This graceful vine–or a scattering of diamond shapes–appeared on the supports that held corrugated tin houses in place.
It always seems to come as a surprise that poor people, too, care about beauty, pleasure, and even fun. This week in Bangladesh has presented many opportunities to observe how important pretty patterns and bright colors–or just generally nice surroundings–are in the lives of our respondents.
I guess many of us who are fortunate assume the poor are so focused on survival that they don’t notice these more “superfluous” things. Or maybe we think that they suffer so horribly that they can no longer be moved by beauty. Or–and I fear this is the truth–we think they should focus only on survival and thus implicitly have no right to pretty things.
Here, I was struck with how often basic surfaces had been decorated. The Bangladeshis have always seemed to me especially fond of color and pattern–even their trucks are painted as if for a carnival–so it was not entirely a surprise to see the way these were woven into even the most humble materials in homes. For instance, there is, as a standard matter, a pattern on the support beams for the corrugated tin walls. Sometimes it’s a vine, as here. Sometimes, it’s diamond shapes. Occasionally, you see that the inhabitants have painted these a pretty color.
Small windows, set into the tin and fitted with decorative grilles, allow light in.
