So it's been a little while, but the other day I saw a picture that really got me thinking...actually allow let me share it...and there.

Ask any Bangladeshi to look at the above picture, and chances are that they will instantly recognize it as the Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban, or the National Assembly Building of Bangladesh.  Depending on who you ask (i.e. a good portion of the members of the elite socio-economic classes), there is a good chance you will also be in for an inspired, zealous "patriotic" lecture about the merits and "national honor" of having such a historic, grand, and artistically groundbreaking monument featured in Bangladesh.

However, take another look at that picture.  Yes one can readily see the impressive scale of the building itself, the rich coconut and palm trees along with the lushness of the surrounding scenery...but did anyone notice the rickshaw driver at the front?  The man whose entire life is revolved around navigating the chaotic traffic of one of the most populated cities in the world, risking his life to transport strangers all to net a fare of only a few taka.  With such a meager salary (if one can even call it that), he is likely expected to procure housing, put food on the table, and otherwise provide for himself and his family on a daily basis.  His lot in life is not in the least an unique story , but rather an ubiquitous representation of the overall social structure of Bangladesh in which the vast majority of the people struggle and toil their entire lives all so that they can barely eek out their existence.  The faintest possibility of even marginally improving their quality of life, and indeed the very notion of social mobility is an entirely alien concept to virtually the entirety of the masses.

Yet in full view of this assiduous yet impoverished rickshawalla looms a multimillion dollar complex, the flamboyant seat of government of one of the poorest nations in the world inhabited by some of the wealthiest in that nation.  All of these realizations begs the question...just why do so many of us put such stock in this...building with triangular and circular windows, this place that looks like geometry itself decided to go on horthal?  After all wasn't all of this designed by an American architect and commissioned by a Punjabi-dominated W. Pakistani government decades before Bdesh's independence? No wonder it looks so weird and trashy...but more importantly, no wonder it's a living symbol of the outrageous waste and misuse of public funds.

In fact it's funny how one of the "largest legislative complexes" in the world an do so little *actual* legislating and governing...indeed perhaps the very epitome of irony.  We don't need this horrifically bewildering and sinfully extravagant showcase of postmodern "art" to serve as an institutional brothel for our corruption, greed, and bad governance.  A national monument indeed, one of our collective shame of the failure to live up to the expectations of our brave forefathers.  There is absolutely no pride to be had in this God-forsaken monstrosity while our people continue to starve and get perpetually manipulated and screwed over by the same aristocratic power structure that has controlled this country since millions of our forefathers sacrificed their lives in their noble attempt to deliver us independence from tyranny.  It's absolutely devastating and demoralizing that after all of the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of our forefathers to forge a homeland that was better for all of the people, the zamindar system still remains firmly and place and in many ways the only thing that has really changed since '71 is the color of our flag*...but that's a discussion for another time.

So auction this hideous monstrosity off, or better yet break it down so we can reuse the materials for more worthy public projects (after all where would the money from the aforementioned hypothetical auction go to I wonder...).  Instead, let the politicians argue and bicker in the streets, let the useless lot of them grease their filthy palms in full view of the people they are supposed to serve. At least this way we'll all know exactly what the market price is for any given "public servant."  Let's no longer allow it to remain such a painfully potent symbol of exploitation, corruption and deception, of the profound inequalities in opportunity, social justice, of hope itself, which still plagues our nation. 

*Not that I'm implying in the least that independent Bangladesh is not infinitely better off than remaining a Pakistani colonial outpost.