adhunika blog

This article is written by our guest blogger Fariha Sarwat. This has been published earlier in Unheard Voices Blog.-Admin

The Newage front-page reports that among other things in Bangladesh, the state of gender-based violence at the work place is also deteriorating. Big surprise! The news comes as a result of a survey conducted by the Social Science Research Council of the Planning Commission, under Ministry of Finance and Planning. The news report by BSS states that -˜92.3 per cent working women of urban areas and 88.3 per cent of rural areas have been badly treated by various types of violence by their male counterparts”. Therefore, on an average, 90% of all women suffer from gender violence at their workplaces. I honestly can’t say that I am surprised.

The study reports that - ˜huge number of adolescent girls and women were being sexually abused in their workplace but it was the most hidden and underreported from violence as there is a tendency to deny the incident.” Almost all the women I know, including self and FnF and those I have worked with, have complained about facing gender-violence of some form or other at their workplace. It’s a malice we are all equally aware of, but powerless against. Even this report”for all it’s gravity and accuracy”is going to be well received, but after being discussed, debated and dissected, will be forgotten and our fates will remain the same. Perhaps, women who are violated every day have already lost faith in our institutions, laws and elders and their ability to protect us. Perhaps, it’s because most people still don’t even understand what constitutes gender-violence/sexual harassment, not even the victims themselves. Perhaps, it’s because we’ve all somehow contributed in making things worse for us by encouraging violence in our silences. Perhaps because we’ve become complacent about this and now choose to take it in our stride”after all, independent, successful women who’re trying to make it in a man’s world should just learn to ˜deal with it” and not complain (because men tell us they don’t).

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By Farzana Chowdhury, Bindu, member of Adhunika.

It seems like nowadays everyone wants to emigrate somewhere else from Bangladesh. Like me a lot of Bangladeshis are immigrating to Canada. When I go back home to Bangladesh, my friends and family tell me that I am far better off living in Canada than I would be living in Bangladesh. When I ask my friends or family members why they want to emigrate to Canada or North America, the answer is usually, to provide a better life for their children, to give them a secure environment and also for themselves. When I ask myself this question, why I moved to the States and subsequently to Canada, my answer is different. I got married and moved to the States where my husband was a student. Truly, North America never attracted me in the way it attracts many people back home, I loved living in Bangladesh, and I had a wonderful career. (more…)

By Moutushi Islam & Tonima Das.

Nila, her husband and their two years old daughter have landed in the United States of America, with the dream and hope for a new life of success, stability, and solvency. However, the reality speaks differently. All they have encountered are a very new culture, different climate, and a range of foreign foods. Nothing is similar to home. Nothing gives the comfort of the home they left miles away.

During this process of settling down, Nila and her husband have started looking for a regular income - a first step to a secured life in the US. They look forward to a decent job, something better than what they have done in Bangladesh. While her husband looks for a full time job Nila hopes to get a “good” job with the “green card” in her hand. With a graduate degree and months long working experience as a teacher in Bangladesh Nila expects either a teaching opportunity or may be a part time position in a bank while she can also look after her toddler. Unfortunately the “green card” turns out to be a mere entry pass to the US and does not ensure a regular job in this foreign land. For many immigrants, the dream of having a stable income usually turns into a dreadful journey of doing ‘odd job’ at ‘odd hours’. Besides, many other daily needs like a car to commute or a driving license gets into the way and stops one to take up a good job in the US. In addition, the primary information for getting training and starting a job are essential and many of them who come here for the first time are not aware of those needs. (more…)

Adhunika is proud to present the premiere show of ‘*Stories of Change*,’ a
documentary by Simon and Sara, in New York.

The film travels through rural

backgrounds, and religions. ‘*Stories of Change*’ salutes these five brave
women for their resilience in the face of adversities. From a
sixteen-year-old spin bowler of the national women’s cricket team to a chief
photojournalist of a daily newspaper, each of these women’s stories portrays
not only their daily struggles for survival but also their perseverance to
succeed as women.

Stories of Change is produced by Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research
Programme of Development Studies Programme BRAC University in collaboration
with BEGINNING.

Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research Programme of Development Studies
Programme BRAC University. The Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research
Programme, producer of the documentary, is a five year international
research programme consortium which is based in the Development Studies
Programme of BRAC University. It seeks to research the hidden pathways by
which women’s empowerment has taken place, the potentials and the
constraints.

*External Links: *
http://www.storiesofchange.net/
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=27847
http://www.newagebd.com/2008/mar/21/mar21/xtra_also1.html

*Proceeds from this screening will go to Adhunika Foundation continuing to
fund projects which brings about social change in the lives of Bangladeshi
women through the use of technology.*

*DETAILS:*

STORIES OF CHANGE NEW YORK PREMIERE:

*DIRECTOR:* Kamar Ahmad Simon
*EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:* Sara Afreen
*RUN TIME:* 55 minutes: *LANGUAGE:* Bengali with English subtitles

*DATE:* Saturday, June 21, 2008

*TIME:* 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Screening followed by Q & A, Moderated by Dina M. Siddiqi

*LOCATION:*
Pioneer Theater
155 E 3rd St
(Between Avenues A and B)
New York, NY 10009

*TICKETS *$10 (early bird), $12 (at door)

*LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE!*

Recommend the following book by Monica Ali, Synopsis is followed by an up-close & personal interview with Ms. Ali, which was taken after her book was short-listed for Booker Prize Award, enjoy!

Synopsis:

Monica Ali’s gorgeous first novel is the deeply moving story of one woman, Nazneen, born in a Bangladeshi village and transported to London at age eighteen to enter into an arranged marriage. Already hailed by the London Observer as “one of the most significant British novelists of her generation,” Ali has written a stunningly accomplished debut about one outsider’s quest to find her voice. What could not be changed must be borne. And since nothing could be changed, everything had to be borne. This principle ruled her life. It was mantra, fettle, and challenge. Nazneen’s inauspicious entry into the world, an apparent stillbirth on the hard mud floor of a village hut, imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents when she is married off to Chanu, a man old enough to be her father. Nazneen moves to London and, for years, keeps house, cares for her husband, and bears children, just as a girl from the village is supposed to do. But gradually she is transformed by her experience, and begins to question whether fate controls her or whether she has a hand in her own destiny. Motherhood is a catalyst — Nazneen’s daughters chafe against their father’s traditions and pride — and to her own amazement, Nazneen falls in love with a young man in the community. She discovers both the complexity that comes with free choice and the depth of her attachment to her husband, her daughters, and her new world.While Nazneen journeys along her path of self-realization, her sister, Hasina, rushes headlong at her life, first making a “love marriage,” then fleeing her violent husband. Woven through the novel, Hasina’s letters from Dhaka recount a world of overwhelming adversity. Shaped, yet not bound, by their landscapes and memories, both sisters struggle to dream — and live — beyond the rules prescribed for them. Vivid, profoundly humane, and beautifully rendered, Brick Lane captures a world at once unimaginable and achingly familiar. And it establishes Monica Ali as a thrilling new voice in fiction. As Kirkus Reviews said, “She is one of those dangerous writers who see everything.” (more…)

From Our Archive, enjoy!

The biggest, most important event of a girl’s life in Bangladesh, and anywhere in the world, is her wedding day. Earlier, the wedding was a family event in Bangladesh. Pre-wedding celebrations such as “Paan Chini” (Engagement), “Gaye Holud”-s took place at home while the wedding would only be an outside event that also if the guest list was too long. The mother, aunts and sisters participated in cooking, flower ornaments were made by the younger cousins and sister in laws and the stage decorations and the Alponas where all done by family members and friends. Idea of fun was to work together days and nights to present the bride to be in the most attractive way the family could afford. The satisfaction of the parents came from being able to marry their daughter off, in pride, amongst colorful events arranged by themselves with merriment and gaiety around the house for an entire week.

