Peace TV and Empathy

There is a Bangladeshi tv channel called Peace TV. It comes right after CNN in my line-up. Peace TV is often entertaining for 30 seconds or so, because it often has small children re-enacting islamic parables, or giving speeches to a room full of bearded and topi-ed men. Yesterday, however, it grabbed my attention for much longer than that.

The program's name was:

Should Rushdie Die
The Judeo-Christian Verdict

And, the man giving the lecture, to a large room full of bearded men and ladies with their heads covered, was, I believe, a South Asian muslim who grew up in South Africa. His principle argument rested on the prevalence of the word F*(%ing in The Satanic Verses. According the Ahmed Deebar, who has offered to give $50,000 to any charity if PBS or ABC will give him 5 minutes to tell the real story about Rushdie, this word is used in conjunction with 55 other words, one from every letter of the alphabet.

But, it isn't enough that the word is used, it is how it is used. See, if the phrase read "fucking women", then this man would very animatedly say:

Father Uncle Cousin King - ING women

So, throughout the program, he kept on saying Father Uncle Cousin King ING americans and

Father Uncle Cousin King - ING barbarians. And then, he would go on to make some convoluted argument about how Rushdie should die.

Didn't we put that argument to bed years ago?


Riding a Camel
No, there are no camels in Bangladesh. But yesterday, I took a cycle rickshaw from the "Diarrhea Hospital" towards my home...and was quickly reminded of the careful balancing act needed when riding a camel. The rickshaw chose to travel through some back alleys, an extremely narrow market where 2 rickshaws could not pass, and men being bullheaded, we had a standoff, over brick paved roads (Really Bumpy!) and other choice locales. The upside to this ride was that we avoided the polluted major roads, where the buses are blowing black soot at you. And, I got to see how they sell fish... basically, on a burlap sack, with a boy half-heartedly waving at the flies.

Empathy towards aliens
It has taken many years, but I finally have some grasp over the tribulations experienced by my many green, web-footed friends. :) I mean, of course, the aliens, who have to contend with our Immigration system.

In a few hours, I will depart on an overnight bus for Calcutta. This trip out of the country has been made necessary because some surly visa officer at the Bangladeshi embassy in DC chose to give me a visa that allows me to stay only 30 days at a time. I thought I was on top of things...I approached someone at the ICDDR,B who is used to helping the many foreigners who pass through there with their visa issues. He first thought I was Indian...and very kindly told me that although the countries pretend to be friendly, it will be very hard for anything to happen. I then said - well, I have an American passport. His demeanor changed instantly. He said "No Problem. We will get you an extension for 2 months. You must pay me 7000 taka for the visa fee, and 3000 taka for miscellaneous expenses. You won't get a receipt for the miscellaneous expenses, but I have to manage the police, when they come to make an inquiry. "

Then, 2 days later, he tells me that the visa fee has been raised to $130, so I have to pay him an additional 2100 taka. I do, and he returns my passport to me, with a copy of a receipt that he says is from the government, indicating that the extension has been filed for. Then he tells me that I can't leave the country until I get the permit. And my old visa, which allows for multiple entries to Bangladesh, is void. So, I'm basically hostage here, because my return flight to the US is from Dhaka... if I want to see family in India, then I'll have to apply for a new visa to return to Dhaka.

Why didn't he tell me such things initially? Alas, the best solution appears to be that I leave the country every 30 days for 24 hours at least. So, I'm off to Calcutta tonight, since tomorrow will be my 30th day in Bangladesh.