look/dekho 005

The "LovePhool" Edition:

Magic!

A conversation between my cousin Farzad (3) and myself this morning:

Me: "I have some magic in my bag!"

Him: "What is it? A lollipop?"

Me: "No."

Him: "Candy?"

Me: "No."

Him: "Chifs?"

Me: "What? Chifs?"

Him: "Yes, Chifs? Is it Chifs?"

Me: "No. It is a camera!"

Him: "I eat cameras! Give it to me."

You can check out photos of Farzad and a description of what he is occupied with all day long in my blog post "Little People".

Rickshaw Art - 400 Taka discount

A week and a half ago, five friends and I went to have a tour through Old Dhaka (pictures will follow). The trip was great, we've seen loads of things and realized, that shops are closed on Fridays. Not all of them remain closed, but as we were on the hunt for Rickshaw Art, we were eagerly looking for theses special stores who keep these special items. Since it was the second time for some of us to come to Old Dhaka, Rickshaw Art was definitely on people's shopping list.

Bangsal Road in Old Dhaka is a great place to get an exceptional souvenir, that reflects the hectic, noisy yet colorful and special way of life in Dhaka. Rickshaw Art, painted either on PVC or tin, is fairly cheap and a unique gift, since it is hand-painted.

After checking almost every open store in Bangsal Road, we were somehow forced to move on unsuccessfully and end our hunt. While managing to arrange Rickshaw's for our next stop "Lalbagh Fort", this one shopowner approached one of us and told us that he'd open his store especially for us. Apparently word of mouth let people know that five white and a brown kid were looking for an exceptional souvenir to take home.

After picking the colorful paintings of our choice came the fun part: bargaining. With a very special (tourist)price of 650 Taka only per piece, the salesman wanted to rip us off with a big smile on his face. He had one advantage: he was the only one selling Rickshaw Art that day. Me talking Bangla to him, explained him, that these white people would bring him more customers and that he should lower the price. I promised him I would convince them to accept his offer. However, as sneaky as I am, I told my friends in German, that he was going to give them an offer that they had to reject and told them a lower price they should stick with. At the end of this fun game, we ended up at I think 250 Taka per painting. Yet fewer paintings can now be seen in Dhaka attached to the back of a Rickshaw riding through Dhaka, but hopefully soon as decoration in European appartments.

My souvenir

Ironically enough, those 15 Taka days are not over

I think I already mentionend, that sometimes you are at war with Rickshaw drivers, when it comes to negotiating the fare - not only with them, but also CNG drivers. For example, after looking for options for 15 minutes how to get to our meeting at Grameenphone headquarters in Bashundara, we finally took a Rickshaw, which cost us 20 Taka. Asking a CNG before, he demanded 500 Taka straight away.

Anyways, this morning I was kind of tired of arguing with Rickshaw drivers even before I reached the place where my uncle drops me off and I take the Rickshaw to work. So I was waiting at the corner and a Rickshaw came, which I approached. I told him I wanted to go to Gulshan 2 and asked for the price. He said "20 Taka", whereupon I replied "15 Taka". He said "Brother, those 15 Taka days are over!" I was in a mood, where I would have paid the next Rickshaw driver any amount he demanded. So the next one came and I told him where I wanted to go. Ironically enough, he suggested 15 Taka. I hopped on and had a little smirk on my face...

Bargaining for five Takas is not my main occupation. At times, it is more a matter of principle. Because Rickshaw drivers always demand more in the morning and in the evening, when people go to or come from work. And there is literally no traffic, since I go through residential area.

Eventually, those 15 Taka days are not over.




Rickshaw drivers in Old Dhaka waiting for customers

  
Rickshaw fare from Gulshan-1 to Gulshan-2: 15 Taka.

Minor Earth, Major Sky

Amar Shahpur

Over a long weekend recently I went to Shahpur, the birthplace of my mother. I had four fantastic days and the trip was more than worth it. Everyone who missed out so far will never experience the beauty of this village.

Shahpur is a place, where you can shower under the open sky and feel the warmth of the sun, where strangers know you when you say who your grandfather is, where the milk tastes like fresh milk, where you can experience what real mosquito bites feel like, where little school boys will take you on their boat along the river into the rice fields to earn some pocket money, where dragon-flies accompany you on your boat ride, where you can take a walk and realize that within a few hours you have walked all the borders of the village, where people are happy to see you and ask how your family is doing, where your aunt makes homemade pastries, where the sunset is incomparable, where you can drink the water of green cocos from your own tree, where little kids ask you to take their photos, where goats chill on the walkways, where your baby cousin is amazed by baby goats, where you just greet random people on the way to the bazaar, where the bazaar is probably the size of a western playground, where you pump the water from wells, where tourists would pay a lot of money to spend their vacation at, where eagles fly in the sky and frogs walk on the earth, where people sometimes don’t bother too much about time, where Jute is hung up on trees to dry, where tea at little stalls is made with real milk and not milk powder, where old ladies tell you that they have seen you when you were “sooo little”, where people meet to chat and update on who has been doing what recently, where “peace” really has a meaning, where you just don’t care and take things as they come, where I should go more often, where hardly any cars or CNGs go, where at sunset you see farmers riding home on the river, where the silence at night is only interrupted by the sound of birds and crickets, where you can watch stars and fireflies at night, where you can flash the torch light into people’s faces and ask with a big smile who they are. Shahpur is a place where I wanna go again.