A roadtrip in
Bangladesh. That’s one of my visions this year.
Well, I still have 10 more months to plan (and save) for that - for my greatest rickshaw ride ever.
More than just an ordinary transport vehicle, the three-wheeled cycle rickshaw is also a popular art in Bangladesh - a developing country somewhere in South Asia.
Cheap. Environment-friendly. Cost-effective. Rickshaw is one of the most common modes of transportation over short distances in Bangladesh particularly in its capital, Dhaka. An estimate showed that about 12 million Bangladeshis live completely on income from the rickshaw business. About 80 percent of Bangladesh’s population relies upon these bicycle-powered carriages.
Rickshaws provide jobs for inhabitants of Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in Asia. Official statistics reveal Rickshaw drivers are called rickshaw wallah in Bangla, who earn depending upon the rickshaw price that according to my source is based on four pointers: (1) the distance, (2) the weather, (3) whether you appear to be rich or poor and (4) whether you are a Bangladeshi or a foreigner. A rickshaw wallah only earns more or less 300 taka on a regular day, 150 of which is paid for the rent while the remaining 150 goes to his allowance. That would be just enough to pay his food and other expenses at home with his family.
However, recently, the Bangladesh government, in its efforts to reduce traffic congestion, plans to ban the rickshaws. It was met by several protests especially from environment advocates who care about the Bangladeshis who’ll be treated lower than Acura Legend floor mats if they lose their sole means of survival.
“Rickshaw bans harm the most vulnerable in society, mainly the sick, poor, women, children and the elderly; generally those who cannot afford or do not feel comfortable on other forms of public transport. To ban rickshaws also hurts small businesses that rely on them as a cheap and reliable form of transporting their goods,” said Syed Saiful Alam Shovan, a volunteer of Save Environment Movement.
A latest report from the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies showed that around 31 percent of the country’s rural population suffer the indignity of chronic poverty - low consumption, hunger and undernutrition, lack of accesss to basic health services, illiteracy and other deprivations for more than 10 years now.
If you will recall, India’s Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, was inspired by nothing else but a rickshaw.
Now, back to my roadtrip.
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