Some things I learned about Bangas while I was there. Add these to your Quiz Night list!
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Bangladesh used to be part of India (as was Pakistan) and was called
West Bengal. When Pakistan split from India in 1946, West Bengal went
with it.
* In the Liberation War of 1971, the catalyst
of which was a government-imposed law that Irdu must be spoken across
the country – which was rejected by Bangla-speaking people – Bangladesh
became independent from Pakistan.
* The country is one of the smallest but most populated countries in the world, and is predominantly Muslim.
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Bangladesh is home to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in
the world. The word Sunderban is Bangla for ‘beautiful forest’. It’s
home to the last remaining population of endangered Royal Bengal tigers,
of which there are only 400 left.
* Bangladesh has a
lack of rock for construction, and therefore there are hundreds of brick
kilns with massive chimneys scattered across the country. Once the
bricks are fired, they break them up into ‘rock’ to use as aggregate for
construction.
* There are no plastic bags in Bangladesh.
*
Jute is traditionally one of Bangladesh’s biggest products, but it is
now becoming less economical; nevertheless, you can see large quantities
of it being grown and processed in the rural areas. The jute looks like
teepees as it dries.
* All the auto-rickshaws in Dhaka
run on LNG (thank God – I can’t imagine how bad the pollution would be
in addition to that spewed out by all the cars and dodgy old buses!).
* Bangladeshis are the friendliest people on the planet (well this isn’t a fact, but I think it’s true).
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