On Thursday, I had a meeting scheduled for 11 a.m. I got there on time but to do so, I had to account for Dhaka traffic and allocated a travel time of an hour and a half. When I finally got there at exactly 11 a.m., I was made to wait 35 minutes, at which point the administrative assistant called the person I was meeting to tell him I was waiting, and the person showed up another 15 minutes later. This meeting has been in the books for a few days. The time for the meeting had been confirmed twice. Why would someone still be so reluctant to show up on time?
As wonderful as Bangladeshi people are, not showing up on time is the one aspect of their personality I just can't stand. You know what time it is; your watch or your cellphone tells you the freakin' time. You know what time you are supposed to be somewhere to meet someone; your notebook or your administrative assistant tells you that. So, when you know what time a meeting is and you know the time too, is it really that hard to just show up... on time?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
A Man for All Seasons
Today, I went to watch the Bdeshi take on A Man for All Seasons. It's a play about how one man stood up for what he believed in. I saw it not too long ago when Frank Langella (you know... the guy who played Nixon in Frost Nixon) was in it. It's a great play, but I wasn't overly optimistic when I stepped into the theater today mainly because I've seen great plays being butchered by directors who tried to stage them - unsuccessfully - in a culture and a setting different from the ones they were originally written in.
I was very surprised with what I saw today. Whoever played the Common Man is one hell of an actor. The guy playing Thomas More was pretty darn good too; he got the crowd cheering for him a couple of times.
The venue was the National Academy of Fine Arts, which is pretty close to where I live now. I live maybe a mile or so away from the Academy.
Most of the plays staged there are in Bengali, the local language, so if you aren't very comfortable with watching a play in a language you are not very fluent in, or if you are completely unfamiliar with a certain play, maybe this isn't the best option for you, but if you don't mind stepping out of your comfort zone every now and then, this theater could be a godsend. Anyway, in a previous blog post, I whined about how I am always bored in the evenings in Dhaka. Now, I think I've found something to keep me occupied for at least a couple of evenings every month.
I was very surprised with what I saw today. Whoever played the Common Man is one hell of an actor. The guy playing Thomas More was pretty darn good too; he got the crowd cheering for him a couple of times.
The venue was the National Academy of Fine Arts, which is pretty close to where I live now. I live maybe a mile or so away from the Academy.
Most of the plays staged there are in Bengali, the local language, so if you aren't very comfortable with watching a play in a language you are not very fluent in, or if you are completely unfamiliar with a certain play, maybe this isn't the best option for you, but if you don't mind stepping out of your comfort zone every now and then, this theater could be a godsend. Anyway, in a previous blog post, I whined about how I am always bored in the evenings in Dhaka. Now, I think I've found something to keep me occupied for at least a couple of evenings every month.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Gray Davis, daylight savings time in Bangladesh and random thoughts
The Governator never really let us miss Gray Davis, who was generally known for the rolling blackouts during his tenure as the supreme leader of California (yes, I called him the supreme leader; after all, we gotta show those Iranians they don't have a monopoly over this whole "supreme leader" thing). Since the Governator took over, we stopped talking about Davis and I didn't even realize that the guy had completely dropped out of the public eye.
However, since my arrival in Dhaka, there have been rolling blackouts every day, including on the weekends, and so, every day I am reminded of Gray Davis and his sleazy smile. The blackouts usually start around 9:30 am and go on until 8:30 pm or so. Usually, there are 4-5 rolling blackouts a day and they could last for long as a couple of hours or as short as a couple of minutes. On average, half of your work day is bound to be affected by blackouts. Most people here have accepted blackouts as a part of life and so, most businesses (and homes) shell money out of their own pockets to combat the problem. Here is an account from a local English daily about how they do that. The problem with these diesel "generators" is that they are hella noisy, they don't give you a good bang for the buck and they are not good for the environment (and trust me when I - with my avowed distaste of hippies - say that any damage inflicted to the ecosystem here is pushing it just that much closer to a state beyond repair). So, when you look at all the cons, it's hard to come to terms with the fact that "the total market size for generator is Tk 400 crore per year." Tk 400 crore is about $60 million. (Quick math class: a dollar is worth about Tk 70. Tk is short for Taka, the local currency. Crore is a local unit of measure, equivalent to ten million.)
