SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
After a revolution, how do you see a city or get a chance to speak freely to the people who have watched it unfold? What about on a red double-decker bus? These battered vehicles ply the roads of the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, and that's where NPR's Diaa Hadid climbed aboard this month.
HARE KRISHNOW: (Non-English language spoken).
DIAA HADID, BYLINE: Bus conductor Hare Krishnow leans out of the door of the red double-decker and bangs the side for attention. He's only got a first name, like most Bangladeshis we speak to. Empty seats, he shouts. There's no fixed schedule. It's just this guy yelling destinations at the bus stop.
HARE KRISHNOW: (Non-English language spoken).
(SOUNDBITE OF HORN BEEPING)
HADID: But the bus doesn't stop for passengers. It just slows. We leap in through the doorway and kick our way upstairs. A kid practices his English.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Hello, ma'am. How are you?
HADID: To my eyes, it's crammed up here. There's about two dozen passengers, and it's like Jenga to find a seat.
If you sit there, I can sit there.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: OK.
HADID: But conductor Hare Krishnow says the bus is emptier than usual. He should know. He collects the fare from riders, worth about 8 cents.
HARE KRISHNOW: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: Hare Krishnow used to clear about $35 worth of fares a day. He's only been clearing a quarter of that since unrest began in mid-July.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORN BEEP)
HADID: That's when security forces attacked students protesting controversial job quotas. More than 300 were killed, and the students ultimately ousted the former Bangladeshi leader, Sheikh Hasina, in early August. Now that there's an interim government, bus conductor Hare Krishnow says folks are filtering back, like Nurul Zaman on the top floor. He's heading to a wholesale market to buy kitchen items to resell. He says prices are cheaper now.
NURUL ZAMAN: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: He says cronies of the former leader used to fleece bribes from traders. That pushed up prices. Now they don't dare.
ZAMAN: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: Nurul Zaman says when protests were raging, he made his college-aged son stay home. He feared for him, but he's happy with the new government. And his son is even directing traffic now.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORNS BEEPING)
HADID: It's a site across Dhaka. After Sheikh Hasina fled, police melted away, so young men and women went to the streets to keep traffic flowing...
(SOUNDBITE OF HORNS BEEPING)
HADID: ...Somewhat. Mostly, it's gridlock. When the road clears, the passengers stamp the floor. They shout to the driver, Ridwan, why isn't this bus moving? The driver, Ridwan, is stalling, hoping for more passengers. These buses are privately operated - more riders, more money. Folks get on, including a fellow selling water.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: Passengers are mostly men. Public transport often isn't safe for women. We do meet one woman, though. She's beside the window. Her brother's in the aisle seat so no man can get close.
MARIA: My name is Maria. I'm 22.
HADID: Maria's a college graduate. She's just signed up for English classes. She dreams of continuing her studies in Britain.
MARIA: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: But it's her stop. She dashes off the slow-moving bus.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Thank you.
MARIA: Thank you, ma'am.
HADID: Good luck.
Brain drain is a crisis in Bangladesh, but opportunity here is sparse for graduates. Law student Jahad Hassan is heading home. He says the new government has to create jobs, but that will take time.
JAHAD HASSAN: Without waiting, there is nothing. People have to be patient.
HADID: He looks out the window. An open-air bazaar has spilled out onto the road. Vehicles weave around the stalls. He says the new government should definitely tackle the traffic.
HASSON: The first priority - I think the traffic. Yes.
HADID: We pass three different protests. The chanting is drowned out by the traffic noise.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORNS BEEPING)
HADID: Passengers say it's been like this since Sheikh Hasina fled. Everyone's airing their grievances. They feel free, like S. Chaudhry Babu. He's just climbed aboard. He runs a newspaper.
S CHAUDHRY BABU: Freedom, freedom, today, freedom.
HADID: He says for years cronies of the ruling party stole public money, but he couldn't write about it.
BABU: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: Chaudhry says, "we were afraid. Now," he says, "we can write what we want."
Qamarul Hussain finds a seat. He was at one of the protests we just passed. He says they were calling for harmony between Muslims and Hindus.
QAMARUL HUSSAIN: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: In the hours after Sheikh Hasina fled, mobs torched homes of minority Hindus and a Muslim group known as Ahmadis. Those attacks subsided, but Hindus tell us they're still anxious. Qamarul Hussain has a list of what the government should do - create jobs, give justice to the oppressed, make Bangladesh a developed country. So I ask him, what happens if the government can't pull all this off?
HUSSAIN: (Non-English language spoken).
HADID: He says, "we, the people, will bring in someone better. We want a better Bangladesh." He says, "we won't stop until that happens." The bus, however, stalls again.
Diaa Hadid, NPR News, Dhaka. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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