I am sorry that this might come across as a little snarky, but this begged to be commented upon. Over at DP Blog, Rumi is ruminating during a visit back home. Discussing the encroachment of water bodies in the capital by developers and well-connected individuals, Rumi spends a little time reflecting the various names for water bodies in Dhaka. He writes:

…A water body, when it goes through a posh area, it is called a lake. The same thing when it enters middle class Dhaka, it renames itself as a Khal or jheel. A Gulshan resident can not tolerate a Begunbari or Meradia resident living beside a lake!!

I am sorry, Rumi. It is actually the other way round. It’s not that “the Gulshan resident cannot tolerate a Begunbari or Meradia resident living beside a lake!!” It’s that the Gulshan or Dhanmondi resident cannot tolerate living beside a khal or jheel like the middle class! (!!, if you will.) This of course speaks volumes about the mindset of the residents of the Gulshan/Banani/Baridhara (and Dhanmondi) crowd. And Rumi’s slip is revealing of the disconnect between this crowd (and many returning expats) and the rest of the population.

Moving beyond the initial class-condescension, the rest of Rumi’s post is great, and points out a bunch of interesting thing, with untempered enthusiasm and optimism. Keep writing, Rumi bhai!