So, unless my math is totally off, that's a pretty staggering number for a country where the average person earns just a couple of dollars a day and has a hard time providing three square meals a day for their families. This is money that's wasted because government intervention has led to an unnecessary yet predictable inefficient allocation of resources. I read a report today (can't find an online copy yet) that talked about the disparity between demand and supply in power generation in this country. The daily demand is about 5500 units (can't remember what units they used), while the output is about 3500 to 3700 units daily. So, what's the government gonna do to address the situation? Are they gonna let the free market decide what happens from here on out? Nope; that would be the sensible thing to do, so of course the Bdeshi government (or the US government, or any government for that matter) wouldn't do that. So, what are they gonna do to solve this crisis? Well, they are gonna institute Daylight Savings Time in the country. To be more accurate, they already did that a couple of hours ago. This step is gonna help save about 200 units, but when there's a shortfall of 1800-2000 units daily, 200 units isn't gonna do a whole lot, now is it? Instead of the usual five hours of blackout every day, we are gonna get four and a half hours of it. Whoop-de-do!
On a brighter note, we are on the same time zone as Bangkok right now. That means I don't have to reset my watch (my phone to be more precise, since no one really uses a watch as anything beyond a fashion accessory these days) when I, hopefully, visit Bangkok later this year. Woohoo!
One more thing that made me go woohoo today was when I was flipping through the channels and saw... wait for it... HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. They were showing reruns (obviously, since the season is over) but I was psyched. I took note of the time and the channel they showed it on, so now I have something to look forward to every week. I also saw promos for Man vs Wild on TV the other day, except they don't call it Man vs Wild. I think they call it the ultimate survival, or something weird like that. Survivorman is on TV too, but at weird times. It's only on when there is a blackout. Maybe Survivorman can do an episode on how to survive rolling blackouts.
Since the NBA finals are over, I don't really have a whole lot to look forward to in terms of sports. It's that time of the year when baseball takes over and bores you to death. The good thing about living in Dhaka is that you don't have to deal with baseball, because they hardly show any baseball games here. The bad thing is that whatever games ESPN broadcasts here always involves the Yanks. I didn't know the Yanks have such a huge fan base in Dhaka.
Speaking of huge fan followings I didn't know about, I didn't know that Pete Wentz has such a huge following here. I've seen at least a dozen teenage boys jocking his style. I wish I could have taken pictures, but my camera is officially dead. RIP. I am trying to revive my old brick of a digital camera which has a resolution much worse than most phones these days. Here is to hoping that the rest of my gadgets stay functional until my trip out of Bdesh (to Bangkok, I think, if everything works out).
The rolling blackouts have put a temporary stop to my prepwork for THE list - you know, the list of places to go and things to do in Bangladesh. I'll work on it when the situation gets better or when I get somewhat used to it, whichever happens first.
Anyway, it's a quarter past two in the morning, and I need to get some sleep. I have to wake up in four hours for a nine o'clock meeting, mainly because I have rationed two hours for travel that shouldn't take any longer than 40-50 minutes but because the traffic here (or gridlock, as I like to call it) is so unpredictable that if you wanna get anywhere on time, you have to leave for your destination hella early, even if that means you are gonna sit somewhere and sip a really, really sugary concoction that passes for tea around here for an hour. I'd rather do that than be late, but hey, maybe that's just me.
I know I sounded cranky in this post, but don't blame me. Blame Gray Davis and Daylight Savings Time.
However, since my arrival in Dhaka, there have been rolling blackouts every day, including on the weekends, and so, every day I am reminded of Gray Davis and his sleazy smile. The blackouts usually start around 9:30 am and go on until 8:30 pm or so. Usually, there are 4-5 rolling blackouts a day and they could last for long as a couple of hours or as short as a couple of minutes. On average, half of your work day is bound to be affected by blackouts. Most people here have accepted blackouts as a part of life and so, most businesses (and homes) shell money out of their own pockets to combat the problem. Here is an account from a local English daily about how they do that. The problem with these diesel "generators" is that they are hella noisy, they don't give you a good bang for the buck and they are not good for the environment (and trust me when I - with my avowed distaste of hippies - say that any damage inflicted to the ecosystem here is pushing it just that much closer to a state beyond repair). So, when you look at all the cons, it's hard to come to terms with the fact that "the total market size for generator is Tk 400 crore per year." Tk 400 crore is about $60 million. (Quick math class: a dollar is worth about Tk 70. Tk is short for Taka, the local currency. Crore is a local unit of measure, equivalent to ten million.)
So, unless my math is totally off, that's a pretty staggering number for a country where the average person earns just a couple of dollars a day and has a hard time providing three square meals a day for their families. This is money that's wasted because government intervention has led to an unnecessary yet predictable inefficient allocation of resources. I read a report today (can't find an online copy yet) that talked about the disparity between demand and supply in power generation in this country. The daily demand is about 5500 units (can't remember what units they used), while the output is about 3500 to 3700 units daily. So, what's the government gonna do to address the situation? Are they gonna let the free market decide what happens from here on out? Nope; that would be the sensible thing to do, so of course the Bdeshi government (or the US government, or any government for that matter) wouldn't do that. So, what are they gonna do to solve this crisis? Well, they are gonna institute Daylight Savings Time in the country. To be more accurate, they already did that a couple of hours ago. This step is gonna help save about 200 units, but when there's a shortfall of 1800-2000 units daily, 200 units isn't gonna do a whole lot, now is it? Instead of the usual five hours of blackout every day, we are gonna get four and a half hours of it. Whoop-de-do!
