Dhaka elections: Ken Gibbs

 The Beast of Bodmin Moor

Today, Friday (5-7-2024) is Election Day in the United Kingdom.

Unlike in previous General Elections, we are obliged to bring photographic identification to the Polling Station as an additional check against voter fraud. Luckily, we live in a sleepy village where nearly everyone knows everyone else, so it’s a time to catch up on the local gossip as well as voting.

Don’t worry. This is not a diatribe against a corrupt government – though that might actually be warranted given the actions of the government that called this election – it is about a wonderful and maverick gardener whom we employed in Bangladesh when we were there between 1980 and 1985. His name was Jahangir Hussain.

Jahangir came to us via a recommendation of a colleague as he was reputed to have green fingers. Anything he handled, sprouted vigorously. It was as if he had the magic touch of Midas. He was ultra-reliable and, best of all, he loved our rescue Alsatian dog. Whenever I recall Jahangir, I have a mental picture of him squatting in front of some garden bed with our Alsatian called ‘Paisha’, patiently sitting beside him awaiting the call to see off a rat or a worrisome bird plundering a plant he was tending. Paisha must have been fluent in Bangla as there was a constant chatter going on whenever we saw them at work.

Jahangir sought the assistance of Paisha whenever the crab-woman came to the door selling fresh-water crabs. Jahangir knew that she sometimes brought less than fresh fresh-water crabs, so the routine was standard; he called Paisha who came knowing what his role was to be. As soon as the crabs had been emptied on to the grass, Paisha barked furiously while Jahangir collected only those crabs that ran the furthest.

Paisha wasn’t the only wildlife to assist Jahangir. One Christmas, we decided that buying a duty-free American turkey was a hugely unnecessary expense – besides, we neither of us liked turkey meat anyway – so we decided to buy a goose from the local market. The story of that goose must grace a later blog article, which will be worth waiting for, I believe.

Bangladesh saw a number of eventful elections which always seemed to have the potential for violence by protesters. Talking to Jahangir about these protests, gave us an inside view of the society. Jahangir didn’t see the protests as a risk factor for his own safety, but as an opportunity for himself, and when we asked at what time he wished to be released to exercise his vote, his immediate response was:

“Vote early; vote often !” Did he vote more than once, I wonder?