Bangladesh is a fertile, flat country to east of west Bengal. Before partition in 1947, it was called east Bengal. After Partition, it was called East Pakistan. When it became independent from Pakistan in 1971, it changed its name to Bangladesh. Bangladesh means `Land of the Bengalis.’ Like the people of west Bengal, Bangladesh speak Bangla. Most of them are Muslims but there are also quite a few Hindus.
The river Ganga and the river Brahmaputra meet in Bangladesh. Both are enormous rivers. They spread out to form a delta of many smaller rivers before they meet the sea. This means that there are rivers all over country. The rivers bring very good soil to the fields so people can grow a lot of rice. They also bring fish-and most Bengalis love eats to fish! Sadly the rivers sometimes flood. In 1998, millions of people lost their homes because of floods. Many people became ill because floods spread disease. Another danger comes from cyclones. The land near the sea is low and flat, so tidal waves from the sea can sweep away homes, animals and people.
Bangla talk
Bangladesh is a very dense population, so it is crowded and many people are poor. Less than half of the people can read and write. The average life of Bangladeshis is 56 years-shorter than India.
There are lots of rivers where we live. One of our main crops is jute because it needs lots of water. The stalks of jute plants are stringy, so they are made into mats and rope. Then they are exported to other countries. My father used to earn good money in the jute fields. The trouble is that nowadays many mats and ropes are made of plastic. This means that other countries don’t buy so much jute-and he doesn’t get so much work. This is a work of him on a good day, when he has work. He’s soaking jute stalks in the river.
My mother used to stay at home all day, but last year she got job too. There is a work of her making a basket out of jute. The baskets are exported to foreign countries.
I used to go to school, but now I have to go to work, like my parents. School is free, but we didn’t have enough money too pay for the books and uniform. I was really sorry to leave school as I was good at my studies-especially science. I wanted to be a science teacher, but I cannot now. I will work for a daily wage like my father. At the moment it is quite easy to get work. The landowners want children like me to work for them because they don’t have to pay us as much as grown-ups.
