Portrait of Tania

Check out my girl Anju: She did this amazing portrait of me in oil painting and marker. She's truly amazing!

Her link is: http://www.myspace.com/bluewingfairee

Slavery Still Exists

Slavery Still Exists? Freedom Still Exists?

Why do people ignore Slavery, when it exists? It could be mainly because slavery is not thrown in our face everyday. For me witnessing slavery first hand in my face changed my entire outlook on the world. Suburban America puts you in a bubble where you aren’t exposed deliberately to dire situations in the developing world. I do believe slavery exists in America also; it’s just not as explicit.

In developing countries slavery is everywhere; it’s so bad that it can’t be hidden.

Slavery

You go outside for a stroll in a Rickshaw, and slavery is right there watching you through a blind man’s half empty voiceful eyes—sadly, he was just begging for food, not money. The Rickshawallahs also suffer from a type of slavery. Most Rickshawallas are young men who moved from the rural areas to make money in the cities. Due to malnutrition and excessive driving of heavy loads of people…they suffer immensely and die within ten years. I also saw slavery in the markets outside: young boys running to carry your groceries home. You ask them how old they are, and they don’t even know. I can’t believe I come from such an ageless society. A world where my people, don’t even have records of their history…Isn’t that slavery? Jobless, uneducated, impoverished nations have the most slaves…

Slavery Business:

In Bangladesh Slavery is seen as a business. Much of the poor don’t have access to food, and shelter so they travel to middle class/upper middle class homes for some type of stability. 90% of these cases are women. It’s a very grim reality because they have to choose between working for food or prostitution. The men possess competitive advantage in this situation for they can seek work other areas due to their freedom. The slave/master relationship in this case is very unique. Being a silent observer and watching the relationships first hand, I learned that two emotions really exist in this world: fear and love. Begging is a business…I saw many of the beggars with broken limbs communicating with each other through body language indicating which person is giving more or less money. I also learned that the Beggars cut a percentage from their “pimps” who run the streets they should work on..

Forced Slavery: Poverty forces women to be sex slaves. The parents usually are tricked into giving their daughters away, for they think they are giving their children a better life. The Cyclon SIDR for instance took the homes of many people, leaving room for many traffickers to come in and take women…

Slavery is different today. According to Kevin Bales (an extraordinary author on Slavery) two shifts have occurred. Today the price of human beings have collapsed, which has caused people to become disposable. We live in a world of 32 billion disposable people. Freedom can benefit an economy. We can work bottom up or town down.

Kevin broke it down simply. Freedom in a poor family in India would mean just $130.00. Freedom for a poor boy in Ghana would only take $400.00…If we calculate a grand total, it would cost 10.8 Billion (Which is what American’s spend on organic food per year) The return in investment would be $21.6 billion.

Slavery is an economic crime used to make money through targeting at the poor. Do you want to live in a world of slavery? Take initiative educate yourselves!! Why don’t we care? I don’t get it…

www.freetheslaves.net

Vote My People!

MAKTUB

In this world there is always one person waiting for another, be it in the middle of the desert, or in the middle of a big city. And when those two people pass each other and their eyes meet, past and future lose all importance and the only thing that exists is that moment and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun was written by the same hand, the hand that awakens Love, and that makes a twin soul for everyone who works, rests, and sees treasure under the sun. Without this our human dreams would make no sense. ~Maktub~* IT WAS WRITTEN*

Pizza Hut South Asian Style

Walking into the South Asian Pizza Hut was a very interesting experience. Pizza Hut is considered to be one of the most glamorous restaurants in South Asia. In fact the one in Bangladesh happens to be the largest one in South Asia. I remember at ten going to Pizza Hut in the states,. I'd simply order my food to go to eat at home. The Pizza Hut in Bangladesh however does not have that "fast food" pace to it.

Upon my entrance, a guard opened the door, and a flute player greeted us with his music. With the impacts of globalization, I expected the food to have a syncretic feel to it. I wanted to see "chicken masala pizza" or naan sticks, yet the impact of soft power has hit South Asia full force with Pizza Hut. In fact, the pizza tastes as same as the food in the states.

There were many formalities involved. I sat down with my family, and we discussed what we were going to eat. It was huge deal. The waiters were very well dressed with their pizza hut outfits, and I had my menu in hand. We ended up ordering a "vegetarian pizza."

The food was mediocre...I managed to try and enjoy it. I kept thinking about the power of homogenization. It’s striking to see the influence of the west in the East. The funniest part of this experience was listening to Snoop, and Justin Timberlake. There was this artificial bubble created for the foreigners to adjust to the chaotic environment. It was a place to hide. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to hide. I know I didn’t fit in. But I enjoyed not fitting in. I saw lots of white people there. There was also Pizza Etiquette there. We had to eat with a fork and knife, and the waiter continuously came to our tables to make sure everything was okay. My waiter in particular was very happy to wear his Pizza Hut outfit.

