BangladeshWeb Blogs

It simply amazes me to see and read about things that truly make us Bangladeshis true survivors. Having sustained GDP growth well over 6 percent amid political chaos and hartals, achieving self sufficiency in food production for 140 million people in landmass that roughly equals to Iowa or Wisconsin state and that too after fighting natural calamities are just few of the many examples of our strong willpower. I am sure examples like these in micro levels can be found somewhere in Bangladesh in a daily basis. Take for example the blaze in the Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC) Bhaban that completely burned down the headquarters of private satellite channel NTV and newspaper The Daily Amar Desh on February 25, 2007. The Daily Amar Desh didn’t interrupt its publication even for a day. With the help of others in the press and the strong willpower of its employees, it managed to publish the very next day (February 26) after the fire engulfed the establishment. NTV on the other hand came back on-air in just over a week on March 6, 2007. These are true and ongoing testaments of resolute Bangladeshis that makes me proud of them.

I often wonder about what makes us survivors and gives us ability to fight unthinkable. Is it our nature? Is it the scarcity and poverty that forces us to fight against the odds to survive? Whatever it is, it surely makes us rise above the water and swim to the shores. You are bound to find these survivors just not within the boundaries of Bangladesh but in almost every corner of the world. You will find them doing things to survive that they have never imagined before like villagers never been to Dhaka going across the world and driving yellow cabs in the middle of Manhattan or doing gardening jobs in the middle of deserts in Muscat.

In affluent parts of the world with greater natural resources and massive landmass, it is not unusual to see areas being abandoned for farming and habitation if it is found to be flood prone or if falls victim to some man-made disasters. The option is unthinkable in Bangladesh where every square inch of the land is as precious as gold. A recent story published in BBC news titled "New technology to fight the floods" is just another testament of our determination to fight to survive where it talks about floating see beds that rises with water to cope with flooding problems.