So how now,
what’s this you ask?!
Money laundering. Except done in the most literally authentic kind of way that is a typical
adaption to life in the times of #coronavirus.
Life has been engulfed in protocols since we entered this era. Like me, most of
us have probably lost count of how many days we’ve been indoors and what day of
the week it is (I love the term Blursday!). Wash, clean, sanitize, change, wipe
down, binge on the internet, and then repeat, have become the prime action items
on our activity list, with a little sprinkling of chop, cook, and eat. But
through it all, there have been some new steps to our regular actions that I am
excruciatingly executing and thoroughly enjoying. In lockdown, these can prove
the highlights of one’s day. And these are the sanitization protocol of surgical
efficiency that each one going out, must adhere to. For the grocery run, protocol
involves changing out of home clothes to outside ones with minimal layers for easy
washing, putting on washable shoes that nowadays reside outside the apartment
door, using a cloth cross-body bag (washable) for one card or loose cash, plastic
RFL shopping basket (again washable), mask, sunglasses, a spurt of sanitizer on
the hands, and exit! Notice that wallet is no longer essential if there is a
dedicated activity we are going for, but that does mean that we are not
carrying an ID on us.
The vast
and increasing needs of our euphemistically described ‘informal economy’ is most
glaring. Whether it is the local corner shop, the bkash/flexi vendor, the handful
of rickshaws, the fruit vendor or the seasonal vegetable seller – our impact
would be greatest if we bought from them. The supershops and online sellers are
convenient but also overwhelmed at this time. Their business has contracted and
without any prejudice to them I will claim that they are not about to be wiped
off the face of the economy, but our low-margin informal vendors are. One bad
sale day may mean a meal foregone. If you can afford to, then do buy that unripe
watermelon, or those damaged borois, or that kilogram of tetul like I got the
other day, or recharge at that corner shop who is open, assuming an inordinate
amount of risk. This risk is all for that odd 100 or 200 Taka, which they
cannot afford to lose but some of us may be able to.
My
favourite part after coming back home is washing my hands, my bag, shoes,
sunglasses and laundering all the cash I took with me or received as change. I promise
you the bills are better for the wash, if anything. Just look at them fluttering
happily here.
P.S. – If you
are not already getting a paid #subscription to a Bangladeshi #newspaper, please
consider it because they are our lifeline at the moment, and they work hard and
deserve our support.
Banani, Dhaka
Tuesday 7 April 2020
Banani, Dhaka
Tuesday 7 April 2020
