the sundarbans safari folks were in a fish bowl, constantly under watch at every moment in time for a week. after dark, they notice that the women of the village come out to watch the "bideshis" (foreigners). rajeeb mentions that these women don't generally come out during the day, and hence the night visits.
the volunteers step out of the classroom, and lie down on the ground under the stars. the women approach warily, then touch their noses and their arms.
the last few days, i have been to the independence day celebration function (march 26), saleem's(our carpenter) place for lunch/dinner, abul's (our landlord) place for lunch, a tailor to get a salwaar kameez with hana (our landlord's wife), a school ceremony held in honor of hodr (they built the school)
at the independence day celebration, a woman with an amazing voice from the local NGO presents a narrative using a scroll, none of which we understand at the time. the sight of camels with dead people, village gatherings, aeroplanes etc. didn't make much sense until someone explains that bangladesh children are smuggled into the middle east to be camel jockeys for camel races there, which seem to be a sport for the rich and which also happens to be responsible for quite a number of deaths. the program ends with a fabulous solo performance by asha, our landlord's daughter.
it's been a very social couple of days, tomorrow morning i am off to a safari to build a playground finally.
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2 comments:
long break..where are u now.
still in b'desh. was on a "safari" the last few days without access to email, voicemail and electricity :)
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