To the Bridge and Back
For some reason that sounds like something from The Lord of the Rings. Anyway, it was, in fact, an afternoon walk with a purpose - to explore some more of our town. I had also spied a few almost western looking shops when being taken somewhere last week in a CNG (those mini autos that transport you around) and was keen to find out where they were - and found them - and the bazaar we had been taken to last week and hadn't concenrated on the direction we were taking - always too much to see! So here we go folks on this adventure. Enjoy, but also be thankful you were born where you were. There, but for the grace of God, could have gone you and me. If you were female your life would have been very hard unless you where born into a wealthy family, but even then you would not have the freedom you do as a Kiwi.
First stop is one of the many shoe cleaning and repairing men. I had spied this young man the previous day when going to find a pair of more elaborate jandals to wear to school because my shoe had fallen apart at the side leaving around an eight centimeter gaping hole (stitching came undone and where he had been glued). When presenting him with it he gave the nod that he could fit it - he proceeded to apply the glue with his finger after sealing the stitching that was still intact. He then put it aside to semi dry? Next he meticulously cleaned off the residue of the glue left on his finger by vigorously rubbing it in the top edge of the tin. Then he dealt to another customer who wanted the shoes he was wearing cleaned and refurbished. So the customer slips on the pair of the spare sandals provided while his shoes got attended to. After giving the shoes a vigorous brushing he applied a black liquid to the shoes and before long they looked like new. About half way thru this he went back to my shoe to place the top and bottom of it meticulously back into the right position then put it aside again.
Now for the stitching up he used some interesting tool to get started and it no time it was all done for a cost of 20 taka. I know this means nothing to you but I will be kind and convert that to between 35 and 40 cents depending on the currency exchange rate of the day. Could do with him in NZ as we tend to throw out shoes that need fixing if they aren't expensive ones. The cost of shoe repairs in NZ is rather high. I really shouldn't have told you this because you will all be collecting up your shoes for me to bring should I return next year!
Just as he was finishing off came the sound of unexpected music and along the road was coming a small procession of Hindu woman with a mini band behind them. The band guys were very keen to be photographed and played to the camera - as you can see below.
We saw two unattended cardboard boxes each containing about 15-20 chicks on the roadside with no water for them, but they seemed quite happy. In each box was a chick that had dye on its feathers - we assumed it was the male one.
These rooves were better than some others in the area at had some other sheets of iron placed over other that must have leaked. Bricks had been placed on them to keep them in place and one even had old cushion on to do the job.
The lady on this billboard is from Chandpur and is the Minister of Education. I attended a ceremony where she came to the school the first weekend I was here and there were numerous speeches, police escort, and the accomanying pomp and ceremony followed by numerous photographs. Hopefully, the school will get some extra funding for the special needs part of the school.
Any open space is good for cricket. From the top of the bridge we cheered them on - much to their delight and others started to congregate around us and join in. The boys must have felt very pressured to perform well with all the attention.
This was not the end of the loading but something started happening on the other side of the bridge that I could not ignore - a woman was yelling out as the man she was with was being very aggressive and would not let go of her arm as he tried to drag her along. People started paying attention but I started bellowing like a bull at him and trying to get across the bridge between the traffic to confront him. By this stage others were joining in and one of the CNG driver pulled up beside her to see if she would get in but this didn't work either - he eventually let go of her as as she scuttled of her persued. She was headed to a much more populated area and I was unable to keep up. Either was she would have been in for a tough time once home behind closed doors. Grrrrrrr
This is them below.
Now time to go down to the rivers edge and after that head home discovering more interesting things. Will do a new page for this. Will be same link with an "a" on the end.
