Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1971 1
En Route to Bangladesh, Another Crisis of Faith 11
Reading Willa Cather in Bangladesh 13
[I place one foot then the other …] 15
Dhaka Aubade 16
Elegy with Her Red-Tipped Fingers 17
Reading Tranströmer in Bangladesh 20
Instructions for the Interviewer 23
[Tell her what happened to you …] 24
Interview with a Birangona
1 What were you doing when they came for you? 25
Interview with a Birangona
2 Where did the Pakistani military take you, and were there others there? 26
Interviewer's Note
i [You walk past white high-rises] 27
Interview with a Birangona
3 Would you consider yourself a survivor or a victim? 28
Interviewer's Note
ii [You listen to the percussion] 29
Interview with a Birangona
4 Were there other women there? Did you get along with them? 30
The Interviewer Acknowledges Desire 32
Interview with a Birangona
5 Who was in charge at this camp? What were your days like? 34
Reading Willa Cather in Bangladesh 35
Interviewer's Note
iii [If burnt, she said, I'll turn to ash,] 38
Interview with a Birangona
6 Many of the birangona had children by Pakistani soldiers. Did you have a child as well? 39
Interviewer's Note
iv [Today there is no drinking] 41
The Interviewer Acknowledges Shame 42
Interview with a Birangona
7 Do you have siblings? Where were they? 44
Interviewer's Note
v [But wasn't it the neat narrative] 46
The Interviewer Acknowledges Grief 47
Interview with a Birangona
8 After the war was over, what did you do? Did you go back home? 49
Reading Celan at the Liberation "War Museum 51
[Many corpses are stacked, …] 58
Aubade Ending with the Death of a Mosquito 59
Dhaka Nocturne 61
Reading Willa Cather in Bangladesh 63
En Route to Bangladesh, Another Crisis of Faith 64
[I struggled my way …] 65