 |
| Poster painted ( Bollywood style) by local artist of my German friends and me |
I am sure you all know that Bangladeshi people have intense
dislike for President Bush. The American embassy here in Dhaka
is a heavily guarded war zone area and the American club (near the hotel I
often go for my retreat) is always protected by half a dozen guards armed to
their teeth. The Bangladeshi are not very keen to have the Americans on their
soil but there are about 60 volunteers twenty something ( known as Peace Corp.)
spread around the country to promote love and peace which they have all brought
from America. For obvious reason the Bangladeshi are not in love with Mr Blair
either and just about tolerate the English volunteers and there are about 40 of
them (I always claim to be an Indian when it suits me) scattered around the
country. Believe it or not the Bangladeshi people have placed Hitler on a
pedestal and are waiting for Hitler like Bangladeshi to rule their badly
corrupted country. My German bhais (only 5) are always given, to their
embarrassment, a hero’s welcome wherever they go!
Why only 5 volunteers, well a very small German NGO who has
been working in Bangladesh
for over 20 years supports them. Every year they send a small team of young
people( 20 to 30 years of age) to work in this country and lucky for me this
year they discharged 5 hunky toys to play with and boys to have fun with. All
have or had a base in Dhaka and work or have
worked in the outskirts of the country as well. I am lucky to have young golden
boy Peter, you know a lot about him already and to add to his fame he is also a
karate expert. He is my constant companion especially when I want to go out at
night to a Hindu puja (prayers....we have been to 2 magical one) or the local
cinema which we have decided NOT to attend EVER since it is full of pseudo
sadomasochism (if you don't know what it means try a Bangla movie next time you
are here) and violence! We know now why the fundamentalists want to blow up the
cinema halls in Bangladesh.
Peter opted out of National Service at home to work in this country and he has
no regrets. He speaks Bangla better then my Hindi, shame on me!
Neil, wild young stud and beautiful to look at, drove
overland from Germany with
two females to India and
dumped his companions and the vehicle in India
so that he could work in Bangladesh.
Neil had a short life here, once he crossed the border to visit India in February, he was not allowed back into Bangladesh.
He is currently driving alone overland back to Germany
and the last we heard from him was from Afghanistan, still alive and
kicking. Then there was Julian , longhaired hippy of modern day. He has
finished his 8 months in Bangladesh
and is currently trekking back to Germany
via Russia and China. Then my
very own special adorable and handsome Nicklos bhai who has finished his 8
months and is back in Germany
missing us all, I hope? We are certainly missing him. Nicklos hoped in and out
of Net……… for 4 months and use to brighten my dinner parties with his presence.
He became my special choto bhai because he endured a lot of my pain (via
e-mail) whilst my own little brother was on his deathbed. I will remember him
on "rakhi” day on 30th August (special sister's day for her brother, which
is an Indian custom, and Nicklos knows about it). I have named my frog Nicklos
because like Nicklos he (I still think it is he) keeps hopping in and out of my
home but never has the courage to turn into a prince!
Bollywood poster on the back of a rickshaw
Finally a late comer, but worth waiting for, is drop dead
gorgeous Kirk who said his final farewell to his girl friend on the shores of
Thailand so that he can work in Bangladesh. He became an instant heartthrob of
my NGO female staff and envy of all the male staff here because they think he
looks like super star cricket player Imran Khan. Personally I feel that if Kirk,
who has black hair and a beard, and if he wore a turban and a long robe he would
be easily taken for one of the merry men of Bin Laden. Kirk's three days with
me were exhausting but full of fun to say the least. At the order (she always
orders everyone) of my Boss I had to give Kirk my spare room for the first
night, which was a pleasure. The next morning I had to give him his breakfast,
which was even more of a pleasure, then show him the bright lights of Net………
whole day Friday, nurse his sore feet and escort him to a wedding feast and
finally feed him again in the evening. I made sure the evening was accompanied
by few candles and red wine to finally live my dream if only for one night. Kirk
will be hopping in and out of Net………. for the next 4 months and we are all
looking forward to his next visit.
I am good to my German bhais, not only because they are good
to me but also because they belong to NGO (though very small in size) who do a
great deal of work to help the people of Bangladesh. They have pumped a
great deal of money to have a new craft building installed this year and given
lots of more money to equip each craft section with new facilities so that the
work force ( which are all my working young girls) can work in a better
environment. However things are not moving, as I like them to move and
unfortunately the internal feuds are still going on and I feel I shall be
leaving a new shining sinking ship.
So much talk about my German bhais. They all have long life
ahead and I am sure they will make the most of life on this planet. Going back
to the life in the flooded Net………., I did volunteer to help out with relief
work on my day off. I waited for ten hours with the team of relief workers
before I was marched to the nearest village, (which is about 5 minutes walk
from my house) so that I can hand out food parcels to the needy. Next Friday is
definitely going for a rest day in Dhaka with
some of my bhais and apas, I think I deserve it.
Love,
Davinder x
No comments:
Post a Comment