Bangladeshi Food & Fruits

All major hotels and most of the resturant in the country have western food or their menu but local dishes are normally more exotic. Curries of many kinds abound, cooked with a range of spices and hot curry powders some of the more favourite dishes are Korma, Rezala, Bhoona and Masala Gosht, Chicken, Mutton, Beef, Fish and Prawns, Chicken Afgans, Boti Kabab, Shutil Kabab and a variety of fish curries should be tried. Rice and mutton or chicken and khichuri are available in any reasonable restaurant.

Those who do not care for rice dishes can try mughlai parata, plain parata or naan, which go very well with curries. Sea food and sweet water fish are available in most of the towns. Fish-lovers should not misss smoked hilsa (Hilsha or Ilish is, our national fish), fresh bhetki and chingri (lobster /king prawns) malaikari, prawn dopayaza. In Dhaka a number of good restaurants including those run Parjatan provide local and western food. Vegetarians need not be frustrated. In each and every restaurant in Dhaka offer vegetable dishes.
    
Drinks:- The most widely used beverage and lemonade are favorite summer time drinks. Green coconut are also a good source of refreshing drinks and are available with street side vendors.Tea is available every nook and corner of the country. Soft drinks such as Royal Cola, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta, 7-up, Mirinda, Sun-crest and Sprite are available even in village. Hard drinks are sold in big hotels and selected restaurants including Porjoton. Drinking alcohol in public area is not recommended for foreigners.

Dessert:- Misthi Doi - sweetened youghurt and Halua - a common dessert made with eggs,sugar or carrots, sooji or wheat cream, almond and pistachio are the most common desserts. Sandesh- a milk based sweet meat. Zarda- sweetened rice with nuts, Firni- rice flour cooked in milk, sugar and flavouring, Rasgolla and Kalojam- two popular milk based dessert and made with sugar, flour and ghee, and Rosh Malai- round sweets floating in thick milk are almost a passion with Bangladeshis.

Pithas - a blanket term for cakes or pastries of different varieties such as Chitoi, Dhupi, Takti, Andosha, Bhafa Puli and Pua are popular winter time heats.
               
Fruits:- Bangladesh produes a wide variety of seasonal fruits but some grow throughout the year. These include mangoes, Lichies, Bananas, Papayas, Jackfruits, Watermelon, Pineapple, Coconut, Oranges, Guava, Star Apple, Black Berry, Barakul etc

This contain collect by www.everesttoursbd.com

Six Seasons Bangladesh

Barsa (June to August) Rainy Season:- In Bangladesh, which has both the world’s largest delta system and the greatest flow of river water to the sea, water rules the earth, and so the most important season of all is barsa, a time of lashing rains and tearing winds. In this season, 70 percent of the land is under water – water from rivers, the sea, rain, tidal waves, floods and the melting snows of the Himalayas. The rains are at first a welcome relief from the baking, dusty hot season. But as the rains continue, the land turns into a brown and watery mass, ever-changing in shape and texture. Fields and homes are flooded; people and animals have to move to higher ground. Food is reduced to pre-cooked rice, dal and jackfruit that ripen at this time. During the rains, most villages are isolated, accessible only by boat. The people become self-sufficient and depend on each other rather than the outside world. The rain has turned stagnant water fresh again. Children leap naked into ponds. Women swim in sarees. Men dive in wearing sarongs. It is during the rainy season that Bangladesh’s main crop, jute, begins to ripen and is harvested. Farmers dive down to the roots to cut them. The stalks are placed on high ground to dry. Aside from the practical problems, the rains and water also inspire the poetry, art and songs of the people.
                         
Sarat (September to October) Autumn:- As September begins, the skies are blue and a cool wind blows. The land turns into a carpet of bright green rice shoots while the smell of drying jute invades the air. Flowers bloom, the rice ripens and the harvest begins. Blue, gold and green are the colours of sarat – blue sky, golden sun and green vegetation from emerald to jade, pea to lime, shamrock to sea-green. In the green fields, white Siberian cranes, egrets and ducks hunt for food. Although the air is humid, there is a slight chill late at night.            
     
