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| Enjoying the village life |
It's Friday 30th April and it is
my day of rest. I am in a small village, not very far from my home visiting a
friend's family who have given me my after breakfast snack ( fruit and then
curried pasta) , fed me my lunch ( dal, subji that is curried vegetables and
rice) and then let me sit outside underneath the shade of a Jack fruit (massive funny looking fruit
which are currently in season and the taste of the fruit is even more unusual,
it ends up
in your mouth like a chewing
gum). Here it is peaceful, I can write a little, dream a little, read a little
and watch the world of rickshaws go by on a busy road opposite me. There is a
river running alongside on the other side of the road, the morning washing is
drying out on the side embankment and some bathers are still dipping in and out
of the dirty, filthy water in order to get themselves cleaned? Just when I was
enjoying the peace and the tranquillity of the countryside I got bitten by a
huge red ant, unlike African one, I thought the Bangladeshi big ants were my
friends, not the case? My peace is further disturbed by a crowd who have
gathered around to ask the usual questions: what is your name, what is your
country, how many sons? " Get lost" or " piss off" or even
stronger words like " F....off " will all fall on deaf ears, so I
call my hostess for help!
Those of you who wish to have more then 15
minutes of fame (esp. those with fairer skin, blue eyes and blond hair), Bangladesh is
the place to be. You will be followed around, become a celebrity overnight and
you will always be remembered.
April for me was a month of
important dates and events. Starting with my wedding anniversary, 5th and then
9th was not only date for Good Friday but also my husband’s birthday. I did
make a huge effort for him , to attend a church for the morning mass in
Mymensingh (another shitty city an hour ride from my home where the
fundamentalists blew the local cinema few years ago). As always things did not
go as planned. I had gone to a friend's home in Mymensingh, the night before
and had to share a room with her sick granny. Poor granny spent most of the
night going to the loo, which meant I did not get any sleep, which further
meant that I did not wake up until 8 am, the time for me to attend the mass.
When I did get ready to leave the house, I could not even step outside because
the road outside was flooded. It had been raining all night. I finally made it
to the church at 10 am and on my own I said few words to the God and left
Mymensingh in a hurry because there was another storm on it's way and I wanted
to get home in one piece instead of few broken once.
I heard via e-mail that my sick
brother whose birthday falls on the 20th, made it to his big ' SIX O ' and had
a bite of his first ever birthday cake; congratulations dear bhai! Then it was
my birthday and many thanks for those who remembered, total of 3, what a sad
life I must be living ? Perhaps you are right, but it has nothing to do
with not being remembered on my birthday. However I need to tell you, that I
never make a public announcement of my big day. That is not because I
am losing my memory with age but for me celebrating birthday is a very much a
Western tradition which I refuse to adopt. How boring, you may be right again?
The date which has very little to
do with my personal life but will be remembered by me for a long time is of
course 14th April 2004. After the first 2 days of just observing the relief
work with Oxfam, I had joined the team to give them my own helping hand. The
whole of my NGO had come to a standstill and therefore there was no work for me
to do anyway. Helping to cut 2000 plastic sheets for tents was one thing which
needed lots of hands and then distributing kitchen utensils, oil, sacks of
grain, soap, hurricane lamps, matches, and believe it or not sanitary towels.
For good 5 days I joined the team in the field where the baking sun heat
reached 40 degree C (100 F) most of time and working in that sort of heat was
no fun. The transport for getting the team to the field was either on the
motorbikes, or one of those pick up trucks with white flag flying in front,
which we have all seen on TV. I once managed to get a lift on heavy truck known
as juggernaut and that was the experience not to be missed, however my
Bangladeshi girl friends would not be seen dead in them? What a boring life
they must lead?
For good few weeks, disaster area
became a tourist attraction and hundreds of people came from far away to simply
look at the carnage and also cause a lot of traffic problems. At the time of
disaster, there was also the local election and main roads were often blocked
by hundreds of men marching up and down, promoting their candidates. They had
very little time for our white flag or our emergency supplies for the needy.
Our lunchtime was like a picnic time for me (the only time I shall have a
picnic without the immediate crowd gathering to ask the usual questions). We
would all huddle together, under the shade of one tiny canvas tent and feed our
hunger but we were always watched by more so hungry people who had walked for
miles to get their bag of rice.
Oxfam have asked me to write
about my experience for possible publication and I have put lots of questions,
which have bothered me about the relief work. Things like how useful were the
plastic sheets on the 18th when it rained so badly that we feared for our own
lives? The villagers were given lots of kitchen stuff, but where was the
kitchen in the plastic sheet? Were sanitary towels ever going to be used? The
villagers were provided with a small bag of bleaching powder, which we would
never allow it to be used in UK.
At the same time they were also given a bag of purification water substance and
it looked very similar to the bleaching powder, was it wise? Lots more
questions and I will need to carry out case studies to assess the effectiveness
of the relief work and report back. I am waiting for Oxfam for their approval?
Finally, I am grateful for those
who felt that my death wish should be delayed because I have greater appetite
for life on this planet, so if that is the case I shall hang around in my
little Net………. a little longer for more of those near miss experiences, my India and Sri Lanka can wait?
Love,
Davinder
xx
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