I have been meaning to write a lot of things over the last few years..but the procrastinator that i am ( i did say so..) I somehow have not gotten around to any of it. Still, its never to late to say never - ( which is why i have a 7 year to do list much to the disgust of some..) and this blog is called the “past present and future..” so no reason why material from the past can”t be brought to light.
Bengal is a part of the world that I have definitely done the least amount of travelling in, ironically - it is where I am from. I am perhaps naturally fascinated by it and its history, there is so much to absorb. I was in Bangladesh over this last xmas/new years and for the first time, actually managed to do some travelling - to Chittagong - where i have never been ever, and to St. Martin”s Island -which was till January - for me, a mythical place.. the anecdotes definitely need turning into some form of travel journal. It”"s not an easy country to travel around, i can understand my parent”s objections, but i thought dammit, if i don”t do it now it will never happen, i can”t just sit tamely in dhaka every time i visit ( or in the tamer parts of dhaka..) in the end, apart from a few mishaps and a hell of a lot of curiosity + interference, and paranoia and constant calls from the folks {really!} it was all fine and good. ( i am not an idiot after all.. + just because my travelling companion, my dear husband - is a “phoreigner” didn”t mean we were like a blind + deaf person combination that everyone made out we would be!)
A few photographs to start the notebook..one of the interesting places - in Old Dhaka that i had managed to sneak a peek into in the past, and visited again on this trip - is the palace, on the bank of the buriganga {old ganges} river of the nawabs of dhaka who lived in it from the nineteenth century onwards. I shall write more about it later, it is currently a museum - full of artefacts of empire and rulers and relics of a bygone age - and a popular destination for “outings” - so past meets present. Sadarghat - is the historic “ghat” -(wharf) - and it is a fascinating place with no doubt fascinating tales. There is something about old dhaka (purano dhaka) that fascinates me..perhaps because it shows up the distinction between what was, and what is becoming. And there is something about the fabric of the old town, the architectural details and the old houses and mosques, that evokes for me -the bygone era , i know - i can”t help it, i do find the past fascinating in a strange sort of way. A glimpse into another world..
The photos are beautiful! I can only imagine what it would be like in real life. Bengal is so rich, beautiful and colourful.
HI, this is me, Jasmine Iqbal, I came here from Al Apostate’s site cos Al Apostate is trying to help me somehow. Anyhow,Sonia, I got a big surprise cos I saw ure name on Al Apostate’s blog role, Sonia, and I never want to try to see, no way, cos I think you are another white liberal- from the name, but no, no way, you are like us in all ways, this is fantastic. Al Apostate, knows all the details of me story from months and months- I do not want talk about it (but what YOU wrote about sexual abuse of even niqabi on apostate’s site, this is relevant cos I was 8 years in Saudi Arab in a camp in Al Hassa in very bad conditions and I had mental breakdown), anyhow, how come I so surprised? Cos you got stuff on Bangla, now me, I am in UK and Pakistani, I got family in Orangi Town also-this is North Karachi, as surely you know, anyhow, me mum’s family gone from Patna to Sylette Canton at partition, live in East Pakistan, then in 1971 at surrender time, me mum escpaed and married to west pakistan engineer (this is me dad of course). Now all me mum’s family- got killed by gangs, then also, in Searchlight, our own army killed more. All of this is HISTORY, it’s boring for you, but I still got a connection to Bangla cos me mum’s sisters are in camps in Dhakha, life is terrible, no country allow, not Pakistan, not UK, Bangla also no interest. So I am Pakistani and in UK, but all me surviving mum’s relatives are in the stranded pakistanis camps- in terrible conditions. So it’s great anyhow, that you doing all this stuff, it’s total surprise cos I never never never leave apostate’s blog site mostly, but i done me own now also, it’s ok, but I got lucky cos i never thought that you was desai, this is great in all ways. Another, what you telling about Hajj and umrah, of course, this is true story, if you know all what happened to me in Saudi Arab- you going to cry maybe, and, this is what I want to tell, I WAS NIQABI, 100% mutadeyena, done nothing wrong, but, harassed, insulted, rude comments- yes, even getting ready to go to Jamrat- getting stared and looked at constantly. This is cos Islam altered the biological balance of the male brain, they are not human anymore, they become something else. Ok,I going to look a bit around this site, another, if you not like me comments, it’s ok, i got me own voice and me own style and most people not like it of course.
bye bye, Jasmine
Thanks Achelois..yes the pictures don’t do the real thing justice! the indian subcontinent i think is generally hard to capture the “buzz” in a static medium.. something undefinable that doesn’t seem easy to capture.
Jasmine i’m really sorry to hear the hard things you and your family have had to go through. please feel free to leave what comments you like, if you have your own blog i’d be interested to read that. by sharing experiences no doubt we can learn a lot from each other. {i’m not sure why it would be a problem if i were ‘another white liberal’ but i daresay my name seems to mislead people quite a bit, not sure why, there are plenty of sonia’s in the indian subcontinent!}
sonia you are so beautiful love to meet you
Nice trip
Ah, you are back to posting. The pictures are amazing. Whenever I go to Bangladesh I do some sightseeing and the history of the place and the amount that is there to see is always amazing.
I had similar concerns of relatives there. A cousin of mine telling me not to venture far from Dhanmondi without, at least two, local people.
I would love to travel across the Indian subcontinent, but generally people worry due to security issues. Which is a great great shame. another great pity is the state of some of the historical sites, lack of preservation is rampant
I was about to line the compost bucket with ‘avenues’ when I noticed it was inviting people to think about how green they were. I am more green than, say, a banana, but not as green as an Irish meadow after rain. I care, a lot, but I discovered that I didn’t care enough to destroy my marriage and permanently alienate the affections of my pre-adolescent children. Nobody warns you that they may not trip lightly behind you down the path to virtue, but instead, yank grumpily in the other direction, towards Niketown and the winter sun.
As I am a writer, and that is one thing I can do, and as this dilemma seemed quite common among my female friends, I decided to write a book and make a website about it. Banging people over the head seems to terrorise or annoy them into apathy; making them laugh sometimes slips the message in without pain. That was my hope, anyhow.
The site is at http://www.mrsnormal.com. It has a blog, book excerpts but also shocking, bizarre and helpful information. The book is called Mrs Normal Saves the World. I’m not trying to advertise, particularly, as I’m not making any money. I just want to cheer, entertain, and encourage, because that’s what I can do.
Wishing you a Lovely Happy Birthday: I hope you get everything your heart desire…
Rana
Well thanks for the birthday wishes, though it wasn’t my birthday when you posted, still. may I ask how you found your way to this blog?
Hey mrs. normal, interesting blog.
mezba yes, so much to see, so much vivid history and colour. sumera: yes it is sad to see how much interest or lack thereof there is in archaeology - its’ our heritage and these community elders are always banging on about that! give me some artefacts anyday over some sermon..
Hi
you don’t remember much about me, do you? If you did, you wouldn’t be asking that question. Hope you are doing really well.
Actually I’m curious as to whether people can find their way to this blog using the search term shorno. obviously you are tech savvy but in any case, if you don’t mind, it would be interesting to know, so i could figure out if less tech savvy people can figure out the same thing. Why you always make gloomy Devdas references to the past, is somewhat strange. Naturally I remember, but its not significant in my life now, why should it be?
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