Hemanto (October to November) Late autumn:- Once the land has emerged from its watery grave, it is time to replant in new, fertile soil that is rich in nutrients. During this season, the land is at its luscious best. Festivals flourish to hail the harvest, the end of the floods, the coming of the new soil and the wonder of the rivers. The country’s troubadours are everywhere, dressed in bright clothes and singing for money. The land and its people come to life during hemanto, when the flowers bloom – jasmine, water lily, rose, magnolia, hibiscus and bougainvillea. By the season’s end, the air is no longer humid. Fresh scents replace the dry jute smell. Hemanto marks the start of the wedding season where receptions are held under red, blue, green or white tents.
    
Seet (November to December) Winter:- From mid-November to early January, the weather becomes more arid and less humid. The earth dries and dust forms. Warm clothes are pulled out. Young people play tennis, football, cricket and golf. Seet is also the season when people return to their ancestral villages, where they can experience once again the essence of Bangladesh – the harmony of man, beast, land, water and air.

Basanto (December to February) Spring:- The coolest days are from mid-December to February when the days are golden with light, the flowers are blooming and the nights and early mornings are chilly. Night guards wrap themselves up in shawls and blankets with scarves and hats pulled down over their ears. During basanto, the countryside hums with fairs, parades and commemorations. Arts festivals celebrate painting and handicrafts, poetry, music and drama. In Dhaka, basanto heralds the beginning of the social season with a frantic whirl of invitations to weddings, parties and dinners. Along with the cool weather comes the nation’s silly season – politics. To a Bangladeshi, politics is what alcohol or sport is to other nations. Everyone gets involved.

Grisma (March to May) Summer:- Throughout basanto, the weather warms up a bit each day until March 1, when the heat starts intensifying more rapidly. The soil turns a dusty khaki and then almost white. There are lightening and thunder storms and sometimes, icy lumps of hail crash down. The rivers dry out and are difficult to navigate. Grisma is also the peak time for the brick industry. Bricks are used for building and are a substitute for stone and gravel in Bangladesh. In the cities, the humid air is laden with dust, brick grit and auto fumes. The sun is a round red globe, beating down relentlessly. Everyone waits for the rains and the beginning of another cycle of seasons.

This contain collect by www.sundarbantourpackage.com

Glarios Bangladesh

Its only natural for a person to glorify his country.. but the feelings is overwhelming when someone from a distant land does the same. I felt the same way when I read the article published in the editorial of daily The New Nation by H.E Matsushiro Horiguchi, the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh. Special attention is drawn to the 2nd para where he highlights the contribution of the Armed Forces in the uplifting the image of the country international forum by perticipating in Peace Keeping Operations (PKO) under the UN umbrella.

The glorious achievements of Bangladesh
By Matsushiro Horiguchi, Japanese Ambassador
Fri, 17 Feb 2006, 09:29:00
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you some world-class achievements and important actors that Bangladesh has realised and produced through 35 years since its independence.
      
First is Bangladeshi Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), which lead other NGOs in the world. The contributions made by BRAC, the world's biggest NGO, and micro-credit concept developed by Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank are among the biggest achievements.
    
Second is the Bangladeshi personnel who have won honor for Bangladesh in the international society through their peace-keeping operations (PKO) under the umbrella of the United Nations. The number of Bangladeshi PKO personnel currently amounts to 9758, bigger than any other country, and their high standard of discipline and capabilities have gained full credibility of local peoples in African countries and elsewhere where they have been dispatched.
Third is the ICDDR,B (Centre for Health and Population Research) which invented the world renowned oral rehydration saline (ORS), silver bullet to eliminate diarrhea including cholera.

Fourth is women working in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry, which accounts for three quarters of the total Bangladesh exports.    
                       
Fifth is the Bangladeshi expatriates sending remittances worth US$4 billion, which amounts to the half of the total exports.     
     
Sixth Then come the architects. Mr. Fazlur Rahman Khan, who designed tallest skyscrapers in Chicago expressing Bengali richness and American vigor, and Mr. Muzharul Islam, who started from zero to achieve the development of the current Bangladeshi architecture are a couple of illustrious examples.
   
Seventh is the entrepreneurs of the private sector, who support remarkable growth of the Bangladeshi economy.    
Eighth is the folklore musicians, painters, and dancers who transmit and develop Bengali spirit and cultural richness.     
     
