Identity crisis

So India has influence on pretty much everything we do. The way we dress, what we eat, what we buy, what we watch etc etc. . .the list goes on. That’s for the Bangladeshi population though but what about the rest of the world? Well, obviously India is known all over the world. .thanks to Bollywood and butter chicken! But how does what affect us? Trust me it does and no one knows better than me.
4 years living in North America I had to correct the people saying “I am NOT Indian, I am Bangladeshi!” Just because we have the same complexion and dress the same way does not make us Indian. Gosh! (ok, I did not overreact) but sometimes it was aggravating going all “National Geographic” and “Discovery” on people while trying to explain them where Bangladesh was located and that it was a different country.
I recall a conversation between me and my grade 9 Biology teacher. She was nicely bonding with me over a Bollywood movie and told me how much she loved Shahrukh Khan. I knew what she was talking about but at the same time I knew exactly what she was thinking- she thought I was Indian. I went on talking but I had to correct her, I told her I was Bangladeshi. She looked a little embarrassed (poor her, that wasn’t my intention though) and told me she knew Bangladeshis in her university. (Phew, at least she knew the country!) . At the end of school year most of my classmates and teachers knew where Bangladesh was (Yay! Mission accomplished) but I guess I celebrated too soon. On my graduation day, when they were reading what the graduates would do after school . .mine went something like this ” and Fariba will go to college in her homeland PAKISTAN!” (SERIOUSLY!) arrggg.

“Chipped” off

“You get full marks in math I buy you a packet of chips after school” my mother used to say. Gone are those days, full marks or no mark children nowadays get whatever they want.
The other day I was having a conversation with my 10 year old cousin. I asked him if he gets a “reward aka chips” for doing well in a test or exam. At first he gave me a weird look and completely ignored my question (ouch!) then he finally answered “yes sometimes”. I got excited and shared my memories telling him how I would always go for Mr. Twist or Ring Chips. All he said was “eww . . Indian Lays are so much better”. I was heart broken. (Ok maybe not)
Remember back in the day when we were young we would buy Mr. Twist, Potato Crackers or those bright canary yellow ring chips? I have noticed that the children these days prefer Indian Lays or Kurkure over the local ones. If you ask them why they would say it’s because there is something wrong with the ingredients they use, it is not good for health and all that. Obviously this isn’t something they came up with, it’s what they hear from their parents. It’s true that in the past some foul content were found in some food products but now things have changed. These food products are made in a hygienic area with modernized equipments.
Therefore we shouldn’t discourage the children our scare them away rather encourage them to buy our own food products.

Happy stylin’ new year

14^th of April was Bengali New Year. A lot of mela, concerts, (Dj party & Car rally?!) and different other events took place. Almost half of the city was on the streets wandering in the scorching heat looking for something interesting to do. While they were preoccupied in search of amusement I was busy looking at them! Why? Because of the clothes, the make up, the hairstyle.(Not just the ladies, even the men . .yes you men in your slim fit panjabi!)  Some girls looked like they came straight out of the Bollywood movie Om Shanti Om! The Deepika hairstyle and eye make up is still in. Seems like we can’t get over the 07 bollywood hit.

A concerned music lover

So many channels! What to watch? When to watch and what to follow?
In this hectic life of ours it becomes tough keeping up with what’s on television.
I personally enjoy watching videos on music channels because it doesn’t require you following a particular show just enjoy non-stop music. I was changing channels and I noticed that all 4 music channels provided by my cable operator are Hindi! (Indian)
There is so much influence of Hindi music in Bangladesh that I am pretty sure we know more Hindi songs than Bangla ones. It seems like Bangla music is being overshadowed by catchy Indian music.

Heritage, love and bathroom tiles!?

Photo Credit: Mehran Kabir

Ah oh . .looks like we have copied that mausoleum that is in our neighbouring country. (although it is nowhere close) My first impression when I saw it was “something Ken would build for Barbie . .only if they were still a couple”. Putting my crazy imagination aside I think we shouldn’t be even comparing it with the real Taj Mahal because that would be insulting it but let us not get too serious and critical as well. We know that in Bangladesh we don’t have that many places we can visit. This new “tourist spot” or “recreational spot” or however you want to refer to it gives the people of our country somewhere to go to with their families over the weekend.
A lot of criticism has been made by the Taj Mahal lovers primarily because of the colour (pink!) and the materials used (bathroom tiles!) but lets just think of it this way, given the present economic condition in the world, if Emperor Shah Jahan was alive now, he probably would have considered bathroom tiles over marble. Who knows?

