MsYiY - Yasmin Choudhury

You know you are a start up, when.... 1. The entire summer holidays have been spent working every day, in the office.  You have no tan and therefore are mystified when people remark on the sunny English weather for the past few weeks.  You hear about people going on holiday and think, yeah well, if and when I am successful, surely I too can have a holiday but in reality it is unlikely. 2. You are grateful that friends no longer invite you anywhere.  Not only does this mean that you need not bother with an RSVP, it also means you don't have to go to another person's house and ask; "where can I plug in my laptop." 3. Your child is officially embarrassed that you run a company and starts making up fantasy job titles for you because the reality is so awful and non-cool. 4. When you offer your child to come along for a day at the office, you know that s/he will never say yes again.  After their first excited day, of making cups of tea, Google research, checking o...

So how do these three connect? Well firstly, I saw the global reaction and debate surrounding  Syria  oops, Miley Cyrus and thought. Goodness, millions of us will have learnt the word, twerk (to gyrate your lowed body in a sexual manner) and then go google to see what all the fuss is about. Ahh.  I see. I wonder of how much of that is because she was a Disney innocent.  She's not the first singer starlet to gyrate like that? Janet Jackson. Rhi-Rhi, Lady Gaga, Madonna.  Why, the upset at Miley? Is it because she grew up with the world on TV? Well before I could comment, I too went to Google.  And I did just that.  I saw it.  And while I have my own opinion on what I find tasteful and liberating, who am I to judge?!  Miley is old enough, wise enough (perhaps that is up for debate) to make an informed choice. Or is she..? You see that is the point I wanted to make in this blog post.  Whether or not Miley is informed or not. I just ...

"In order for evil to flourish, all that is required is for good men to do nothing." From Edward Burke.  18th century Irish statesman and author.  (1729 - 1797) This is a blog post I wrote on my top 10 suggestions to help Bangladeshi garment workers. Problem is, I, like most of us, truly didn't know the extent of how badly the garment workers were suffering.  I love my skinny jeans. I have oodles of them. At least 15.  And with many of these, would smile at the irony of the 'Made in Bangladesh" label and the connection it made with me, personally.  Little did I know that it would soon be my raison d'etre. 

On May 2, 02:05 PM EST Christiane Amanpour of CNN interviewed Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina via live video conference on the Rana Plaza garment's factory collapse. Check it out here http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/02/prime-minister-says-bangladesh-is-reforming-its-garment-industry/#comment-53141 I could not help commenting and so here goes.

I urge every CEO and their buyers at every top brand to please stop issuing statement saying they are concerned,. Instead start effecting change.  I have an idea for you all. Get out there.  Visit Bangladesh.  As a group, go and sort Bangladesh's problems once and for all.   And visit the victims.  It is the least you can do perhaps?

Whenever I fly Emirates from London to Bangladesh, it makes for a fascinating experience. London to Dubai leg is filled with Brits and foreign travellers surging to meet the sun they have saved up for, to enjoy and frolic in.  Dressed in sweatpants and leisure wear.  Material of choice is linen, cotton, t shirts.  Even the kids are quiet because airlines have figured out that by putting the headsets on seats, means instant plug and play.  All is serene, dreadfully quiet and with headphones on, the ambience is neutral.  At worst, bland.    Nothing shocking happens. The most is when someone gets uppity as they did on my flight the other day stating they refused their piece of luggage to be stored and shared with me in the over overhead cabin space. Reason? Their laptop might get crushed (?).

(Written back in March 5, 2013). My first ever post.  What a sad way to start.  I cannot believe after decades of travelling,  Etihad Airlines were the first airlines ever to lose my luggage and namely all my clothes and toiletries.  I have never flown with them before.  Ok - I take that back - some memory of Bangladesh Biman is surfacing here but I may have blotted it out at the time, due to the incessant shrieks of my mother hysterically baying for Biman's blood after the airline lost her luggage.  The experience scarred me I am sure and goof fortune had the sense to keep me protected from the horror of lost luggage as am sure she felt I had done my time - until now.

My first ever blog test post. So I decided to call it The NRB Blog (Non Resident Bangladeshi).   While I am born and bred in London, this is more about my journey as a start up entrepreneur who has a small idea for a big problem.  How we change the way we see and experience, Third World countries - the colloquial name given for the 49 or so, poorest  countries in the world.  I do not like using that phrase but I am forced to.   How else do you describe it then?  I will mark and set that aside for now.