The victories and achievements that Bangladesh has realized since its independence and should be proud of as a nation. Bangladeshi people are losing their self-confidence, because they have been suffering from predicaments such as famine, floods and corruption. This endeavor is very significant for following reasons:
     
First :- National pride and self-confidence will motivate further development. More achievements in the fields that are mentioned in the special edition and new feats in other fields can be also facilitated.
   
Second :- Further development will enhance national confidence and can trigger a movement towards national unity for a better country.    
                        
Third :- Such a movement can bring about a national determination to take action in order to overcome confrontational politics and eradicate corruption. Though they have been blamed for hindering Bangladeshi development, few concrete actions has been taken so far.
    
Fourth :- The portrayal of their national pride and self-confidence to the outer world will make people in other countries reevaluate Bangladesh and improve their perception which has generally been unfairly negative.
     
Conclusion :- Thus, the campaign to cultivate national pride and self-confidence of Bangladeshi people will bring further development of Bangladesh. I hope that the Bangladeshi government and its people in unity make utmost efforts to continue the campaign to reach the ultimate goal of success.

Campaign for the next year's general election has started already. I believe that a party is highly likely to win if that party could send a positive message to the people like: "Let's restore national pride and self-confidence as Bangladeshis. Let's make Bangladesh a country deserving such pride and self-confidence. We thus propose such-and-such policies and procedures to realize this." I believe that such a constructive competition should greatly contribute to a free and fair election.
     
I hope that Bangladeshi people become affluent within ten to twenty years and remember this campaign as an important turning point towards the development of the country.

      © Copyright 2003 by The New Nation     
Winner of Novel Peace Prize, Dr. Mohammed Yunus, Managing Director, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, said information technology, renewable energy and micro credit put together produce synergy and elaborated the use of micro-credit to fund rural solar and solar-powered mobile phones. He stressed the need for research and development to lower costs of solar technology and make wind energy viable.

step with the abounding vitality of the time, structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan (1929 — 1982) ushered in a renaissance in skyscraper construction during the second half of the 20th century. Fazlur Khan was a pragmatic visionary: the series of progressive ideas that he brought forth for efficient high-rise construction in the 1960s and ‘70s were validated in his own work, notably his efficient designs for Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center and 110-story Sears Tower (the tallest building in the United States since its completion in 1974).
     
One of the foremost structural engineers of the 20th century, Fazlur Khan epitomized both structural engineering achievement and creative collaborative effort between architect and engineer. Only when architectural design is grounded in structural realities, he believed — thus celebrating architecture's nature as a constructive art, rooted in the earth — can "the resulting aesthetics … have a transcendental value and quality."

This contain collect by www.everesttoursbd.com

Bangladesh History

Before Independence:
The history of Bangladesh is related to that of the larger area of Bengal, which became independent of Delhi by 1341. After a succession of Muslim rulers, it was conquered by Akbar, the great Mughal emperor in 1576. By the beginning of the 18th cent., the governor of the province was virtually independent, but he lost control to the British East India Company, which after 1775 was the effective ruler of the vast area, which also included the Indian states of West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, and Bihar.Bengal was divided by the British in 1905 into West Bengal and East Bengal, with East Bengal being more or less coterminous with modern Bangladesh. Since the new province had a majority Muslim population, the partition was welcomed by Muslims, but it was fiercely resented by Indian nationalist leaders who saw it as an attempt to drive a wedge between Muslims and Hindus. The partition was withdrawn in 1911, but it had pointed the way to the events of 1947, when British India was partitioned into the states of India and Pakistan.

Pakistan consisted of two “wings,” one to the west of India, and the other to the east. The eastern section was constituted from the eastern portion of Bengal and the former Sylhet district of Assam and was known until 1955 as East Bengal and then as East Pakistan. Pakistan's two provinces, which differed considerably in natural setting, economy, and historical background, were separated from each other by more than 1,000 mi (1,610 km) of India. The East Pakistanis, who comprised 56% of the total population of Pakistan, were discontented under a government centered in West Pakistan; the disparity in government investments and development funds given to each province also added to the resentment. Efforts over the years to secure increased economic benefits and political reforms proved unsuccessful, and serious riots broke out in 1968 and 1969.

