I Love Rickshawallahs

Dhaka.2
Originally uploaded by Bangla, Biryanis and Badminton.

And I just heard that one of them has become a superstar rockstar! I watched his film clip. He’s got at least 20% body fat now. Or, as Dolly would say, "He's getting fatty."

What is happening to me?

I have just caught myself out in yet another behaviour that is completely out of character.
I was SLURPING a cup of tea! I’ve NEVER done that before!! Everybody does it here, and it disturbed me for quite a while. Now, I don’t even really notice. Next I’ll be throwing rubbish over my shoulder or hocking loogies or something.

Everybody needs good neighbours…

My beloved friend and fellow cooking lover, Upsanna left us yesterday, after being transferred to a different school. I had heard that her replacement had two children that were going to be living here. I thought, well, maybe having kids around will be a nice consolation to the fact that Upsanna won’t be here.

I woke this morning at 5 am to the sound of my new neighbour’s 1 year-old child whinging at the top of his voice. He hadn’t stopped by the time I left for work at 10 to 9.

This afternoon I came home to find his big sister (3 year old Sritty), doing a runny poo on our front veranda in the nude.

I wish Upsanna was still here.

The Little Things and the Big M

People ask me the funniest little things about Australia. I invariably get asked about the food we eat (“What is the main food in your country?” – that is a difficult question to answer), the flora and fauna and the transport situation. Fair enough, but the other day, someone asked me, “Do you have potatoes in Australia?”. It probably wouldn’t have been such a strange question if it had been asked by a child, but the fact that it came from a big, tall caricature-looking man with a big nose and a big moustache who is a local political leader, it seemed odd to me. Also, one of my co-workers asked me if we had TREES in Australia the other day! Now, that’s just silly.

I remember when I first arrived here in Naora, I was having one of my laborious conversations with Mr Hussain. We were talking about the food in Australia and we eventually got onto the topic of the fast food industry. Mr Hussain said that fast food was becoming very popular in Dhaka. I made a comment about McDonalds and started telling him about the movie “Supersize Me”. I was met with a confused expression. “What is McDonalds?” he asked. WHAT IS McDONALDS!?! The fact that he is the first person in the world who I've met who hasn't heard about McDonalds worried me and gave me hope at the same time. It worried me, because I've been alive for 3 decades and he is the first person I've met in the world who hasn't heard about McDonalds. It gave me hope because it means McDonalds hasn't completely taken over the world. Yet. I wonder how long it will take before there is a McDonalds here. There is a Pizza Hut, so I guess it won’t be long.

Rubbish

I am currently sitting at my desk watching my co-worker unwrap a small plastic package. She is literally throwing the little bits of rubbish over her shoulder onto the ground. There is a bin not three metres from where she’s sitting. Who does she think is going to pick it up for her?

Monsoon

What were once rice paddies are now turning into ponds, or joining up with adjacent ponds to make new, bigger ponds. There is still about a metre of grace before the “pond” at my front gate overflows.

The Meaning of Liffs

I am having so much fun learning Bangla, and there are some really cool words that I have discovered in the process:

The word for “bad” is Kharap.
The word for “happy” is “kooshi”.
The word for “thing” is Jinnish (as in, “Can you pass me that jinnishimijig?”)
Hijibiji means illegible. This is a great word for teachers: “I can’t read this, it’s HIJIBIJI!! Go and do it again!”
The word for funny is the same as the word for tasty. I often tell Anju that her food is absolutely hilarious, or that I think she’s very delicious.
The word for diarrhoea is Amasha (I’m sure there’s a great “Dad Joke” in that one.)
Key = chubby (I just think that’s a funny word - Have you got the chubby?)
Female teacher = shikika. I often have to tell people that I am a shikika. I feel very uncomfortable about it.
Male teacher = shikok

In Bangla there are different terms for all the different family members, depending on whether they are on the paternal or maternal side, as well as for all the in-laws. And, once again, I luck out. The term for your father’s sister is “Poo Poo”, so I just happen to be Jack’s “Poo Poo Gill”. What a disaster!

“Hi. My name’s Gilliand. I’m a poo poo and a shikika.” Great.

There is no separate word for “he” and “she” (they use “she” for everyone), so people often get confused when speaking English, when they are suddenly required to remember to use he or she. I’ve had hours of laughs from times when people have been talking and they get their “hes” and “shes” mixed up. For instance, yesterday Raju spoke to my mum on the phone. He was saying, “Gilliand is very nice. He is helping us and he is making all different materials. So you should not think about him. Always we will take care of him. He is very fruitful in our oppish”. Classic.

I was a little worried today, when he told me that I was a very thoughtful man. There IS a different word for woman and man in the Bangla language.

Alcoholics Anonymous

Is 6 cups of tea per day too many?