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!!!