Independence to the Present: The movement for greater autonomy gained momentum when, in the Dec., 1970, general elections, the Awami League under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (generally known as Sheikh Mujib) won practically all of East Pakistan's seats and thus achieved a majority in the Pakistan National Assembly. President Muhammad Agha Yahya Khan, hoping to avert a political confrontation between East and West Pakistan, twice postponed the opening session of the national assembly.
The government's attempts to forestall the autonomy bid led to general strikes and nonpayment of taxes in East Pakistan and finally to civil war on Mar. 25, 1971. On the following day the Awami League's leaders proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh. During the months of conflict an estimated one million Bengalis were killed in East Pakistan and another 10 million fled into exile in India. Fighting raged in Dhaka, Chittagong, Comilla, Sylhet, Jessore, Barisal, Rangpur, and Khulna. Finally India allied itself with Bangladesh, which it had recognized on Dec. 6, and during a two-week war (Dec. 3–16) defeated the Pakistani forces in the east. Sheikh Mujib, who had been chosen president while in prison in West Pakistan, was released, and in Jan., 1972, he set up a government and assumed the premiership; Abu Sayeed Choudhury became president.

Rejecting Pakistan's call for a reunited country, Sheikh Mujib began to rehabilitate an economy devastated by the war. Relations with Pakistan were hostile; Pakistan withheld recognition from Bangladesh, and Bangladesh and India refused to repatriate more than 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war who had surrendered at the end of the conflict. Armed Bengali “freedom fighters” fought Bihari civilians in Bangladesh, particularly after Indian troops withdrew from Bangladesh in Mar., 1972.

Tensions were eased in July, 1972, when President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan (who assumed power after the fall of the Yahya Khan government) and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India agreed to peacefully settle the differences between their countries. Pakistan officially recognized Bangladesh in Feb., 1974. Subsequently, India and Pakistan reached consensus on the release of Pakistani prisoners of war and the exchange of hostage populations.

Bangladesh was gradually recognized by most of the world's nations. It joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1972 and was admitted to the United Nations in 1974. In 1972 the country's major industries, banks, and shipping and insurance firms were nationalized. Despite Mujib's popularity as the founder of independent Bangladesh, high rates of inflation and a severe famine resulted in a governmental crisis. In 1975, after becoming president under a new constitutional system, he was assassinated in a military coup; after two additional coups later in the year, Maj. Gen. Zia ur-Rahman emerged as ruler, beginning a period of military control that lasted into the 1990s.

In 1981, Zia was himself assassinated in a failed coup attempt; his successor was replaced (1982) in a bloodless coup by Lt. Gen. Hussain Mohammad Ershad, who assumed the presidency. In an effort to gain legitimacy, Ershad later resigned his military office and won a disputed presidential election. He was forced to resign in Dec., 1990, amid charges of corruption, for which he was later jailed (2000).

Elections held in Feb., 1991, brought the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) to power, and Khaleda Zia, the widow of Zia ur-Rahman, became prime minister. In 1994, nearly all opposition members of parliament denounced Zia's government as corrupt and resigned their seats. After a series of general strikes called by the opposition, parliament was dissolved in Nov., 1995; major opposition parties also boycotted the ensuing Feb., 1996, elections. Zia was returned to power, but the opposition mounted protests; she resigned and an interim government headed by Habibur Rahman was installed.

New elections held in June, 1996, resulted in a victory for the opposition Awami League, led by Hasina Wazed, daughter of Bangladesh's first prime minister. As she struggled with the country's ongoing economic problems, a series of opposition-led strikes, beginning in 1998, once again paralyzed the country. In July, 2001, a caretaker government headed by Latifur Rahman was appointed in advance of parliamentary elections in October. Zia and the BNP won a landslide victory in the voting, and she again became prime minister. In 2003 the Awami League began a series of rallies and occasional strikes to mobilize opposition to the government. Deadly attacks on rallies in Aug., 2004, and Jan., 2005, provoked a series of nationwide and local strikes and protests by the League, which accused the government of trying to assassinate Hasina Wazed.

This contain collect by www.coxbazartourpackage.com