TechFold - Bold tech & web commentary

Bold tech & web commentary

TechFold is technology discussion, commentary, reviews, and opinions from well outside the valley. There's no koolaid to drink here, and TechFold is not in SL, or on Twitter.

Sony’s got a lock on the Bangladesh market

Seriously, the squat toilet that I balance over daily is branded “Sony.” And that’s about as minor an example of the weird, wonderful world of Bangladesh that I can think off. Pics follow after the main post, all are from flickr, click to expand…

I’ve been here a mind-blowing two weeks now, and have navigated Dhaka, done an overnight paddlewheel voyage down a river, moved into a bunk bed in volunteer barracks in Rayenda, and have helped build two houses and a school. Bangladesh is such a mish mash that I’m just going to throw stuff out in point form:

Dhaka is crazy. Its the capital city of Bangladesh, comprised of around 12 million Bangladeshis. Its polluted like you’ve never seen - day or night, the sky is gray haze, and visibility is limited to a few kilometers (keeping in mind that Bangladesh is laser level flat). The people are perennially friendly, and never does one feel threatened. And there’s grocery stores that sell $1 knock-off DVD’s - perfect for relaxing in the island of calm that is your hotel room.
If you ever need to travel within Bangladesh, take the Rocket - that’s the big paddlewheel river steamer network. Its slow (it took us 24 hours), but infinitely more comfortable and relaxing than the 9 hour bus ride would have been. Consider: the roads are horrible and pitted, making bus rides extremely bumpy; the bus seats are built to Bangla-scale - way too small for the average Westerner; and they’re rather harrowing - two friends texted us today to say that their bus hit and killed a boy, and then peeled out of there to avoid the bus driver being mobbed and killed. Then again, the Rocket liners have a habit of sinking.
Rural Bangladesh is a wonderful, fascinating place. I’m woken up every morning by a succession of dog packs barking, cats fighting, roosters crowing, and mosques broadcasting calls to prayer. After a day or two, it seems entirely natural.
Anyone not Bangla is Elvis. Seriously, when my wife and I go into the bazaar, there’s 50+ people following us around in a big group, shouting stuff about whatever were buying, asking out names, and where were from. As odd as it may sound, this too becomes natural very quickly, and its actually disconcerting to wander around alone.
There’s a profound disconnect between state of existence and state of mind here. The most destitute people here live in the “landless zone” - a squatter village for those who don’t own land. There’s no electricity, no running water, no police, no healthcare, no services of any kind. And life consists of backbreaking fishing and manual labor, followed by carving a home out of mud, bits of lumber and tin. And in the middle of all of this, smiling crowds will pile around you, drag your around to their home, their friend’s home, the river bank or wherever, and generally have a great time. Perhaps its easy to maintain a cheerful disposition when you’ve never known anything else.
Were in a town of 50,000 people. There is not a single bank. In fact, the closes bank is 3-5 hours away in Khulna. Consider the implications for the economy, the financial services infrastructure and everything else - its wild how cut off from the world we know this place is.
I’m writing this post on my laptop, connected to a cellphone, which is connected to the Internet with unlimited bandwith for $15/month. The cell network never goes down, in a town where the electricity outages regularly outlast my laptop battery. This is the essence of leapfrogging, and I wonder what the social implications will be from the penetration of technology into a people who haven’t had any chance to acclimatize to it.
Volunteering is a wonderful experience. There’s nothing more satisfying than falling into bed after a day of spinecrushing manual labour under a sweltering bangla sun, helped on by a beaming family.

That’s it for the moment, but thank goodness I’ve finally got this internet connection hooked up - its great to be back online, and profoundly satisfying be so connected from such a remote place.