I was born in the country of Bangladesh, and my father has land and rents to tenant farmers. He also had a store in Saudi Arabia and came home for a month every few months.  My mother was always there to teach me and help me when I was growing up.  We lived in a Village far from the city of Dhaka.   

     Bangladesh has always had a predominately Agricultural Economy.  The fertile soil is the most important natural Resource in Bangladesh.  Bangladeshi who lives in the countryside work on small farms that average 3.5 acres.  Although modern farm machinery has found its way to Bangladesh, on most farms, oxen still pull the ploughs used to till the soil.  Bangladesh’s economy faces many challenges and needs improvement.

     Another part of Bangladesh’s economy is its Industries.  The country has a thriving textile industry, with modern factories producing garments for overseas markets.  Many of our local stores sell men’s shirts and ladies blouses made in Bangladesh.  M y brother-in-law, who married my oldest sister has an office in Dhaka and has many enterprises.  One of these is sewing.  He has contracts with the military, to provide uniforms for the different branches such as Army, Navy and Air Force etc.  I remember visiting this sewing area which was located behind my brother-in-law’s office building.  Because the boss was related to me, I was able to talk to the workers.  They told me that they started sewing at 6:00A.M in the morning and worked until 9:00P.M. They also worked 7 days a week. The sewing machines that they used would be considered antiques in this country.  Even though they looked old they were very much able to turn out excellent finished products.  The workers wore no shoes or stockings and seemed be very comfortable.  The sewing machine operators received bonus money if they produced more than was required.  I remember thinking as I left that hot and crowded room that I would try and find an occupation that didn’t have such long hours.  I remembered those thoughts later in school when some subjects required much thought and a lot of work. 

     I started to school in a small building.  There were about 15 to 20 students in the class.  We would get out of class about 3.00 P.M. in the afternoon and then play soccer until we were so wet we could hardly drag our wet clothes around.  When I was about 10 years old my father was concerned that I wasn’t doing well in school and he also thought that I needed more discipline.  He enrolled me in a private school in Dhaka close to my sister’s house so she could come on weekends and visit me, or if I was sick she could come to the school to see me.  At this boarding school we lived in 6 bed dormitories.  We got a wakeup call at 6.00A.M. in the morning at which time we had exercises after which we had prayer time.  The punishment for fighting was unpleasant and our families were summoned when we were guilty of such an infraction. One time I was caught fighting and my sister came and read me the riot act.

     It seemed as though I had been getting sick a lot, so my father took me out of the boarding school.  I arrived home in time to attend my youngest sister’s wedding.  Because I had been sick I was as thin as a rail which showed up a lot in all the wedding pictures.

     When a girl reached the age of 18 to 22 the parents usually decided it was time for her to marry.  They would go in search of a suitable mate for her.  They wanted a close match in the following areas.  The couple should be close in education, same religion, age fairly close, family wealth about the same and appearances and ethnics about the same.  These plans were quite successful as the divorce rate in Bangladesh is practically zero.  The wedding ritual for my sister was quite long and complicated.  The guests were invited by a member of my family personally.  Great amounts of food were served to about 350 guests.  The bride and groom wore wedding outfits that were made especially for the wedding and were very colorful and appealing to the eye.  There were wedding feasts at both the home of the bride and the home of the groom.

     I want to be in my home country 0f Bangladesh when I marry.  Young people, including myself look forward to the Bangladesh wedding.  I will delay my marriage because it will be worth it to marry a girl of my own race and religion.  Even though I have been in the United States for over 12 years, the way my parents raised me will be the same as I plan to raise my children.