The Ideal Desi Son-In-Law

Desi aunties and Desi girls are keeping a look out for any guys who are an engineers, lawyers, or doctors. But the one guy who has the “highest market value” are guys who are doctors or in the process of being one. It’s amazing what a certain position in society can get you. Desi aunties just want a prestigious son-in-law to be in their families. The reason is how our society is shaped, unlike American society which deals with money. Desi societies do deal with money but the name and occupation weighs more. In the Desi society, how many can say I have a doctor in my family? Not many I suppose. The process of becoming a physician is very rigorous and hard. Medical students have to struggle through their classes studying constantly by jugging in endless amounts of caffeine and studying through sleepless nights. One of the medical instructors told his students “you’re all MDs, you have to struggle”.

For those who are not Desis, I’ll explain the meaning for these words. “Desi” means anyone who is from South Asia. Also, whenever someone refers to a woman who is old enough to be their mom, they are considered to be aunties; the same goes for men and uncles.

Being a doctor or having a doctor in the family seems overrated to me. I didn’t know brown people cannot be anything else other than doctors; not just doctors but also lawyers and engineers. It’s apparently a shock to Desi uncles and aunties that there are more occupations in the job market and more degrees in college other than pre-medicine and a doctor degree. Heck, if a Desi guy wants to do something daring like a music, I’m sure his parents would have a heart attack.

Marriage plays an important role in Desi society. Around a Desi youth’s 20s, marriage comes up. It’s more important for Desi girls than Desi guys. Around the early 20s, a Desi girl’s future husband gets sought out. Initially the candidates are selected by the occupations they have. The occupations they look for are…as you guessed it, doctors, lawyers, or engineers. If there are no guys who are in those three occupations then the next categories are guys who are in the occupations of accountants or business owners.
One of the things that pisses me off is that when it comes to a doctor, he is not looked upon for himself as a person, but for his status and his money. I know money plays an important role but girls, and especially their moms, look at the materialistic aspect than the person they have interest in.

Here is a true story that I heard from a friend. This guy, Russell, gotten accepted to medical school, he was scheduled to move to another state in a couple of months to attend that school. He went to a Desi function (cultural program) and saw a very beautiful girl, Zara, and he became interested in her. He asked his friend Sabrina, who knew Zara, to look into the matter. Sabrina showed Zara Russell’s picture and Zara found him attractive but her interest was passive because many guys are after her. Zara asked Sabrina more about him. Sabrina described the good characteristics of Russell and his personality; and then Sabrina mentioned that he’s going to medical school. Zara became more interested after hearing that and told Sabrina, well at least my mom will be happy if I hook up with him.

I don’t understand why some Desi girls want the easy way of trying to live a good life. They don’t want to get a decent education. Every other Desi girl I’ve encountered told me, “I’m lazy, I’ll just marry a doctor”.
In my opinion if girls can judge a guy by his money and occupation, then the guys, especially doctors, have the right to select a girl based on her beauty and figure.

Are Commited Relationships Worth It?

I look around and see girls and guys messing around. They go out with each other without the thought of being in a long-term commitment. I grew up in America for majority of my life. I lived in America since I was 6-years-old and now I’m in my mid 20s; so I can’t be classified as a FOB. Some call me a FOB because I don’t drink, sleep around, or do drugs, but then again how I conduct myself makes me better than the druggies. I find it very unusual that going out without the intention of getting married it ok with people of my generation. I think I am who I am because of how strictly my family raised me but then again I’ve rebelled many times and had my fun against my family’s wishes.

For this long I stayed with my principle of doing my best to staying single and waiting for the right girl but then again life is short. I had my fun with friendly flirtings, dates, and crushes with girls, but to actually go out in a committed relationship is another story. Sometimes I think, if girls can go out and have fun, and the chances of me ending up marrying a girl like them is high, then why can’t I? Perhaps I’m not giving any potential girls any chances. I look the other way if Desi girls, who are not of Bengali origin, show interest in me. I may have to broaden my potential region beyond Bangladesh. I’m a very stubborn person and I’m stuck hard about my relationship view, but as I see my friends and family members getting engaged and getting married, sometimes I wish I should take a chance.

In my undergrad year, a Punjabi Pakistani girl showed interest, but since she was Pakistani, I ignored her. It’s not that I hate them; I have many female friends who are Punjabi Pakistani. However, someone who cannot speak Bangla nor someone who does not know of the Bengali culture seem to be in the bottom of my list. I don’t mind speaking Urdu, it’s a beautiful language, but for some reason I cannot let go of Bangla or let Urdu overcome it. I want my kids to know Bangla first and English/Hindi second.

Some may think I’m stuck up, but I’m really not. I waited this long for the right person so, why mess around with girls now? Finding the right Bengali girl is hard. People joke around that Bengali girls should be avoided if they are Sylheti, North Bengali, Noakali, or Barishal, but to me it’s doesn’t matter as long as she’s Bengali. I would even cross the border if she was West Bengali or Assamese Bengali from India. A famous quote of the Bengali Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore said “Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.” So, how do I receive it, I don’t know.

Finally English Language is Discovered to be Important in Bangladesh

UK to teach English in Bangladesh via mobile
Rhys Blakely

The British Government has joined forces with the six largest mobile operators in Bangladesh to unveil the world’s largest project to teach a language using mobile phones.

The country may once have formed part of the British Empire, but learning how to speak English in Bangladesh is not easy. Years of fervant nationalism discouraged English speaking. As a result, even most of the country’s English teachers have only a tenous grasp of a language that the Bangladesh Government now admits is necessary to do business with the world.

