The area of Dhaka I am staying in is called Gulshan. It's one of the nicest parts of Dhaka, home to a lot of foreign embassies, diplomats, and expats (and of course the expat clubs like BAGHA). The area is treelined and shady, with mostly nice apartment blocks and fancy homes. Gulshan is sandwiched between two other nice parts of town, Banani to the West and Baridhara to the East. Together, they're sort of the Westwood/Beverly Hills/Bel Air of Dhaka.
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Map showing Gulshan (center), Banani (left) and Baridhara (right).
The green arrow is the location of my hotel.
Which in fact sets up a very unfair comparison, because for all its luxury, Gulshan, like its two upscale neighbors, still has its share of beggars, potholes, and rickshawallahs, and the traffic can be from Hell itself. Although it is a newer, planned community, the streets are very narrow, sidewalks are rare, and the numbering system makes no sense (just zoom in on the map above and you'll see what I mean). And of course you should never, ever, drink the tap water.
So it's the usual story of opulence among squalor. People with what would be a middle-class-style income in the West live very well, while the vast majority of the population either works in very menial jobs or begs for a living. It can be very depressing, therefore, to go for a walk around here. It is simply not possible for a Western person to walk more than a block before being offered a ride on a rickshaw. The wallahs can be very persistent, sometimes following you for several blocks trying to convince you that you should not be walking but rather riding in their (terribly uncomfortable, by the way) rickshaws.
Equally, you can't go much of a distance before being approached by a beggar. Some are severely crippled, others appear to be faking it (but not so many of these), and many more are just old people who can no longer work and are reduced to this type of life. Or you might see the combination of young and old, an old woman holding a small baby. The whole thing makes you feel bad for them, and also makes you feel angry that this is a society that doesn't seem to take care of its people.
You can, of course, assuage your guilt by giving the ones who seem the worst off some money, but you have to be very careful you're not seen by the others, otherwise you will be mobbed by beggars. This happened to some colleagues who were visiting a nearby park; one of the guys gave a child 10 taka (about 12 cents), and for the rest of the visit to the park they had an entourage of 20-30 people following them around.
So one steels oneself and marches on, affecting a cold, hard stare and saying "No" everytime one hears the word "Boss".
Anyway, back to Gulshan. I recently saw a house mentioned in a website as a beautiful marvel of architecture (here is a link to it: http://hiconsumption.com/2012/07/concrete-sa-residence-in-dhaka-bangladesh/). Turns out that house is just a few blocks from my hotel! On the other hand, the street in front of the BAGHA club (also a few blocks away) has a broken sewer that has been leaking into the street at least since I've been here, with no attempt at a repair in sight.
So maybe not quite Beverly Hills....
View Larger Map
Map showing Gulshan (center), Banani (left) and Baridhara (right).
The green arrow is the location of my hotel.
Which in fact sets up a very unfair comparison, because for all its luxury, Gulshan, like its two upscale neighbors, still has its share of beggars, potholes, and rickshawallahs, and the traffic can be from Hell itself. Although it is a newer, planned community, the streets are very narrow, sidewalks are rare, and the numbering system makes no sense (just zoom in on the map above and you'll see what I mean). And of course you should never, ever, drink the tap water.
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| Typical street scene in Gulshan |
So it's the usual story of opulence among squalor. People with what would be a middle-class-style income in the West live very well, while the vast majority of the population either works in very menial jobs or begs for a living. It can be very depressing, therefore, to go for a walk around here. It is simply not possible for a Western person to walk more than a block before being offered a ride on a rickshaw. The wallahs can be very persistent, sometimes following you for several blocks trying to convince you that you should not be walking but rather riding in their (terribly uncomfortable, by the way) rickshaws.
Equally, you can't go much of a distance before being approached by a beggar. Some are severely crippled, others appear to be faking it (but not so many of these), and many more are just old people who can no longer work and are reduced to this type of life. Or you might see the combination of young and old, an old woman holding a small baby. The whole thing makes you feel bad for them, and also makes you feel angry that this is a society that doesn't seem to take care of its people.
You can, of course, assuage your guilt by giving the ones who seem the worst off some money, but you have to be very careful you're not seen by the others, otherwise you will be mobbed by beggars. This happened to some colleagues who were visiting a nearby park; one of the guys gave a child 10 taka (about 12 cents), and for the rest of the visit to the park they had an entourage of 20-30 people following them around.
So one steels oneself and marches on, affecting a cold, hard stare and saying "No" everytime one hears the word "Boss".
Anyway, back to Gulshan. I recently saw a house mentioned in a website as a beautiful marvel of architecture (here is a link to it: http://hiconsumption.com/2012/07/concrete-sa-residence-in-dhaka-bangladesh/). Turns out that house is just a few blocks from my hotel! On the other hand, the street in front of the BAGHA club (also a few blocks away) has a broken sewer that has been leaking into the street at least since I've been here, with no attempt at a repair in sight.
So maybe not quite Beverly Hills....
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