On a brighter note, we are on the same time zone as Bangkok right now. That means I don't have to reset my watch (my phone to be more precise, since no one really uses a watch as anything beyond a fashion accessory these days) when I, hopefully, visit Bangkok later this year. Woohoo!
One more thing that made me go woohoo today was when I was flipping through the channels and saw... wait for it... HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. They were showing reruns (obviously, since the season is over) but I was psyched. I took note of the time and the channel they showed it on, so now I have something to look forward to every week. I also saw promos for Man vs Wild on TV the other day, except they don't call it Man vs Wild. I think they call it the ultimate survival, or something weird like that. Survivorman is on TV too, but at weird times. It's only on when there is a blackout. Maybe Survivorman can do an episode on how to survive rolling blackouts.
Since the NBA finals are over, I don't really have a whole lot to look forward to in terms of sports. It's that time of the year when baseball takes over and bores you to death. The good thing about living in Dhaka is that you don't have to deal with baseball, because they hardly show any baseball games here. The bad thing is that whatever games ESPN broadcasts here always involves the Yanks. I didn't know the Yanks have such a huge fan base in Dhaka.
Speaking of huge fan followings I didn't know about, I didn't know that Pete Wentz has such a huge following here. I've seen at least a dozen teenage boys jocking his style. I wish I could have taken pictures, but my camera is officially dead. RIP. I am trying to revive my old brick of a digital camera which has a resolution much worse than most phones these days. Here is to hoping that the rest of my gadgets stay functional until my trip out of Bdesh (to Bangkok, I think, if everything works out).
The rolling blackouts have put a temporary stop to my prepwork for THE list - you know, the list of places to go and things to do in Bangladesh. I'll work on it when the situation gets better or when I get somewhat used to it, whichever happens first.
Anyway, it's a quarter past two in the morning, and I need to get some sleep. I have to wake up in four hours for a nine o'clock meeting, mainly because I have rationed two hours for travel that shouldn't take any longer than 40-50 minutes but because the traffic here (or gridlock, as I like to call it) is so unpredictable that if you wanna get anywhere on time, you have to leave for your destination hella early, even if that means you are gonna sit somewhere and sip a really, really sugary concoction that passes for tea around here for an hour. I'd rather do that than be late, but hey, maybe that's just me.
I know I sounded cranky in this post, but don't blame me. Blame Gray Davis and Daylight Savings Time.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Hello from Dhaka
This is my first blog post from Dhaka. It took me a while but I am alive and well. Unfortunately, my notebook and my digital camera aren't. Whiskey tango foxtrot. That means there won't be any pictures until I get them up and running. That kinda sucks.
My time here, so far, has been pretty darn hectic. No matter how hard I try, I can't really explain what it's like in Dhaka. It's one of those things you have to experience for yourself. Dhaka is hectic, frantic, always moving, always bustling during the day and there's always something going on and there's always something to see. There's this endless cacophony of noise that's different from anything you would hear in any other city in the world. I've heard the Dhaka traffic being described as organized chaos. To me, it seems like total gridlock. Nothing moves for what seems like hours. Then all hell breaks loose and it's a frantic free-for-all where every vehicle tries to squeeze itself into every available inch of asphalt before gridlock sets in again. Getting anywhere through this crazy Dhaka traffic is an experience in itself.
It's been unbearably hot the last few days but it rained tonight. What a relief it was! By the way, it rains sideways here. It really does. While the rain provided much-needed relief from the heat and the humidity for the people in Dhaka, I'm not sure that's the kinda weather the people in the coastal regions of Bdesh were hoping for, given that those regions were hit hard by a tropical storm a week ago and death tolls are reported to be over 200. The people in this country are a resilient bunch. Every year, there are reports of storms or cyclones hitting Bdesh and every year, tons of people die, many more lose whatever little they own and every year, these people rebuild their houses and their lives and start all over again. I am pretty sure I (or most people I know, for that matter) wouldn't be able to start our lives from scratch year after year, every year. Resilience should be the middle name of every Bdeshi. Seriously.
Something else I admire about the people here is their friendliness. At times, I'm tempted to think that there is some ulterior motive behind their friendliness, but every time, I'm proved wrong and I realize that even the poorest of the poor here - you know, the people who can't offer you anything but their friendship - would do so with genuine intentions and an infectious smile.
