adhunika blog

By Moutushi Islam & Tonima Das.

Nila, her husband and their two years old daughter have landed in the United States of America, with the dream and hope for a new life of success, stability, and solvency. However, the reality speaks differently. All they have encountered are a very new culture, different climate, and a range of foreign foods. Nothing is similar to home. Nothing gives the comfort of the home they left miles away.

During this process of settling down, Nila and her husband have started looking for a regular income - a first step to a secured life in the US. They look forward to a decent job, something better than what they have done in Bangladesh. While her husband looks for a full time job Nila hopes to get a “good” job with the “green card” in her hand. With a graduate degree and months long working experience as a teacher in Bangladesh Nila expects either a teaching opportunity or may be a part time position in a bank while she can also look after her toddler. Unfortunately the “green card” turns out to be a mere entry pass to the US and does not ensure a regular job in this foreign land. For many immigrants, the dream of having a stable income usually turns into a dreadful journey of doing ‘odd job’ at ‘odd hours’. Besides, many other daily needs like a car to commute or a driving license gets into the way and stops one to take up a good job in the US. In addition, the primary information for getting training and starting a job are essential and many of them who come here for the first time are not aware of those needs. (more…)

Adhunika is proud to present the premiere show of ‘*Stories of Change*,’ a
documentary by Simon and Sara, in New York.

The film travels through rural

backgrounds, and religions. ‘*Stories of Change*’ salutes these five brave
women for their resilience in the face of adversities. From a
sixteen-year-old spin bowler of the national women’s cricket team to a chief
photojournalist of a daily newspaper, each of these women’s stories portrays
not only their daily struggles for survival but also their perseverance to
succeed as women.

Stories of Change is produced by Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research
Programme of Development Studies Programme BRAC University in collaboration
with BEGINNING.

Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research Programme of Development Studies
Programme BRAC University. The Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research
Programme, producer of the documentary, is a five year international
research programme consortium which is based in the Development Studies
Programme of BRAC University. It seeks to research the hidden pathways by
which women’s empowerment has taken place, the potentials and the
constraints.

*External Links: *
http://www.storiesofchange.net/
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=27847
http://www.newagebd.com/2008/mar/21/mar21/xtra_also1.html

*Proceeds from this screening will go to Adhunika Foundation continuing to
fund projects which brings about social change in the lives of Bangladeshi
women through the use of technology.*

*DETAILS:*

STORIES OF CHANGE NEW YORK PREMIERE:

*DIRECTOR:* Kamar Ahmad Simon
*EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:* Sara Afreen
*RUN TIME:* 55 minutes: *LANGUAGE:* Bengali with English subtitles

*DATE:* Saturday, June 21, 2008

*TIME:* 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Screening followed by Q & A, Moderated by Dina M. Siddiqi

*LOCATION:*
Pioneer Theater
155 E 3rd St
(Between Avenues A and B)
New York, NY 10009

*TICKETS *$10 (early bird), $12 (at door)

*LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE!*

Recommend the following book by Monica Ali, Synopsis is followed by an up-close & personal interview with Ms. Ali, which was taken after her book was short-listed for Booker Prize Award, enjoy!

Synopsis:

Monica Ali’s gorgeous first novel is the deeply moving story of one woman, Nazneen, born in a Bangladeshi village and transported to London at age eighteen to enter into an arranged marriage. Already hailed by the London Observer as “one of the most significant British novelists of her generation,” Ali has written a stunningly accomplished debut about one outsider’s quest to find her voice. What could not be changed must be borne. And since nothing could be changed, everything had to be borne. This principle ruled her life. It was mantra, fettle, and challenge. Nazneen’s inauspicious entry into the world, an apparent stillbirth on the hard mud floor of a village hut, imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents when she is married off to Chanu, a man old enough to be her father. Nazneen moves to London and, for years, keeps house, cares for her husband, and bears children, just as a girl from the village is supposed to do. But gradually she is transformed by her experience, and begins to question whether fate controls her or whether she has a hand in her own destiny. Motherhood is a catalyst — Nazneen’s daughters chafe against their father’s traditions and pride — and to her own amazement, Nazneen falls in love with a young man in the community. She discovers both the complexity that comes with free choice and the depth of her attachment to her husband, her daughters, and her new world.While Nazneen journeys along her path of self-realization, her sister, Hasina, rushes headlong at her life, first making a “love marriage,” then fleeing her violent husband. Woven through the novel, Hasina’s letters from Dhaka recount a world of overwhelming adversity. Shaped, yet not bound, by their landscapes and memories, both sisters struggle to dream — and live — beyond the rules prescribed for them. Vivid, profoundly humane, and beautifully rendered, Brick Lane captures a world at once unimaginable and achingly familiar. And it establishes Monica Ali as a thrilling new voice in fiction. As Kirkus Reviews said, “She is one of those dangerous writers who see everything.” (more…)

From Our Archive, enjoy!

The biggest, most important event of a girl’s life in Bangladesh, and anywhere in the world, is her wedding day. Earlier, the wedding was a family event in Bangladesh. Pre-wedding celebrations such as “Paan Chini” (Engagement), “Gaye Holud”-s took place at home while the wedding would only be an outside event that also if the guest list was too long. The mother, aunts and sisters participated in cooking, flower ornaments were made by the younger cousins and sister in laws and the stage decorations and the Alponas where all done by family members and friends. Idea of fun was to work together days and nights to present the bride to be in the most attractive way the family could afford. The satisfaction of the parents came from being able to marry their daughter off, in pride, amongst colorful events arranged by themselves with merriment and gaiety around the house for an entire week.

While the wedding remains the most significant event of a girl’s life, today the celebrations have taken a very different look in the country. In today’s high priced market of Bangladesh a wedding is not just finding your daughter or son their life partner, it is also a contest where the two parties tries to spend more than the other trying to portray a wedding scene from one of the popular Hindi serials or a Bollywood movie. This new practice takes its toll over the middle class people of the country who want to provide their offspring a memorable wedding yet struggle with the expenses of it.

Some of us, the girls that is, actually look forward to the lavish events. While some others deny any interest in the gold jewelry, expensive saris and extravagant decorations yet participate in them nevertheless. How many of us today can completely reject such practices and go back to the earlier family weddings? Why do we feel the urge today to compete in jewelry or saris with everyone else around us disregarding each others social status or income sources? (more…)