ekushey... patriotism and pain

today is the day that commemorates the saving of the bangla language so we would not speak urdu. it was quite a moving day and i feel very proud that my bengali heritage allows me to take part in today..

so, aresnal lost and i woke up a few hours after to meet a friend at gulshan circle at 8.45 to get down to dhaka university. the sun was out and it was a beautiful day and so many people were out. today is a national holiday also, so many offices are closed and luckily mine too.

so, we went down to dhaka uni, and the place was packed like bees in a hive. there was lots of secruity because of the small terror risk from crazy muslim groups but it felt safe never the less. anyways, my friend (showan) that i met today is the friend of a colleague of mine at the office. she is a photography student studying here after leaving the states a few years ago. she was very friendly and very patriotic about bangladesh. she wants to live a bengali life and not give in to the superficial western culture that has infested into dhaka.

so, the we walked around the campus, and paid homage to the students who were murdered on the eve of ekushey. one can call them martyrs i guess. i dont want to sound inappropiate but i am really happy that i wasnt living in that time and its things like this that make me realise how special life is. i value life even more now especially after the holiday to france where we were involved in a near fatal accident.

so, i bought a flower from the most adorable girl, sadly she is a poor girl, i dont know where she lives and the thought of imagining it scares me. so i bought a flower from her and paid her a little extra and she also gave me the honour to take her photo..

so afterwards, we went to a traditional bengali tea house where i had a really nice liquid lemon sorbe and a khala mishti. really cool. the place is so authentic that its menu is only written in bangla. i liked this place because it is maintaining its own identity and not trying to be some american style starbucks like many of the other places.

i took quite a few photos today, one thing about the country is that people love having their picture taken. they are not shy and will not be offended. so guys, enjoy the pics and i hope my morning has been insightful for you all.

shuw