We sat, ate, listened to the commercialized hiphop and left. Upon leaving the flute player continued to play his music. The streets were the same, and I was out of "the bubble." **Sigh**

Ancient Garden of a Bengali King

Today was a peaceful day. The rickshaw ride was fairly smooth (minus the heavy bumps on the road). I visited an ancient garden of a former Raja (king). Walking through the garden was splendid. What I found most amazing about this experience was visiting his grave. I set a few flowers from the garden on his grave to pay my respects. There were significant factors that interested me about this particular garden. First, the king’s name was a mixture of Hindu/Christian roots. I was immediately able to notice the colonial history behind this location. The tomb stone stood erect with a cross unlike Islamic tomb stones which rest on the ground. The setting was beautiful. I saw all kinds of plants that were only seen in Bangladesh. The soil was a bright reddish colors, and there were little ponds with lotus leaves all over the garden.

Many couples were spotted sitting shyly next to their significant other. In Bengali culture it is forbidden to be seen in public as a couple, so the Garden is a secret get away where couples could somewhat display their affection. I walked past maybe six different couples in a row. Each couple was different. Some were religious Muslims in traditional garb, and there were others in Indian clothes. The interaction between men and women are very different here compared to the USA. There is a bad association with being affectionate in public. This includes holding hands, hugging, or any form of touching, unless you are clenching for your life on the Rickshaw. I wanted to take a few pictures of these couples. But this was forbidden for their aim was to maintain their relations very private. I saw a couple hiding behind a huge tree, kissing. It was so cute. I felt bad for them. I believe a large reason for the perversion among the males here gawking their eyes ate women, is because of the restrictive culture. I also marked students and teachers of Botany studying the variety of plants existing in the Garden. Many of these plants are very old. I was honored to be part of such an ancient site. I was saddened to hear that the garden were surrounded by palaces, which have all been broken down :( I wish I could have seen what the palaces looked like. Walking through the garden, I was sure that the palaces had to be magnificent.

The Evening Rickshaw Ride

This evening was quite interesting to say the least. (the picture btw above has nothing to do with this entry, I simply uploaded it so I can portray some more beautiful sceneries out in Dhaka).
Today I went for a Rickshaw Ride, at 6pm just to catch the evening breeze and pollution of course. At this time the sun was setting. My heart was with the city. I felt cold, aware, and calm. I almost got hit by a bus again. It’s okay J I have become well acquainted with the unpredictability of the metropolis.

As I rode through the city I noticed that only men were spotted outside. Very few women come out at night. In the midst of all the men, I noticed some surreal situations that caught my eye. First I saw Sufis who had locks in their hairs, walking with huge canes, and dressed only white cloth walk slowly. I heard later that these Sufi men had a lot in common with Rastafarian’s…hint hint Ganja =). Later the Rickshawallah had to take a peepee, so we stopped in a weird location, and I noticed something VERY disturbing. His bathroom was OUTSIDE, in the middle of the road. I was a bit uncomfortable, because he wasn’t the only one peeing. There were a few men squatting and peeing. Everything is starting to make sense to me now. One of the hugest reasons why this city stinks so badly is because these men like to defecate in the corners of the roads! As he was peeing, I sat with a hive of mosquitoes hovering over my head. At that point I didn’t know what to do…so I just sat there anxiously waiting for him to finish his peepee session. Without washing his hands, he hopped back on, and kept driving. I tried to act as normal as possible. The roads continued to crowd with men. Their eyes were like snakes. It was gross. I was covered in black yet they still persisted to look. I almost felt like they were undressing me with their eyes. Later, I saw a few women walking in front of a movie theatre and learned that this was a underground location for many prostitutes. What’s crazy is that they look like regular Bengali women, dressed in Salwar Kamis. The theatre is also a prime location for many of the lower class men (beggars, rickshawallahs, and street vendors). Everything has a price here. And I can feel the costs bearing on the women heavily. I see women doing a lot of sad work…I will explain more of that later. I think the bad condition of women is largely attributed to the illiteracy. 90% of Bangladeshi women are illiterate. Many men have the opportunity to ride rickshaws, or be drivers for the rich folks. But the women here resort to begging, banji, and prostitution. It’s a very grim reality here in the city. As I say on the Rickshaw many little kids stopped me in the middle of the road with massive buses passing by asking for money. One of the kids had a connection with a elder beggar and directed him on which people to talk to giving out money. I quickly learned that this was a type of business also. Like my mother says, money talks! Finally I reached home…and continued to think to myself about a lot of things, which I will later mention…

Love u ALL!!!