1. Warm up activity:
□ Find out the reasons why large groups of people from other parts of the world have migrated to Bangladesh and settled down over the ages. Also, discuss how and why in recent times Bangladeshis have gone abroad to seek a new life for themselves.
2. Read the following passage by Ihtisham Kabir and then attempt the activities that follow:
Bangladeshis in Italy
Last month, a 20-year dream came true: we visited Italy. While it was an amazing lesson in history, I was also taken by surprise at the Bangladeshis in Italy. I heard estimates of between 200,000 and 600,000 Bangladeshis in Italy.
I saw them in Rome, Florence and Venice (but not in Siena.) The ones I saw all had small to medium-size businesses. In Rome, they were selling handbags, sunglasses and tourist material on the streets. In Florence, we walked into a store selling 'Indian-looking' things - a 'monohori dokan' -only to find the owner was a Bangladeshi who had a chain of these stores in the city.
In Venice, they were selling trinkets-like little puppets made from balloons - on the Accademia Bridge and in San Marco Square. One seller told me these would not sell in Rome, but in Venice the tourists buy them.
They were incredibly kind and polite to us. The person in Florence-much to our protestations-treated us with cokes and ice cream, and sold things to us at large discounts. When it came to prices, they said "Pay us what you want-we are so happy to see a Bangladeshi tourist here." It was a kind of haggling in reverse. One street vendor in Rome, after selling a sunglass at 18 Euro to a European person, turned around and sold me a similar sunglass at 4.5 Euro. I wanted to pay him more, but, incredible as it seems, he would not take it. I think this barely covered his cost.
At a mini-flea-market of Bangladeshi stalls at the Tiburtina station in Rome, I fell into a discussion of the business. It costs them 1000-2000 Euros a month to rent each stall.
The work is very hard, and they live frugally. So they are able to save some money which they send home.
One seller in Venice said he can save up to Euro 1000 a month, but only if a lot of conditions are met (e.g. he has to sell an average of 50 euros' worth daily; his food expenses cannot exceed Euro 80/month, etc.)
I was inspired by their entrepreneurship and touched by their generosity and hope their Diaspora comes true soon.
Here is a stall at the mini-flea market outside Tiburtina:
3. Guess the meanings of the words in Column A from the context and match them with the meanings given in Column B:
Column A
|
Column B
|
amazing
|
hard to believe
|
chain of stores
|
surprising
|
protestation
|
a set of shops
|
incredible
|
economically
|
frugally
|
complaints
|
entrepreneurship
|
owning business
|
generosity
|
go beyond
|
exceed
|
a market set out
dress that sells
second hand or
cheap goods
|
the market
|
kindness
|
4. Answer the following questions:
a. What was the author's dream and what did he expect to see in Italy?
b. What are some of the occupations of the Bangladeshis the author met in Italy?
c. How was the author treated by the expatriate Bangladeshis?
d. What kind of bargaining took place between the author and some of these Bangladeshis?
e. What kind of savings do these Bangladeshis make and what do they do with them?
f. What is the author's feeling about these expatriate Bangladeshis?
5. Read the following statements and write 'T' if a statement is true and 'F' if it is false. In case of false statements, correct the information.
a. The author was not impressed by Italy's history.
b. The Bangladeshis the author met were big businessmen.
c. These Bangladeshis treated the author as they would do other customers.
d. The Bangladeshis he met were delighted to meet the author.
e. The Bangladeshi businessmen he met often sold him goods at low prices.
f. The author was deeply moved by his experience of meeting Bangladeshis in Italy.
6. What do the following idioms and phrases mean?
a. taken by surprise
b. haggling in reverse
c. estimates of
d. fell into a discussion of
e. if conditions were met
f. turned around
7. Convert the following into present tense:
a. was an amazing lesson
b. was taken by surprise
c. were selling
d. had a chain of stores
e. treated us with
f. would not take
8. Follow up activity: Group Presentation
Find out from the Internet or by talking to people more about Bangladeshis in Europe, the USA and Canada. What kind of work do Bangladeshis do in these countries? Give short presentations in the next class based on your findings.
If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:
Lesson 4: Bangladeshi Community in the UK
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