Page 1 2 3 4

More from Bangladesh!

May 1
           This day, known as May Day is well celebrated in Bangladesh as it has been celebrated throughout the world. May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the working class and labor movement.
             It reminds me of the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago which occurred on May 4, 1886. The date consequently became established as an anarchist and socialist holiday during the 20^th century. And it is often known as International Workers Day or Labor Day. The celebration of Labor Day has its origins in the eight hour day movement, which advocated eight hours working day.
           We celebrate Labor Day each year. However, child labor is a major problem in Bangladesh. There are millions around the country unnoticed.

 “Invisible Millions”
               Every week I see 15 to 20 women, mostly teen-agers or even younger, emptying garbage early in the morning on our street. I had hard time to figure it out this weekly chore. These are the house workers employed by most people to do all dirtiest jobs in their homes and in return they are treated like third class citizens. The worst pat of it is that there are no laws saying they can’t do.

            A typical middle class family employs a single home worker, varying ages from 10 to 40, mostly women and girls, who are responsible for all the work in the house. A typical day goes like this: She has to wakeup early in the morning and prepare breakfast for everyone in the house, and prepare Tiffin for the school going children of the family. She also has to get the children ready for school. Then she has to sweep and mop the whole floor of the house, followed by cleaning the furniture. Washing clothes a routine daily chore for the family. She has to clean and cut the raw food for preparing meals. Sometimes, she has to clean the toilets, or there may another girl to do the same. After lunch, she has to clean all dishes and get ready for the evening meal. Evening meals are served between 9:00 to 10:30 pm. Besides packed routine work from dawn to midnight she has to respond to any call of all members of the family. Home workers have to work all day, with little chance of getting a break. ‘Girl home workers’ are even more at a disadvantage. They are allowed to out rarely.

            I do have a Bangladeshi boy, 23 years old, named ‘Idrish’ who shops, cooks and cleans the apartment. In general, I let him do the shopping for groceries. I went for shopping with Idrish for several times. This is unusual here in Bangladesh.
Millions of such home workers are employed in the country. There is no estimate of these workers and there is no minimum wage as such.

May 8   “Pachisey Baishakh”
             This is the 146^th. Birth Anniversary of Noble Lauriate Rabindranath Tagor . He was the first Asian to receive such honor. This has been a celebration throughout the country.  
           Tagore was born was born the youngest of fourteen children in the Jorashanko mansion of parents Debendranth Tagore and Sarada Devi on May 7, 1861 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India. After a brief stay in England (1978) in an attempt to study law, he returned to India, and instead pursued a career as a writer, playwright, songwriter, poet, philosopher, and educator.
            In 1913, Rabindranath received the Nobel Prize for literature. His poems, ‘Gitanjali’ after being translated into English, the world recognized his literary contributions, and subsequently received world recognition. He was the first non-westerner to be honored such.  

            Tagore’s contributions are remarkable. He wrote over one thousand poems, eight volumes of short stories, almost two dozen plays and play-lets, eight novels and many books and essays on philosophy, religion, education, and social topics. Aside from drama, his other great love was music. He composed more than two thousand songs, both music and lyrics. Two of them became the national anthem of India and Bangladesh.

Tagore is the greatest in Bengali literature as a poet, novelist, and educator. He has touched the sole of the people in various walks of life. He is ubiquitous in Bengali literature. He is considered ‘Bishwa Kabi’, the poet of the world. His contributions enriched Bengali as well as world literature.

Trip to Sylhet

I had a chance to travel to Sylhet, 250 km away from Dhaka city. It is located close to Indian border. We traveled by Coach Bus with nice seats but no AC, and it took 4.5 hours. On the way, we have seen beautiful country side sceneries. There are many pockets of vegetable growing areas. At one point we had to go through the vegetable market on the highway. It took almost 35 minutes to cross this highway market .

            Tea gardens are beautiful . Tea is a perennial grown as plantation crop. It is intensely managed to produce a good quality of tea. Picking tea leaves, primarily first 2 to 3 young leaves, are picked carefully by mostly women workers.

            We also visited a fall, a tourist’s attraction in Madhab Kundu. It is pretty  and it is not like famous falls, such as Niagara Falls or Iguasu Falls. Finally, we came to a spot popularly known as Zero-Zero. It is the border line between Bangladesh and India. I could not believe that how attractive is this place for tourists.

Mango Season
It is the month of Baishakh (first month of Bengali year) followed by Jaistha month. This reflects the fresh fruit season, especially lichi , jackfruit, mango , and many others. Fresh fruits are sold in every corner of the streets. Even you can bargain for prices between 90 taka and 150 taka ($1.5 to 2.50). Litchi is almost over, and jackfruits are available in plenty. Ripe mangoes will be on the market soon (just after I leave Dhaka). It is too bad that I will miss the mango season.