking was possible.  Wind forward two months and there I am in my trews this time doing it all over again (well, Madam was present - less wheeking).  The difference this time, it was held outside under a marquee, hence not wearing the kilt in case the mosquitos fancied a party in the nether regions - I am Scotsman.

Now being one of the few Scots in Dhaka, I was asked whether I could read a Burns poem.  Now the person doing the asking was a Dundonian British Bangladeshi (confused in other words), so yours truly, had to consider the consequences of saying no ... and of course I was delighted.  What shall I read?  There will be an international audience so it most likely will be intelligible anyway.  

It was easy - A Man's A Man For A' That.  A poem which could be described as an anthem for civil liberty and freedom of everyone, something which could be applied to Bangladesh who try and survive and somehow get their way out of poverty whilst developing a country for the future - something dear to Robert Burns's heart.  Of course, there was more ceilidh dancing, more constrained wheeking and more whisky - deja vu number two.


Now if that wasn't all mad enough, the following day was the start of the 6 nations rugby with Scotland taking on England for the Calcutta Cup.  Nerve-racking stuff - deja vu number 3.  It was becoming more serious, when the likely hotspots of Dhaka decided not to show the game, but in the end, it turned out all right.  Now the TS taking his ceremonial diplomatic duties responsibly and always wanting to educate commonwealth and foreign heathens about the finer points of Scottish rugby, there I was dressed in my rugby shirt wearing my kilt and using half a can of mosee spray - taking precautions no less, to cheer on the mighty blues.  All I can say it was a surreal experience, never mind in the bar, just walking down the street with all the rickshaw drivers looking on.  They obviously recognised a fine figure of a man wearing a kilt! Or something like that.

Anyhow the 'what not again' spoilt the deja vu (or merely added to it) weekend - Scotland were robbed and lost again.  Will there be anymore dej vu weekends you cry?  Well watch this space as the TS as a plan.....!  In the meantime I will be decked out and in the bar on match days for the next few weeks, no doubt encountering more deja vu Scottish rugby moments, or more probably drowning my sorrows.