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The South
Asian Life & Times - SALT |
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Contents
Art
Threatened
Dwellers
Rom Whitaker
Tee
Time @ Delhi
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Sips from a Broken Teacup
Four decades after they
fled Bangladesh, from a remote tea plantation in Sylhet across the border to
India, Raihana Hasan has written a riveting account of her ten years on tea
plantations in what was once East Pakistan.
In doing so, she has captured beautifully
the colonial lifestyle of plantation managers and also given a personal
account of living through the harrowing days that eventually led to the
creation of Bangladesh.
Raihana went to the isolation of a tea plantation in
East Pakistan as a young bride from Karachi – a city bustling and abuzz with
people and action. Her husband was then the Assistant Manager of a
British-run tea estate. Acclimatisation to a new and an alien lifestyle was
not easy. Her husband’s support and his sense of humour helped her along in
her new role and she gradually settled down to an elite and a privileged
life of charming colonial bungalows, chhota hazris, cooks, servants,
plantation clubs, and parties – and also raised two little boys. And then
things began to change – the dark clouds of Bengali resentment against the
Pakistani regime drifted towards the tea estates. Fear enveloped the bliss
and quiet of this remote area, as failed talks between leaders gave rise to
violence, and terror crept into the valleys of Sylhet as well. Threats from
the Bengali militia became an everyday occurrence. Betrayals from close
quarters, endangered their safety - more importantly that of the children.
Pakistani army was unable to evacuate them. Then one day, when danger loomed
very close, Raihana and her husband, together with their two youngsters,
packed a few belongings, entrusted their lives in the hands of a smuggler,
and escaped to India. That was the first leg of their tormented flight to
freedom. It was a long journey before they reached Karachi. A very well written book, Raihana Hasan has captured
the spirit of the times. It is a book about human values, about
relationships – and a lifestyle that is now in the past.
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