Oh Gulshan, my Gulshan
There are so many Gulshan-related issues that need to be tackled. Gulshanites must come forward to keep the area livable with their proactive efforts
I first visited Dhaka's Gulshan district in 1984. The area was famous as a residence for the rich, but since I came to the city from the village, it didn't impact my mind. It was just a rich people's area, like the one I could never have become.
Then, as a university student in the late 1980s, I became a private tutor for two children at a residence in Gulshan. During this time, an impression of Gulshan nestled in my mind. I had a few friends and relatives in the adjacent Banani and found Gulshan to be very different and less populous than it.
Gulshan was a tranquil township with no traffic. On Fridays, there were only a handful of cars, a few tempos, and some occasional buses in the streets. The roads were also considerably crowdless during weekdays.
Gulshanites were a different class. Most of them had their business head offices in Motijheel and commuted there to and from work every day.
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I never knew that one day I would also be a resident of Gulshan. My family started living in a neighbourhood—a place I wowed at as a young man. In 2001, Gulshan was still tranquil and less populous, but the multi-story apartment buildings had started sprouting up. The commercial buildings had just begun to move from Motijheel to Gulshan Avenue. But we could still commute on rickshaws on the avenue.
By 8 o'clock in the evening, we would find only a handful of rickshaws on Road 35, as almost all rickshaw-pullers used to go home because there were no passengers to serve.
Then, between 2002 and 2006, a massive migration of people into Gulshan happened, suddenly turning the neighbourhood into a hub of everything. Residents, business owners, and corporate offices became so Gulshan-bound that the area could not take the pressure anymore. Gulshan's sewage system fell apart, and Gulshan Avenue started experiencing a mind-boggling outpouring of human excreta from the sewage tanks.
From then on, living in and moving around Gulshan has been a daily struggle for all Dhaka dwellers. I heard one old-timer regretting how he brought his business office from Motijheel closer to his home. 'That was a mistake,' he told me.
He was right. When business owners moved away from Motijheel and settled in Gulshan, the former was in a sorry condition. The businesspersons wanted a respite from the rowdy crowd in Motijheel.
Businesspersons like him had set the trend of opening up business establishments in Gulshan. I witnessed how it became highly fashionable among small investors as well to open up businesses in the area.
We all know how this mad rush impacted the neighbourhood. All Gulshanites have and are experiencing it.
Gulshan is still growing. There are new high-rises, news shops, offices, eateries—you name it. If you take a tour around the neighbourhood, the sight of construction sites may depress you.
These days, there are so many aspects of the area that need to be tackled that the city authorities are also overwhelmingly challenged to see the Herculean tasks to achieve. We have a society that tries its best to help the city corporation manage its work, but it looks like an unwinnable battle.
If we expect Gulshan Society, the corporation, or the law enforcers to do everything for us, then we may be living in a fool's paradise. It is every Gulshanite's responsibility to keep the area livable with their proactive efforts.
Bringing back the old culture is no longer possible in Gulshan, but it certainly is possible to think of introducing a new culture – a culture of mindful living.
Our Gulshan Society has the big responsibility of making all residents conscious of mindful living, but there has to be conscious ownership for the residents as well; otherwise, nothing will change.
Please do not just be a flat owner; be an owner of the neighbourhood.
Ekram Kabir is a storyteller and a communications professional. He is just an email away: [email protected].
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
