Ok. So night
of festivities is complete…or is it? I leave Farhana and her friends and get
into a motorized rickshaw to head to my hotel. I am totally happy with all the
footage I got of her today and am ready to head back to Nepal to film my other
student (Shambu) and to get further footage of Gopal, and then finally to the
last location in India.
 |
My view while I am trapped
in my cagein "demonstration square", Dhaka, Bangladesh (Photo: JLewis) |
Moving
along…when suddenly the rickshaw motor dies. Hmm. Rickshaw driver says…I be
back…5 minutes. The fun thing about Dhaka motorized rickshaws is that they are
like being in a cage. In fact….THEY ARE A CAGE! And…the best bit is…the lock to
your door is on the drivers part of the cage! So….when a driver says he will be
back in 5….well……that’s just how it is gonna go…because…you are trapped!
Oky doky.
Well….at least it is relatively comfortable in here. So…let’s see ….where are
we? Hmm. It seems we have broken down in a big square of the city. Remember how tomorrow is the start of the next
strike? As it turns out…the best place to protest is …..IN THE MAJOR SQUARES OF
A CITY!…All that extra elbow room and stuff. So…guess who is pouring now into
this square at midnight? In prep for tomorrow? Yep…the tomorrow protestors. The
ones with the cocktails.
 |
| Cocktails included (Source: Daily Star) |
Side
note…all the Bangladeshians I interviewed just call them cocktails…because a)
no one has alcoholic cocktails here…which is a damn pity…and b) because it
happens so often…why use more words than are necessary?
Ok. So this
is getting interesting. I am not worried though because I am in an iron cage.
Yeah…I don’t know what I mean by this either…(and see photo below)….But I really am not worried. Just
incredibly entertained. I mean….how often do you get to just sit back nice and
comfy and watch unrest develop?
 |
| Source: www.thehindu.com |
Next come
the big trucks with swat teams. I guess they are there in prep also for
tomorrow. The swat teams take notice of me and tell me to move the rickshaw
which is…ummmm.. sort of in the way in this square. I mean…who wants a damn
rickshaw to get in the way of impending violence and destruction? Totally
understand. BUT! I have a problem. Umm…I try to explain…being I am in the
….back seat…..I am rather limited in my ability to move the vehicle. They get
this…thank god and somehow locate the driver and….I AM FREED! I climb out onto
the embankment on the edge of the square. And the swat team starts to talk with
me. It turns out they were trained in Virginia! HOW COOL! And we all start
talking about what they did in the US and where I am from. It was a bit
surreal. Here we are all talking about …..what fun stuff we have done near DC
and all around us, future protestors and other police are setting up for tomorrows
demonstration. Just like all good people …we all exchange facebook page names
and they find me another rickshaw.
And thus
begins part two of the last night of adventure in Bangladesh for
Jennifer.
Well, the swat team was super excited, because they think…Emphasize
think…..they have found a very rare commodity. A rickshaw driver that speaks
English! They are wrong. :( But I don’t find this until I get in….and we are off. And I
also learn….to my dismay….that I have now…the absolute most insane rickshaw
driver in town. Goody. First…he thinks he has a good grasp of English.
Meaning…he will talk to me the entire journey. Second….he does not seem to like watching the
road. Instead…he mostly sits facing me…which …..is ….um …..opposite of the way
the rickshaw is facing….and thus…seems mmmm. I dunno…..DANGEROUS! And third….he
keeps repeating things that seem wayyy odd…Like ali babba. WTF is this? And
then laughing hysterically. The first five minutes are kinda funny. But it all
begins to wear on me pretty soon after that. It is one of those deals where you
feel like you need to respond….with stuff like…oh yea…yes…gosh…hmm….really…and
you have no f’ing idea wtf he is saying…you can just make out the end of
sentences if there are questions and kind of where you are expected to
participate. It is …..exhausting. Worse…even… is the fact….now this is my
fault….the fact that….ok….now don’t judge me…..that I …..don’t know my hotels
name or address. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..WHY?!!!!
You shout at me! Yep…I totally get that. I totally deserve it. Well……last
night….I get into Dhaka pretty late. It is like 11 when I arrive. And my driver
from the airport takes me to the hotel that a company I have hired has located
for me. We get there and there are no rooms left. So another guy gets in the
car and says he has another place where they is a room and he will lead the
driver there. So we get to the other hotel…I crash and then have to get up
again in just a few hours to start following Farhana. I leave without grabbing
a business card. So….guess who has not f’ing idea where she is staying? In my
defense I called the company that drove me the night before multiple times to
get the name of it during the day but they did not respond. So…Now what? And…t minus
umm…maybe 5 hours till showdown. With cocktails provided.
 |
| Rickshaw that had a worse next day than me (Source: www.themalaymailonline.com |
So…I DO know
where I was supposed to stay originally and with help from many people on the
road I get this crazy driver to take me there. I get out, sit on the couch in
the lobby and tell them they need to figure out where I am staying. Or they
will get a crazy exhausted American woman who dresses like shit making all kind
of commotion in their lobby. The go with door number one. Smart men. And they
figure it all out!!! Hurray! I am then driven to my actual hotel. And there
starts part 3.
I walk
into the lobby and there is a group of older men sitting around the big table
in there. They all look up and I can tell from their expressions that they are
thinking “oh shit…we forgot about that damn American woman who…insists pool
cannot be played without beer.” Which is GD right! And now they have to get me
the F out of here…..soon.
So the
oldest one says to me…ummm…. have you by chance logged into your embassy website
to let them know where you are right now? (side note….this is something you are
supposed to do in case…you ummmm…disappear…then maybe Americans will look for
your ….body). Anyway…the fact that they bring this up is rather interesting to
me….because I then recall what the tour company exec said to me this morning
when I paid my bill for the hotel in Khulna and air ticket…”You know….the fact
that the US says not to travel here…is really hurting our business..” I shrugged
and said ehh…
 |
| So what did I miss? (Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com) |
They then tell me they must figure out if they
must take me now to the airport. Finally it is decided that I will leave at 5
and that will give the driver enough time to get me there and to return before
the strike starts at 6. My only question…is …do the strikers adhere to the
prescribed schedule of events? I mean…that would be really professional of them….if
they do.
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