BootsnAll Travel Community

RE: http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/06-06/happy-families-dhaka-bangladesh.html

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for all your wonderful articles about my beloved motherland Bangladesh. I have lived in the UK in the past - on 4 different occasions for a total of 15 of my 45 years - in Scotland, England and your home - Wales. I disagree that the English can't show emotion (as you suggest in your Star Weekend magazine article today 27th July 2007)- when I started working as a junior doctor on British paediatric wards in the early nineties, I was astounded by how emotionally the doctors and nurses could get involved with their patients and their relatives.

In contrast, here in Bangladeshi hospitals, our bedside manner is atrocious - to put it mildly. You say in your Star article that you've recently been hospitalised in a Dhaka hospital. It was presumably one of the three new expensive hospitals in the city. So you may not have seen the crass indifference that most of my medical colleagues and I display on a daily basis to patiets under our care - even if they are paying for our care. We are, I agree an emotional people. But we are also very influenced by social rank - and doctors are way up there in the pecking order and can and do treat ordinary people like dirt.

I currently work in a hospital in Ashulia, Savar where we are trying to instill good quality of care even though we only charge 30 taka for a consultation. Please call me (01713 047131) and we'll arrange a visit if you like.

As for the enormous respect we have for our mothers, this of course comes from Islam. When a companion of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked him "Who deserves the best companionship from us?", he replied,"Your mother." The companion asked, "Then who?" He again replied "your mother" and the same a third time. The fourth time he replied "Your father." The hospitality thing for relatives also has its roots in Islam. One day Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was found despondent outside his home. When asked why he was looking so miserable, he replied, "We haven't had any guests for a whole week and I'm fearing that Allah is planning to dishonour me."

Thanks once again for making me feel good about Bangladesh every time I read your articles. You even made me feel good about the airport - I couldn't believe it!

Warm regards
Khurshid Talukder
Consultant Paediatrician
Centre for Woman and Child Health
Ashulia, Savar