Student Spotlight: Nusrat Jahan Mim
Urban Modernity, Religion, and the Urban Informalities: A Study on Makeshift Cattle Markets in Dhaka Nusrat Jahan Mim was a recipient of a Mittal Institute Summer 2021 Research Grant. As a part of her Doctor of Design thesis, she investigated and collected spatial data from the largest annual makeshift cattle marketplaces in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during Eid ul-Adha in July of 2021.
B
adal Mia*, a 45-year-old cattle farmer, was cooking lunch for himself and his cousin beside the bamboo poles, where his cows were tied up. It was a weekday afternoon under Dhaka’s scorching summer sun. The temporary cattle market around him was not yet crowded with customers. Mia had been staying at this market for the last three nights. He brought four cows to Dhaka from his farm, about 130 kilometers northwest of the city. Badal Mia and his cousin hired a van to bring their cows to sell in Dhaka for purchase in preparation of the Eid ul-Adha sacrificial ritual. They brought cooking utensils, sleeping mattresses, and pillows with them, since it was not safe to leave their cows in the market and sleep
elsewhere at night. They planned to stay in this market until Eid, which would be celebrated in four days. A temporary food stall in the market was selling Khichuri (a local dish made with rice and lentils) for 60 TK ($0.89 USD) per plate. Since it was quite expensive for Badal Mia, he cooked his own rice and vegetables for lunch. He planned to give his cows a quick bath directly after lunch. He sent his cousin to fetch some water from the tap near the temporary toilets of the market. He had to prepare his cows before the customers started flooding in. He wanted to get a reasonable price for his cows. After selling all four of his cows, he would go back to his village and celebrate the Eid festival with his family.
The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University
