& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Civilization

by Nico den Tuinder
Iwt'uifl not know what to do il someone was overrun bv a car. I know how io stop a nose bleed, and that is as far as my medical knowledge goes.
Por this reason I always panic when 1 hear a loud sound gooaak Good gracious! Somebody is choking: what must I do? Then my intelligence is restored. It is just a Bangladeshi clearing his throat. There Is nothing to worry about
Bangladesh offers a rich variety of bodily habits that make my stomach turn. Collecting a lot of saliva and then slowly dropping It; belching (es-pecially when it is prolonged): sucking hot tea instead of just drinking it; using water instead of toilet paper; nose-picking: chewing paan (like a cow): eating with the hands 'especially sticky items like rice), scratching intimate body parts, blowing one's nose wnhout a handkerchief, and cracking one's finger joints.
I am sure some of my habits are distasjeful to you as well. Every now and then I walk ip short trousers. People then gaze at my bare legs as if they were born without them. I can think of more habits. Using my left hand for eating; using toilet paper instead of water, talking with a loud voice, and refusing cups of tea because of my pressing work to do.
Some decades ago the emi-
nent sociologist Norbert Elias wrote the study "On the Process of Civilisation ”. In this book he took the rejection of natural impulses as an indicator of refined behaviour, By this standard- the Bengalis could be considered as forming a most uncivilised community. But read my lips: 1 am not in favour of a reconquest of Sonar Bangla by the West, to bring enlightenment to this
part of the world.
.1 believe thal appropriate liehaviour is what the mtyority says it is. Some months ago. I and a colleague of mine, were the special guests at a marriage function. We were seated at a dinner table, and were given spoons and forks' as the only visitors, and we even dared to use them. The video rpcorder paid more attention to this astonishing feat than to the married couple. If you began eating with your hands at a Dutch marriage dinner, your would probably be thrown out immediately.
The Bangladeshis are bchav-
ing in a perfectly natural way. We were born with fingers to eat with, not with spoons and forks. Belching Is a more natural sound than, let us say. a good curse.
And 1 am sure behaviour that is unacceptable now will be considered perfectly normal in a few generations. Some two months ago. I and the same colleagues went to Chittagong and visited Potenga beach. People only lifted their trousers a little bit. and walked through the surf. That is how our beach culture started a hundred years ago as well.