Starting this week a scheme managed by the BBC World Service and funded by the British Government will offer the 50 million Bangladeshis who own mobile handsets the opportunity to dial up a series of three-minute-long English lessons for 3 takas (2.5p) each — less than the cost of a cup of tea at a roadside stall in Dhaka.

The venture, which is part of a £50 million drive funded by the British Government to promote English speaking in Bangladesh, is one of the most ambitious yet in the growing “m-learning” sector. Similar projects include Nokia’s Life Tools business, which offers educational services alongside farming news and astrology updates through handsets in India.
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The BBC mobile tutorials will be updated every week and supported by a website and a television soap opera set in Bangladesh and Britain. The lessons are designed to equip young Bangladeshis for white collar jobs, help small businessmen improve communication with overseas clients and assist housewives in tutoring children. The low charges — essential in a country where much of the target audience earns less than £2 a day — are possible because of deals forged with Bangladesh’s six main mobile phone operators, who are cutting their standard rates by half. Its creators say the mobile project, called Janala (Bengali for window), has the potential to boost an export-dependent economy that is being stymied by a chronic lack of English speakers and a creaking education system.

With three billion mobile phones now in use globally (compared to 1.5 billion television sets), the use of handsets as educational tools is increasingly being explored.

In the Philippines, some teachers can request educational video content via text message, which is then delivered to a television at the school via satellite. In Thailand, graduate students sit tests via text message, while in Japan — where mobile phones outnumber computers five-to-one — handsets have been used for several years to teach English as a second language. One survey found that 70 per cent of Japanese students preferred receiving lessons on mobile phones than on computers.

Mobile learning may be particularly useful in countries where populations are widely dispersed, such as in Mongolia, where special English lessons have been developed for waiters and bank tellers, which are distributed through text messages.

The uptake of technology comes amid fears that large parts of the developing world face an education crisis.

In Bangladesh, as much as 30 per cent of children make no real progress in learning English from the time they enter primary school to their graduation from high school at the age of 16, a recent report found.

In India, meanwhile, there are fears that a massive young population — about a third of the country is under 18 years of age — may prove a crippling burden sufficient to derail the county’s economic renaissance if huge numbers are forced to work in unskilled menial jobs for a lack of education.

A World Bank report published in 2004 found that as much as 25 per cent of Indian teachers are absent at any one time — a statistic that helps explain why about a third of India’s 1.2 billion people cannot read or write, compared with just 9 per cent in China, experts say.

The Indian Finance Ministry recently said that if the country fails to educate its young they will become a growth-sapping “demographic nightmare”

Source: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6918153.ece

So finally the Bengali nationalism, which blinded the educating class, is weakening. Without the English language to play a major role in Bangladesh, the country will go no where.

Down by Jay Sean

So finally a Desi joined Cash Money Records last year. This song has topped the music charts and I’m happy because Jay Sean is a Desi.

An October Update

It’s been a while since I blogged here. I thought for a second, I paid for this domain name so, I may as well blog on this site. I just wished WordPress.com would actually allow Google AdSense to be displayed on these sites so we can get something for our time writing quality content. Of course I don’t think my writing is worth much without a degree in my field. I currently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgia State University. I majored in History, minored in Chemistry, and I also concentrated on pre-medicine. It’s a lot to take in but I handled it in 4 ½ years but I want to be educated no matter how lazy I may feel at times.

I changed my picture on the top bar. That’s the ideal environment that I want to live in. It’s from a certain forest in Chicago, IL. My hometown is Atlanta, GA; I can’t stand the weather there. Some days it’s hot and the next day it’s freezing. It’s not the fluctuating weather that irritates me, it’s the heat. When the day is hot, then I have to turn on my AC in my car, and that requires consumption of gasoline, and gasoline prices are ridiculous as it is. There are other various reasons but that was just one. It’s almost been a year since I registered my domain name with my name. I can’t believe time flew by that fast. This blog post was not intended to be informative, I just wrote it to expel my thoughts out.

Overwhelming Studies

I never thought I would fall behind on my studies. I’m still working on getting a car. All this walking to the store consumes so much of my studying time. Over here on the island I don’t even feel as if I’m in school instead, I feel I’m on vacation. Everyday it’s the weather is sunny and the ocean is a 15-minute walk from my house. It’s like studying in paradise; however, there’s nothing to do here. All I do is go to school and come back home. Life is simple here, there are no skyscrapers and the tallest buildings top out at 5 floors. However, the negative side to this island is the driving; there are no stop signs or traffic lights.

Living Abroad

I’m currently living abroad in one of the Caribbean islands. So far the experience is nothing new to me. I find the environment a mixture of my hometown of Bangladesh and American suburbs. Over here in the islands it’s about 80 degrees Fahrenheit at least, and it can go up on certain days.

Me and my room mates found a house here, and we’re renting it for a cheaper price than usual. However, we’re really over paying in some sense because the real estate agents charged us excessively so they can gain commission.

President Obama Wishes Ramadan Kareem to All

I was very impressed by listening to his speech. This is truly a great president who notices the significant role of Ramadan in America.

Welcome Ramadan

Ramadan is right around the corner, and all of us Muslims are preparing for it. Here is a nice Urdu song that reminds us of the holy month.

Bolna by Hridoy Khan

This is a soothing song by Hridoy Khan. This song shows that Bangla music is changing as new and new artists are coming to the main stream music industry.