Knowing people in Bangladesh

No, this is not another diary of my travels, nor of places or restaurants that I have visited this past month in Bangladesh and Qatar. This is about people, people who I met, some planned and some unplanned. This is about people who I knew from before, friends, relatives, and those I had not met before; people who I met for the first time in my life. Some of those people I had corresponded with either through mail, social media, or phone. And some who I met purely by chance but who left a lasting impression on me.

During the month-long stay in Bangladesh I met scores of people besides my relatives and friends who I have known for decades. But a visit to Bangladesh after a hiatus of seven years is long. The younger ones have become adults, some were born in the last seven years. The old friends have become older. Some of them I met after 15 or 20 years. I was glad they recognized me with a face that has aged over the years. But they were all known to me in my youth. I was happy to see them again, “age cannot wither them, nor custom stale their infinite variety.”
Among the people from outside this domain were persons who are established in their profession -- some of them nationally known figures. First among them was Matiur Rahman, chief editor of Prothom Alo, the largest circulating Bengali newspaper in Bangladesh. We met for the first time. He is the publisher of my first Bengali book, Dui General-er Hottakando, a project that was inspired by him. My meeting with him was not just for personal get-to-know reasons, but also to express my gratitude for publishing my book.
Through him I got to know some of the senior journalists of Prothom Alo and staff working for Prothoma, the publishing arm of Prothom Alo. I met Anisul Haq, the author, Sohrab Hasan, poet and journalist, AKM Zakaria, deputy editor, Manzurul Islam, Merina Yasmin, Prothoma Publications’ coordinator who helped the publication process of my book, and dozens of other journalists of Prothom Alo. Sohrab Hasan and Manzurul Islam even took my interview about my book which was published in Prothom Alo, May 30, 2024. I met them for the first time, but they made me feel as though they had known me for years. Although in reality I had only spoken with Editor Matiur Rahman before over phone a few times from the USA, they made me feel as though I was one of them.
In this long gallery of faces that now appears before me, the second set is those government officers who are now retired but they wanted to meet with me because they had read my writings in newspapers or read my books. These officials are far junior to me as I had left the civil service well before they had joined government jobs. It was a humbling experience to sit with them and get to know them. Each one of them had a distinguished career rising from entry level to the highest civil service job of secretary or additional secretary. It was a rewarding two hours that I spent with them in the Officers’ Club in Baily Road one afternoon.
And how can I forget the tour of the newly founded, and the only Kidney Foundation Hospital in Sylhet that was given to me by my cousin Zubair, one of the founders of the hospital, along with my other cousin, and my namesake Dr Ziauddin of Philadelphia? This was a momentous tour given to me by the attending doctors of the hospital (now running with eighty dialysis machines donated by people from both home and abroad). Some of these doctors have given up their jobs abroad to work here. It was a proud moment for me to talk with these doctors and other volunteers and admire their dedication.
The spirit of people, specially of those in the streets and villages have given me hopes that future generations will take Bangladesh many notches above where it is now.
But I want to end this narrative with two other people who I met purely by accident. These people do not fall into any of the categories I have discussed. First is Nuru Miah, a caretaker of my cousin Zubair’s parental home in Darsha, Sylhet. Nuru Miah is a farmer’s son, who has been working as a domestic help in Zubair’s village home. While working for this family and also farming his small village plot of land, Nuru Miah sent his children to school and college. His older daughter graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business. His son is about to graduate from college.
The second person is Dabir Mollah who worked as my driver and guide during my stay in Dhaka. Dabir lost his father when he was seven. His mother raised him along with seven other older siblings. He never went to school. His mother could not afford it. He started to work as a helper in a neighbouring auto repair shop as a teenager. There he not only learnt auto repair, but also driving, and later started to work as a driver. He ended up owning a car, first an old one, and later a new one. He now has his own car rental business as an owner-operator. I found him through a friend.
For nearly one month Dabir drove me around Dhaka and the vicinity and he knows the roads like a spider operating a web. Dabir’s ambition is to take his business to a higher level, maybe one day to own a car rental company, which he admits will be a challenge. But his main focus is to educate his only son and give him an education that he missed. His son studies in a private English medium school.
My one month visit in Bangladesh that included Dhaka city, Gazipur, and Sylhet, was exhausting. But it was a tour of love, inquisitiveness, and fulfilment. Growth and development of Dhaka and other places are remarkable and sometimes beyond expectation. Traffic and congestion may have baulked me at times, and the flow of easy money earned through nefarious ways are appalling, but the spirit of people, specially of those in the streets and villages have given me hopes that future generations will take Bangladesh many notches above where it is now. Dabir Molla and Nur Mia are such examples.
Ziauddin Choudhury has worked in the higher civil service of Bangladesh early in his career, and later for the World Bank in the US.