A Moment in Bangladesh

This is an excerpt from a longer paper written after my recent return from Bangladesh.

It’s been two weeks since I’ve returned home from Bangladesh and I can still feel the Bengali sun frying the back of my neck. The tingle of a fresh sunburn simmers my skin. I can transport myself back in an instant. My desk and chair effortlessly dissipate and soon I’m on a hard dirt ground breathing in Asia. A strange but expected combination of trash, curry, sweat, and smog is the perfume of Bangladesh and I breathe it in trying to secure it in my memories. I’m sitting cross legged under a make-shift canopy listening intently to the women of a char village. They are having their weekly “woman’s meeting” and today’s topic: divorce. They discuss dowry issues, widowhood, custody rights, and property rights and answer our questions to the fullest extent frequently talking over each other to make sure we get the full story. My professor seamlessly transitions from Bengali to English as everyone under the canopy soaked in the fusion of cultures. The thought of these women meeting together and discussing forms of their independence may seem inconsequential. However, in an Islamic nation where women have been marginalized for centuries, this is in all actuality, monumental.

People often ask me how it I “get around” abroad without speaking the language of the country. I often mindlessly respond with, “Most people speak English”. That day under the canopy the Bengali women made me feel something I didn’t know a group of strangers could make me feel. My professor translated the complexities of their answers and I watched these women passionately speak on behalf of themselves. I could understand them completely. In that moment, the saying “lost in translation” lost its meaning to me. Language is not a barrier when two people are involved in a common cause or simply interested in each other. They will understand each other if they have the will and openness to connect. Under that canopy in the Bengali village, every gesture the women made and every glint in their eyes made it clear what they were telling us and what they wanted.

Samuel P. Huntington coined the term “clash of civilizations” and I would assert that these clashes occur due in large part to cultural misunderstandings. The barrier between cultures can be bridged if the intent to do so is there. Cultural disputes arise because of a lack of understanding and compassion for another culture and as the world rapidly globalizes I worry that it is growing without the absolute necessity of cultural understanding. This could lead to radical misunderstandings resulting in massive human rights violations.

The women in the Bengali village are practicing their rights as women and independent people. Their culture, deeply rooted in Islamic traditions, may find this unacceptable which places the women in a difficult situation. They do not want to continue their subservience to men. They felt the need to create a woman’s group to discuss pressing issues and to empower themselves and each other. Their story extends to international relations as a whole. Modernization and the respect for tradition must be delicately balanced as to ensure positive effects of Globalization.