Dallywood

My Bangladeshi colleagues have recounted to me two popular themes for movies in Bangladesh:

1. Young man has all of the right qualities of perfect husband: handsome, educated, refined, brave, etc. But he has no money. Daughter of rich man falls in love with perfect poor man. Father of rich man will have nothing to do with him. Daughter falls into the clutches of evil man (kidnaps her, leads her astray, etc). Father is helpless. Perfect poor man saves the girl and the day and convinces helpless father that he is worth daughter. Mother-in-law, who supported her daughter all the time, is vindicated. The whole drama is performed to singing and dancing. Apparently, all movies are variations on the same theme.

2. The recounting of the story of the Bangladesh revolution in 1971. People never get tired of hearing patriotic stories about the “freedom fighters,” those who fought and lost their lives (est. 3 million) in the independence from Pakistan.

Maybe there is a connection between the two genres. Bangladeshis do not accept fate. They continue to fight to improve their situation. Everywhere you look you see industrious people (mostly men; women are not encouraged in visible workplaces), driving rickshaws, making bricks, pounding iron, selling wares. It is rare to see someone idle. I guess that is why Bangladesh has made such advances in the last 30 years despite being located in a hurricane zone, and starting out as a nation with very poor circumstances.

NB: In the interest of fairness, my host, a film producer himself, has pointed out that a handful of Bangladeshi filmmakers have won international critique for their work at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film (nomination) and the Cannes, Montreal, Marrakesh film festivals. Most notable is Tarik Masud The Clay Bird, which I plan to watch while here.

Hazardous to Your Health

Traveling by road in Bangladesh is not for the faint-hearted. There are no more than two lanes and a hell of a lot of cars, buses, trucks, and rickshaws (in the urban areas) to share them. Driving long-distance consists of 90% passing, accompanied by beeping horns. As the shoulders are always occupied by rickshaws or other pedaled modes of transportation, the cars, busses, and trucks conduct a constant game of “Chicken,” waiting to see who will swerve first. This is usually decided by whoever honks the longest and loudest. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the size of the vehicle. Small cars will stare down 2 ton trucks. It is harrowing, to say the least. On our way out to Shirzgaz, we came upon a recent head-on collision between a truck and a bus. Ten people were killed.

I claimed the only seat in the car with a three-point seat belt, claiming my status of a single mother as a reason. The downside is that it is in the front of the car, which means I see everything. Probably would have been better to sit in the back with the others. I can’t imagine anyone surviving a collision with one of these busses or trucks, seat belt or not…

Dhaka!

I’m in Dhaka, Bangladesh. My first trip to South Asia, I was experiencing more culture shock. But from the beginning the town reminded me of Nairobi: lots of buildings, terrible traffic, and crowds of people. Except the traffic is worse here than I have ever experienced. My hotel is 7 kilometers from City Hall, where we have our meetings, and it takes us an hour and a half to get there and the same time (or more) to get back in the evening. The air is so polluted that your chest is constantly scratchy and you find yourself coughing even though you are not sick. My friend Robin, who has lived here for 18 months, says she and her family are sick every 3 months. So I guess it is a good thing that I have spent every minute of the last 3 days inside or in the car. Tomorrow we are going to visit health clinics.

I am here with a team of experts conducting a mid-term review of a $90 million urban public health project funded mostly by Asian Development Bank (and the Brits, the Swedes, and UNFPA). It is extremely ambitious, and designed to serve the most needy in the urban slums – of which there are currently 30 million people in Bangladesh. At the current growth rate, 50% of Bangladesh will be living in urban areas in 25 years. So this is a highly relevant project, and exciting to be here.