December 2024 In South Asia, weddings (for those who can afford them) are over-the-top affairs. In Bangladesh, outdoor lights are used to announce the upcoming betrothal of a daughter. At a minimum the street adjacent to her family home becomes a tunnel of light. Sometimes entire buildings are decorated (multi-story units). It feels like Christmas for about a week and then they are gone. A huge business exists in providing such displays. As I lived in a wealthy enclav

December 2024 The early history of Jamalkhan Catholic Church goes back to 1600 A.D. when the first Church was built by Fr. Francisco Fernandez, S.J. and dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. The first mass was celebrated there by Fr. Fernandez on December 8, 1600. For a long time, this center was under the pastoral care of the Cathedral parish, and officiating priests used to visit the parish for masses, feast days, etc. The majority of the parishioners were mo

The historic Ashkar Dighi is three centuries old and presently covers an area of no less than five acres, and so must be protected by law. The Detailed Area Plan (DAP) of Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) also requires that any water body exceeding 0.5 acre should be preserved. The authorities concerned, however, seem to be uncaring when the dighi's existence is threatened in encroachment, earth filling, and pollution. The age-old water body, with which the history of

February 2025 In Bangladesh, there is only one place to buy handicrafts and locally made good easily, Aarong.  Everyone middle-class and upward (and foreigners) shops there, and the store has branches in most major cities.  The atmosphere inside is relaxing and the quality of the goods, high.  The only problem for me was that the prices are several times higher than the "real" price of the goods. As I traveled around the city alone or with friends, I always seemed to be insid

July 2022 The lowly tricycle flatbed deliverymen are the backbone of moving things around Bangladesh. Upon first glance, people from...

March 2012 In the middle of old Dhaka, sits the abandoned Mughal Fort of Lal Bagh. Dhaka in its day was the capital of the rich,...

March 2012 It was may last day in Dhaka and AH and I were visiting a nice park in the upscale Gulshan neighborhood of Dhaka. Dhaka has...

Carved up, dried fish crab designs March 2012 Then and now The modern Cox's Bazar derives its name from Captain Hiram Cox, an officer of...

March 2012 a historical postage stamp of green On my first trip to Bangladesh, I toured around Dhaka both with bestie AH and also with...

March 2014 A strange legacy Tea is from China and the Chinese had a stranglehold on the world market for centuries. The British found...

Bangladesh Parliament Building This guy was hilarious Chandrima Udyan, Dhaka. March 2012 Moon Park On my first visit to Dhaka, AH was...

Zero Point, Shari River, Sylhet. (the hills are India) Shari River, Sylhet. March 2014 [from FB post: March 30, 2014] This is one of...

Jaflong Zero Point, Goyain River. March 2014 (Bangladesh to the left, India to the right) [from FB post: March 30, 2014] This is the...

Agora Supermarket, Panchlaish, Chittagong. February 2022 [from FB post: February 16, 2012] -- General Santos City, Philippines The...