Resilience, faith and the survivors of the delta

"One thing Bangladeshis cannot be accused of is making a drama out of a crisis."

writes John Sudworth of BBC after visiting the flood effected SirajGanj in Bangladesh. He tells about the way Bangladeshis are tackling this year's flood being more devastating than an average year. They are remaining calm and resilient, trying to carry on with their normal life in waist-deep water.

(Picture courtesy the Daily Star)

The relief efforts are not as exhaustive as previous years however the people seem to be slow on accusing that. Instead they are seen with these kinds of faith:

"Allah has given us mouths, so He will give us food."

Floods in Bangladesh are a recurring phenomenon. Over thousands of years, people living in Bengal Delta learned how to live with rivers and adjusted their lives to the deltaic conditions of the land. The settle in higher land on flood plains, their cropping pattern is adjusted to the deluges and during floods they use makeshift boats to travel.

The people of Bangladesh, therefore, found ways to live with rivers. They respect rivers. They know that rivers gave birth to this land, and rivers would come periodically to nurture it with silts.

Probably thats why they have been the survivors of the Delta. A Malaysian Blog Alis Aquilae recognizes this character in one of the thousands of Bangladeshi labors working in Malaysia. The blogger observes:

What i admire is their will to live and work despite the punishment every year. Knowing monsoon would come releasing its wrath and breaks the river banks each year…these people continue in believing that nothing can stop them from surviving. They have never gave up. The yearly monsoon seems destructive but it is also because of that the land is fertile. They may have to start everything from scratch after the flood receded but the thought of a good harvest probably lighten up their day. They are the true survivors.