IPL fever

Indian Premier League (IPL) is in less than two weeks and the excitement can already be witnessed in almost every Indian TV channel. Well, us Bangladeshis, we are as equally excited because 1) its cricket 2) three of our National players are playing in the IPL. This year all eyes are on our Vice Captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza who is playing for Kolkata Knight Riders and is also one of the highest paid players in the IPL.
Bangladesh has a close connection with Kolkata since we speak the same language and share an almost similar culture. So, naturally we tend to support Kolkata and having our own player in a Kolkata team is like the icing on the cake.
Looking forward to this year’s IPL . . Can’t wait!

The inseparable bond

Snow storm, cyclone, earthquake or any other natural disaster so be it! But you can’t miss a Bollywood movie on a Friday night. Let’s go thousands of miles away from Bangladesh somewhere in Europe, North America or any other part of the world. No matter where we Bangladeshis go Bollywood is there. The longer the distance the stronger the bond is between Bollywood and the Bangladeshi community. I remember the maximum numbers of Hindi movies I watched was during my stay in Canada. Even in this hi-tech era, my friend’s mother in Toronto bought a VHS player just so she could watch those rented tapes of Hindi TV shows-a true fan! I don’t know the reason behind it but I guess when we are abroad we feel closer to home when we watch these movies and TV shows.

Made in India

We Bangladeshis are highly dependent on Indian products starting from clothes & cosmetics to silly things like frying pan & mango pickle. That is probably one of the reasons why we like going to India- for shopping. During the wedding seasons, even before reserving a place where the marriage can take place we book our tickets to go to Bharat. (Kolkata to be precise)Why? (if we ask our moms and aunts) they will say because sarees there are reasonably priced, they have the latest things etc etc.
Even if we are shopping here in Bangladesh we completely ignore our products and go for the Indian ones saying our quality isn’t good enough, the designs are common, not much variety blah blah come up with 1001 excuses.
I agree that when it comes to variety and quality of clothing the Indians are way ahead but we aren’t that bad either, our tatis do a great job as well and as Bangladeshis we should support and encourage them. And about the cooking utensils, how much can one go wrong with a frying pan? I will ask my mom and aunts to buy our deshi hari patil . . . you do the same as well.

Now they have our scissor and comb

I am one of those annoying people who read out loud or have to comment on every sign board, billboards just about anything on the road that has writings and pictures that are visible through my specs.
On Thursday, I noticed something interesting. I was somewhere in Tejgaon industrial area and I noticed HABIB on a billboard and it wasn’t our Moina Go Habib, it was the Indian hair stylist. (Random right?) That’s what I thought. I mean it’s not everyday you come across a hair stylist posing on a billboard in Tejgaon. I think he has a salon along with one of our local beautician. Maybe his picture was up there for marketing and promotion purpose but I thought it was weird. Should I be flattered that now my hair is in the hands of a foreign expert or should I be worried that it implies Bangladeshi hair dressers aren’t good enough? Hmmmm . . .

25th Feb 2009

On 25^th February 2009 a group of BDR Jawans and NCO’s at the Bangladesh Rifle Headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka revolted. Over the next two days there was chaos at Pilkhana leading to the cold blooded murder of at least 61 army officers who formed the core of the BDR’s Command structure. Not only Army officers, their families were also murdered. The mutiny ended in the evening of 26^th February when the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina asked all mutineers to surrender and lay down their arms or else Government would take sever action against them.

This horrendous incident left me traumatized and yet at the same time it made me think. What was it all about? Why did it happen? Who did it? And many other questions were bothering me. For some odd reason Karl Marx’s theory of social conflict, inequality popped into my mind.  I was thinking about the other half of the Bangladeshi population (especially the lower class) what did they have to say about this incident. Did they feel the same way? Are the as terrified as us? In my opinion poverty and illiteracy played an important role in what happened. Poverty makes a person ruthless and inhuman while its easy to brain wash an illiterate person as they don’t know what is wrong and what is right.