Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A visit to Karwan Bazar slum

Last May'08 I had to go to Karwan Bazar slum because of a power point presentation which I was asked to do in my class project. So on a bright sunny day me and my friend Shafi went to Karwan Bazar SAARC foara mor through rickshaw from my hall. Reaching there we got down from the rickshaw and had to walk a little along Shonargaon Hotel to reach there. After 5 min we reached there.
The KarwanBazar slum is situated beside the rail lines. It is an illegal settlement. Here the trains are coming and going with a very frequent interval. I was a little bit scared while staying there.




It is quite dangerous to live in the slum. Because the distance between the railway and the house is only 6 feet.. But that doesn’t seem to make a big difference to the slum dwellers .They seemed quite used to it. The heights of the houses are only 5-6feet. The ventilation system of the house is very poor. There is hardly any light coming through the window. The houses are made of plastic, bamboo and wood.


A typical slum house in karwan Bazar slum

The economic conditions of the Slum dwellers are too poor. They live hand to mouth. The average earning of the people is only 100-200. Most of them are rickshawala, curt pullers……..

A mother tries to calm down her hungry children.

But the people of the slums are very my dear type as I noticed a strong social- bond among them . As I was carrying a camera and asking them questions, they thought I was a journalist!! They all started requesting to publish the news about this slum on the paper.

They are very happy with the little they have. While I asked them what else they need for a better life, they told me they are happy with what they have. Just the better access to water will help them to live comfortablely, nothing else !! May be this is the amazing characteristics of the low income level people of this country. May be that is why Bangladesh is one of  the happiest countries of the world.



The children were very  happy to see me as I was talking their picture. They found it very amusing as they could see the pictures directly in the LCD of my camera. Many children requested me to take photos of them. One of them was showing his tricks to impress me.



Thanks to this boy because of him my photograph was displayed in IIUPE.( I wish he could know it ).



Apart from watching the unhygienic & poor condition of the slum I really enjoyed it. Specially Those innocent smile of those kids still captivates my mind. It really was a total different experience.


2 comments:

Ahmed Sharif said...

this is a nice effort, Fahim........ some words with the photographs make a story much more compelling.... it gives a completeness to the work..... rather than trying to find fault with your work, I have more encouragement for you.....

keep up the good work...... learn from others; you'll know your own way and build up your own uniqueness...... good luck!! Sharif

ǾЙїšђ ҔЯїҟļłҟļłõ said...

2nd , 3rd and 5th photos are broken :-(

Loved the rest so much !