That's not to say everyone here has your best interest at heart. A couple of days ago, I had to intervene when a street thug tried to coax a few bucks out of my CNG wallah (a CNG is like a motorized tuktuk, a three wheeler that runs on compressed natural gas, hence the name CNG). I couldn't afford to be late to my appointment, so I stepped out, picked up the guy before I set him aside and bellowed CHALO, to which the bewildered 5'5 thug reacted and moved out of the way as we drove off.
On a different note, I haven't had a hard time adjusting to a different time zone. Not much of a jet lag really. I've been pleasantly surprised at my ability to sleep on time since my first night here and I've been waking up on time too. Today, I woke up at 6 am to watch game 2 of the NBA finals. Live. They show it on ESPN here. What a game! I was screaming my lungs out the whole time. I caught a Yankees game on TV the other day too. Apparently, I get HBO as well, although the programming is quite different (tons of straight-to-DVD movies). I am not sure if they will air the new season of Entourage but I have my fingers crossed.
It's a quarter past eleven at night, and I have to say that this is my least favorite part of every day. How a city that's so alive and noisy and hectic during the day can completely die by 9 p.m. is beyond me. So, between 9 p.m. and the time I go to sleep, I am pretty much left with nothing to do. There's not much of a nightlife here. I've been meaning to go to Bagha but haven't had the opportunity yet. I am not sure I am particularly fond of the others of its ilk. Speaking of Bagha, I have yet to complete my list of places to visit and things to do in Dhaka - you know, the same list I promised to post in my blog like weeks ago. I'll get around to it sometime soon. Anyway, I think that's all for now. TTYL.
My time here, so far, has been pretty darn hectic. No matter how hard I try, I can't really explain what it's like in Dhaka. It's one of those things you have to experience for yourself. Dhaka is hectic, frantic, always moving, always bustling during the day and there's always something going on and there's always something to see. There's this endless cacophony of noise that's different from anything you would hear in any other city in the world. I've heard the Dhaka traffic being described as organized chaos. To me, it seems like total gridlock. Nothing moves for what seems like hours. Then all hell breaks loose and it's a frantic free-for-all where every vehicle tries to squeeze itself into every available inch of asphalt before gridlock sets in again. Getting anywhere through this crazy Dhaka traffic is an experience in itself.
It's been unbearably hot the last few days but it rained tonight. What a relief it was! By the way, it rains sideways here. It really does. While the rain provided much-needed relief from the heat and the humidity for the people in Dhaka, I'm not sure that's the kinda weather the people in the coastal regions of Bdesh were hoping for, given that those regions were hit hard by a tropical storm a week ago and death tolls are reported to be over 200. The people in this country are a resilient bunch. Every year, there are reports of storms or cyclones hitting Bdesh and every year, tons of people die, many more lose whatever little they own and every year, these people rebuild their houses and their lives and start all over again. I am pretty sure I (or most people I know, for that matter) wouldn't be able to start our lives from scratch year after year, every year. Resilience should be the middle name of every Bdeshi. Seriously.
Something else I admire about the people here is their friendliness. At times, I'm tempted to think that there is some ulterior motive behind their friendliness, but every time, I'm proved wrong and I realize that even the poorest of the poor here - you know, the people who can't offer you anything but their friendship - would do so with genuine intentions and an infectious smile.
That's not to say everyone here has your best interest at heart. A couple of days ago, I had to intervene when a street thug tried to coax a few bucks out of my CNG wallah (a CNG is like a motorized tuktuk, a three wheeler that runs on compressed natural gas, hence the name CNG). I couldn't afford to be late to my appointment, so I stepped out, picked up the guy before I set him aside and bellowed CHALO, to which the bewildered 5'5 thug reacted and moved out of the way as we drove off.
On a different note, I haven't had a hard time adjusting to a different time zone. Not much of a jet lag really. I've been pleasantly surprised at my ability to sleep on time since my first night here and I've been waking up on time too. Today, I woke up at 6 am to watch game 2 of the NBA finals. Live. They show it on ESPN here. What a game! I was screaming my lungs out the whole time. I caught a Yankees game on TV the other day too. Apparently, I get HBO as well, although the programming is quite different (tons of straight-to-DVD movies). I am not sure if they will air the new season of Entourage but I have my fingers crossed.
It's a quarter past eleven at night, and I have to say that this is my least favorite part of every day. How a city that's so alive and noisy and hectic during the day can completely die by 9 p.m. is beyond me. So, between 9 p.m. and the time I go to sleep, I am pretty much left with nothing to do. There's not much of a nightlife here. I've been meaning to go to Bagha but haven't had the opportunity yet. I am not sure I am particularly fond of the others of its ilk. Speaking of Bagha, I have yet to complete my list of places to visit and things to do in Dhaka - you know, the same list I promised to post in my blog like weeks ago. I'll get around to it sometime soon. Anyway, I think that's all for now. TTYL.
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