While the wedding remains the most significant event of a girl’s life, today the celebrations have taken a very different look in the country. In today’s high priced market of Bangladesh a wedding is not just finding your daughter or son their life partner, it is also a contest where the two parties tries to spend more than the other trying to portray a wedding scene from one of the popular Hindi serials or a Bollywood movie. This new practice takes its toll over the middle class people of the country who want to provide their offspring a memorable wedding yet struggle with the expenses of it.

Some of us, the girls that is, actually look forward to the lavish events. While some others deny any interest in the gold jewelry, expensive saris and extravagant decorations yet participate in them nevertheless. How many of us today can completely reject such practices and go back to the earlier family weddings? Why do we feel the urge today to compete in jewelry or saris with everyone else around us disregarding each others social status or income sources? (more…)

From Our Archive:

Several years ago when I was passing by an area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, I was quite shocked!  I used to know this place as a playfield for the neighboring kids. But I noticed big construction piles, mounds of sand, cement and concrete in that field, the playground was gone.  It was being developed for new multi-story apartment buildings! Those kids will not have a field to play anymore. What will they do now instead of playing in the field?

Thanks to technology they might watch TV or play video games.  Even in US, I have seen many kids spend most of their free time playing video games or browsing Internet.  The more urban and tech-savvy we become, more and more our children lose their connection with the natural world. We don’t need to take our children to a park or natural setting; they have their own virtual world in the computer! Some parents are relieved because by staying home their kids are safer; they are safe from outside bullies, drugs, or many other bad influences. No disagreement with parent’s concerns for their children; but do we know what impacts it might have on those little brains for not being in touch with the natural environment?

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By Priyobhashini

I have written this to a friend who is stuck in an extremely unhappy relationship (marriage ). And the only thing holding her back from walking out, is the fact that even her parents want her to try it out harder. The main bone of contention between my friend and her husband is the fact that he doesn’t give her much time. He spends every evening out on his own with his friends and when she protests this, he says this is something he cant let go of and she will just have to learn to leave with it.

My friend says that she married for companionship and a family life, and if he chooses to spend all his free time without her, why should she spent her whole days and weeks running his house, his servant, the cooking, the maintenance of his house and looking after his mother too. What for she asks?

Her mother-in-law says, she should try “harder” to please her man, and if he doesn’t change, she will just have to accept it and learn to live with it, since, traditionally women hold a relationship together by a little compromise.

Her own mother doesn’t her to come out of a marriage with the bad name of “her” walking out.

Below is what i wrote to my friend. I would really appreciate if you comment further on this. (more…)

By Krittika Ghosh MSc.

Normally when one writes about health issues, it is usually in conjunction with a particular event such as “Breast cancer awareness month” or “walk against MS”. While these are all worthy causes and events, wouldn’t it be great if we were raised awareness of these issues throughout our every day lives as well as in these once a year event?

One of the major health issues that has affected my family has been diabetes. I recognized that my dida (maternal grandmother) had diabetes when at the relatively young age of 55 she passed away due to diabetes related complications, followed by my dadu (maternal grandfather) a few years later. My mom was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she was in her early 40’s and living in NYC. I found myself changing roles and trying to reason with my mom whenever we were out to eat and she just had to have that bowl of kheer or gulab jamun (the women in my family are infamous for their sweet tooth)..at the same time, I myself was not eating much healthier than my mom, but I thought “I’m young…this is an old person’s disease…let me enjoy myself while I can”…While family members cautioned me about “not eating too much mishti”, I did not pay much heed. I now realize that perhaps we Bengali’s take diabetes’s association with “sugar” a bit too literally since just eating mishti doesn’t necessarily contribute to the disease. (more…)

From our Archive:

Tents, excited faces, flowing and vibrantly colored “penguin gowns” with the mortar board - long, interminable speeches with congratulatory notes, sitting on the edge of your chair, wondering whether you will stumble as you walk up when your name is called. Mis-pronounced names and associated giggles, the occaisional catcalls and whistles - and then the downpour!

Mid-May to mid June in the US is the graduation season for most colleges and universities. Card shops and Hallmark go out of their way to step over each other with their creative “Congratulations, Graduate!” cards, knick-knacks and gift items. Proud grandparents and parents crisscross the nation, making their way to graduation ceremonies and back. (more…)