Narrative Non-fiction

I just re-read a speech on the long-form narrative that I find fascinating, because every time I read it I glean something new from it. Goo...

Telling Off The Photographer

I was photographing in a lower-middle-class area of Dhaka where the roads are empty of traffic, children play on their way to school, and gr...

The Six Hundred Thousand Dollar Man

The talk of the town: Bangladeshi cricketer Mashrafee who was "sold" to an Indian outfit for $600,000 in an auction. As a friend p...

Ekkerey Dekhaya Disey (They've Shown Us)

Strange coincidence. In the last two weeks, I ran into two completely unrelated people - both highly qualified, PhD economist types working ...

Conversations in the Bus

Me: Does this bus go to Sadarghat? Conductor: Get in, get in, sir! And you over there sir, get in! And you back there, too. Emptybus, emptyb...

"Oh Yeah, I Read That Book!"

I was talking about flooding with my friend M when he mentioned that the Jamuna had gotten a lot bigger after the big earthquake of 1871(?)....

The Conversation

I am standing at one of my favorite streets in the city, in front of a tailor shop. Although the shop is open, there are no customers this e...

Riad

This is Riad. He was selling umbrellas on Farm Gate's pedestrian overpass. He studies in Class Five. A customer wearing turqoise asked t...

Will There be a Flood?

With so much rain the last few days, flood is on my mind. At a dinner last night I talked with a Water Engineer (someone who works at the Wa...

Imex Revisited

Upon my return home I found my laptop battery was dead. So I called Asif at Imex . He had a replacement battery of the same size. So I went ...

My Meeting With Mr. B.

During my recent visit to Silicon Valley I had coffee with Mr. B, an old friend with a colorful past that included, among other things, capt...

Do IT People Make Lousy Poets?

A few days ago, I met someone, a poet, who writes a poetry blog. While chatting with him, I told him that I am not into contemporary poetry ...

Such a Small Country

Yeterday at a function I met a well-educated gentleman. Turned out that he worked close to a cousin (someone whose intellect I respect immen...

Extra! Extra! Goodbye Bangladesh!

Words on the street: --------- Hawker selling newspapers: "[In English] Goodbye Bangladesh. Goodbye Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina going to ...

The Garrulous Taxi Driver

I had to take a CNG across town the other day. Turned out the driver was talkative with a lot of opinions. (A CNG is a small three-wheeled t...

Two Points of View

Little Girl: Man, what a horrible morning! There I was, up bright and early, but Abbu and Ammu wanted to sleep in. I heard Bhaiya and Apu pl...

Cow Talk in Old Dhaka

I went to old Dhaka to pick up hard-to-get bicycle parts, then chatted with some locals. Now that we are past Ramzan people's thoughts a...

Taxi Driver

Sometimes I commute in a taxi or CNG and get into conversations with the drivers regarding their occupation. They rent the taxis from the ow...