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Hello,

I would love to receive some assistance from you. I'm an Australian educationalist married to a Bangalee. We have two beautiful sons (aged 6 weeks and 3 years).

I have been to Bangladesh two times (in 2001 & 2004) and have been unable to find a good bookstore that sells an excellent range of English medium books. I"m especially looking for a store that sell books especially catered for tourists/foreigners who are looking for some decent books on Bangladeshi culture, history, economics, etc. Do you know any good bookstores I can visit on my next trip?

I"m also writing this to encourage Bangalees living in Australia/& overseas to consider writing more books about Bangladesh for the foreigner reader. There is a huge demand from westerners/foreigners to obtain good quality academic & general writings in relation to Bangladesh. Obviously, it would be very beneficial to obtain English copies of those writings as well. Although there are a lot of books out there already, I find some of it is out of date, or is catered mostly for academics. I also find that most of those books are about development issues and the very poor of Bangladesh.

More books need to be written by Bangalee people rather than westerners about Bangladesh. We need to read about the 'insiders' view and perspective. As a foreigner, I want to see more books about the growing and emerging middle class and upper middle class strata of Bangladesh. I want to see more books about how modernisation is impacting on Bangladeshi society in general particularly on the youth, women and family of Bangladesh. Also, consider writing some books on the growing tourist potential of Bangladeseh.

In my experience, I have come across many non-Bangalees who are very interested in learning about the culture and family life of Bangladesh. In my opinion, I think Bangladesh is the hidden diamond of Asia -which in 20 - 30 years will show its true economic & social worth. Perhaps then, it will no longer be appropriate to call Bangladesh a developing country. I want to see more Bangladeshis need take pride in themselves and be proud to call Bangladesh 'home'.

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Regards

Ms Fiona Chowdhury.

ffchowdhury@yahoo.com.au