Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Could you tell me what day is it?

The weeks are really odd in Bangladesh. Sure, there are seven days and they are named the same (but in Bangla), however the working week is different.

General Ershad, who ruled Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990 as military guy that became a president, declared Friday as a weekly holiday. I am being told he tried to appease the religious political parties through his 'pseudo love' of Islam.


Therefore the week is from Sunday to Thursday with the ‘weekend’ being Friday and Saturday. So when it is Sunday it is actually a Monday, but a Thursday is a Friday. It is quite confusing and so many times I loose count of the days. I spoke to people who lived here for years and they are still confused. This of course does not take into account the time difference. 10 hours when it is US summer time and 11 hours in the winter. They have no daylight saving here. That’s another odd thing – the sunrise is the same (give or take minute either way) and so is sunset.


Among many abbreviations in the States, I learned the TGIF -- Thank God, It's Friday. I was meant to thank the Creator as the day happens to start the weekend after a week of hard work. Borrowing a clue from the TGIF, Bangladeshi Muslims thank God that He has given them the Friday and, being in Bangladesh, they can observe it as a Holy Day.

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