UP | uncultured project

This is one of my oldest digital photos. I took this around the time I started college (undergrad that is). This sight, from one of my many previous trips to Bangladesh, is probably one of the many that stuck with me until it manifested itself with this project.

I took this photo from a window from the stairwell of my decidedly well-to-do uncle’s house. I distinctly remember going to him and his eldest son and telling them that there is a man who is so poor that he is digging through the trash just outside their house. They shrugged it off and said “what can we do about it?”.

It seemed… bizarre… that my uncle and cousin could say that as they stood in an air conditioned, three story home graced with marble flooring and a big screen TV (they’ve since upgraded to a five story mansion with four plasma screen TVs by the way).

But, as I’ve talked about before, it’s not uncommon for well-to-do Bangladeshis (those part of the aristocratic dome) to brush off issues like poverty in their backyard. (That might also explain why some of my well-to-do relatives haven’t lifted a finger to help me out here.)

“What about the taxes?” asked one of the students. It was my last day of talks at the American International School in Dhaka. I was in the middle of recounting my experience doing Cyclone Sidr Disaster Relief. Everything seemed to be going well – but this question kind of threw me off.

“Uhh… taxes?” I asked. Before the student replied, I quickly gave him one good look and realized that he – unlike most of the students in the classroom – wasn’t an expatriate. Rather, he was among the small percentage of Bangladeshis that were actually rich enough to be able to send their children to this school. Judging by the expensive and fashionable Western clothing, perfectly matching accessories, and perfectly styled hair – he was from a rather well-to-do family.

“Yeah, you see,” he started to explain, “if local families wanted to give aid to the Cyclone victims using their own name – they weren’t allowed to do so. They had to give it to the military to distribute instead. And, anything we gave could be taxed. Don’t you think that’s a problem? A lot of people didn’t give aid because of that,”

I made a slight groan underneath my breath. Find out why after the jump…

Continue reading ‘The “Expat Bubble” vs. The “Aristocratic Dome”’