Jeni as a Bangladeshi

Yesterday, my company’s "Global Asset Protection" power team went crazy looking for me because I had given them an outdated contact number. Today, they emailed me more urgent information regarding the political instability here in the city, such as the following excerpt:

Security: UPDATE 1: Police on high alert as protests erupt across Bangladesh July 17, following arrest of AL leader Sheik Hasina Wajed. Avoid all demonstrations.

This alert affects Bangladesh.

This alert began 17 Jul 2007 09:14 GMT and is scheduled to expire 23 Jul 2007 23:59 GMT.

Protests erupted across Bangladesh July 17 in response to the recent arrest of former Prime Minister and Awami League (AL) leader, Sheik Hasina Wajed. Several protests turned violent as AL supporters clashed with security forces. Avoid all demonstrations. Expect increased security in cities across the country.

Protests in Dhaka were especially violent. Three home-made bombs exploded at Dhaka University as students took part in nationwide university strikes. Officials report no injuries in the attack. Security forces fired shotguns at protesters who gathered in Goal Nagar and Malitola areas and on English Road in the old part of Dhaka, injuring at least 30 demonstrators. Pro-AL lawyers gathered at the Court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) in Dhaka as Hasina arrived for the start of her trial.
 

In a nutshell, for the past couple of months there was a ’showdown’ of sorts between the country’s two competing governments (who have been battling one another for years now), causing an incredible amount of instability in the political arena and hostility out on the streets.  As a result, an interim, ‘caretaker’ government stepped up to fill its place until a permanent one can be chosen. So yes, we are currently living without a government. And yesterday, security forces raided the home of the leader and Prime Minister of one of the parties, arresting her under murder allegations and corruption charges. So expectantly, all hell broke lose.

The political situation here in Bangladesh is an interesting topic that I’d love to dedicate an entire entry to talk about. However, today’s is not such an entry.

It’s been a while since I’ve last updated. Mostly it’s because I’ve been spending a lot of time on my project (and not because i was lazy or anything). Since my project is in its beginning phases, I’ve been involved in much of the planning, strategizing, and conceptualizing. Today marks somewhat of a milestone, as I finally presented my proposal and recommendations to the board. I needed their approval so that I can tap into their resource/talent pool to actually carry out the plan.

The presentation meeting can be summarized into three major areas:

* Before: As usual, the assistants came around to pass out cups of tea and biscuits. And as usual, I was the only female in a group of male managers. What started out as polite introductions and questions about my home country begin morphing into comments about my looks, my appearance, and ‘light’ jokes about why everyone actually showed up to meeting today. So there I was, sitting professionally at the front of the table in my suit, a smile plastered across my bright red face as I gave myself a silent reality check - are these guys really having this conversation? with me right here? Should I say something in return?

* During: I lost my bright cheerful Jeni-smile as the no-nonsense side of me kicked in. I went through my proposal, detailing out my plan, its value potential, and the commitment I needed from their end. One thing I’ve noticed about myself is that when speaking about things that I am passionate about, I become extremely energetic (sometimes a bit too much), and I think it shows. Much of that energy today, though, was also fed from the audience. Everyone was extremely attentive, and all eyes and ears (well, all eyes until you establish eye contact with them, which is when they quickly look away). They listened to my points, but also felt completely at liberty to [politely] disect and rip them apart. Nonetheless, it made for an engaging discussion.

* Afterwards: Presentation ended on a high note. Got the buy-in from all the stakeholders, and the chairman announced that he was very impressed! Woohoo! (these are the finer moments of being a consultant!) After a quick concluding discussion, there was a brief period of silence, during which I was convinced that everyone was deep in thought about my proposal. Then someone broke the silence - "Okay, no more business. Basketball, anyone?"

There you go - that, my friends, is a glimpse of a typical work day. The experience here is worth its value in gold.

Oh, and I got myself an intern! Here’s our initiation event for him - at New Market, a ginormous outdoor shopping area packed with all kinds of random household items for sale.

[edit]pictures to be provided later, as the hosting site for my pictures is being a bit wack.