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The reason that there are so many accidents in Bangladesh is because young kids still in diapers are fixing the engines of busses and aeroplanes. I talked to one of these kids the other day and he was like, well I attach this red wire to the blue wire and it makes things go. I asked him why. Silence. Long, shifting, awkward silence. I have no problems whatsoever with the rampant child labour in Bangladesh, if it makes things cheaper and more convenient, than great! But please, one of these kids looks like he’s working on a nuclear bomb.

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Posted 2 years ago

People are sex starved here, so weddings are a big deal. For the two getting married; they’ll finally, at the age of 28 get to ‘do it’ (well 14 for the girl). And for all the other young people, because they could meet someone at these meat markets with whom they might get married, and then be able to ‘do it’ with (or more convincingly, escape the fear of bitter poverty with). And the old people who are marrying off their kids, and can now stop ‘doing it.’ It’s an exciting time. But one of the garish little touches that I love is covering the apartment block you live in with gigantic fairy lights when there’s an impending wedding. It doesn’t look half bad, but I don’t know how anyone manages to get any sleep at night.

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Posted 2 years ago

It’s scary being out at night in a foreign place. Conspiracies are everywhere. In Dhaka there are faint splashes of yellow and white light at night, surrounded by blind darkness. Faces gather secretively around them. Discussing, whispering, watching. Something Caravaggio painted. Then a dull expectation builds. You don’t know what but something is about to happen. Something has been planned. You look behind you.

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Posted 2 years ago

Something different again.

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Posted 2 years ago

I made some jokes about street fights earlier this week. And it’s true that most are harmless. But the one I witnessed today was of a different kind. It was a brutal attack on a thief by four or five other men who were merciless. You could hear the thunk of bone hitting bone and the sheer ferocity of the violence propelling the combatants back. The thief ran away through the sprawling traffic and two or three of the men gave chase. Last I heard was that he had gotten away.

I saw a commotion from about 10 meters back. I checked that I was on AF and that the ISO was high enough for the cloudy day. Then suddenly the first punch was thrown. It crunched into the thief ‘s face. I was 5 meters away. My first reaction was to get as close as I could. But something was pushing me back. The violence seemed to be creating shock waves that were pushing me back. I fought through it and got to 2 meters. I got in three shots of the action which must have lasted 5 or 6 seconds. To me it seems to have happened much faster as I sit here trying to count out 6 seconds. I think I reacted well. Fast. I was a little afraid but my curiosity threw that aside and pushed in. I’m disappointed I didn’t get more shots, and better timed shots. I liked the feeling of it all.

Most of the crowd still didn’t know what was going on.

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Posted 2 years ago

Sometimes you make a mistake. Then you look down at the camera and it’s not one of those ten million mistakes you make daily. Those throwaway mistakes. No, it’s a mistake you want to keep. It’s a miraculous mistake that hints at something that you couldn’t have imagined before.

Tonight as I was coming back home, it grew dark, and the streets were flooded and I was bouncing on a rickshaw. I made some mistakes. And here’s how they turned out. A bit technically sloppy, but perhaps a clue to the future.

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Posted 2 years ago

Dhaka is flooded right now. But that isn’t cause for the grief, and protracted insurance claims that would happen back home. Here the rain is a time for celebration. I’ve never seen people so overjoyed to get completely wet. Sure, it increases the chances of a host of diseases and ailments, but people here love it. (Of course the middle class drag themselves inside, they want to live, to prosper etc.) You see poor kids run free of their homes and bask in that elemental task of getting your body and all of your clothing soaked. There’s something amazingly cleansing about being rained on. Something so carefree, so removed of all conceit, that people can’t help but laugh. When it rains, you hear laughter spill out. The massive water-fights are a bonus.

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Posted 2 years ago

Rickshaws are it. A chariot of the gods. But instead of horses you have another human being profusely sweating as they drag you around for 20 cents. I travel around on rickshaws everyday. They aren’t as cheap as buses but they are a lot more fun.

Rickshaw drivers are the most offensive people I’ve ever met. I mean offensive in a good way. Within days I found out ‘madhar chote,’ means ‘mother fucker.’ A necessary phrase that the guide book, once again, let me down on. The other great thing about rickshaws is their pace. Driving a rickshaw is pretty tough, it’s like riding a bike but with a cow tied to it. So rickshaw driver only get up to a maximum of 20 kph. A perfect scenic pace. Also, a rickshaw is totally open. You can check out all the hot girls stuck in traffic with you and all the guys holding hands. i heart rickshaws.

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Posted 2 years ago

You think these two guys are gay? They’re not gay. They’re just really good friends. Islam frowns upon same sex relationships. But it frowns on inter sex relations (unless you’re married) even more, and so you get photos like this. Here, it’s like Mardi Gras is everyday. Guys caress each other, stroke each other’s butts, hold hands lovingly. In a bus, I’ll have at least three crotches slap against my head in the midst of the crush. (By the third time I’m pretty sure it’s not an accident.) It’s all just so, … so confusing.

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Posted 2 years ago

The coolest people I’ve met in Dhaka are, quite unexpectedly, all ducks. I met these guys at a dubstep gig the other night. That’s Kwan in the centre trying to suck his own dick (‘Cause you can’t bitch!’), and Tez to the right (who copies Kwan like all the time), and that’s Bree to the left.

Anyway, Kwan sent me this Gawker article on Dash Snow dying, saying ‘Hey ma, the rains are coming!’ He’s pretty fucking hilarious when he’s not high.

We’re going to Waterworld next weekend. Tez reckons ‘water sports are heaps better on acid.’ He probably heard Kwan say that.

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• friends

Posted 2 years ago