Well after sacking my first driver due to his inability to not hit pedestrians and other cars (I think he managed to at least bump someone or something on every single drive that he ever did with me), plus his total lack of knowledge of Dhaka's streets (I who have lived here all of 4 weeks, knew how to navigate around Gulshan better than he did). Come early next week, I should have a new driver and a new Ayah (cook and bearer). Both of whom were referred to me, and after having looked at their CV's and references, it looks like I will end up with 2 very experienced and reliable people.
The Ayah that I have hired, whose name is Tonika, was referred to me by the Ayah who works for aa friend Mark Peitroni who is the Director of Medical Services at ICDDR,B. When Tonika came to the guest house yesterday to meet with me, I was immediately impressed by in fluency in speaking and understanding English, and her very cheerful and polite disposition; and even more importantly she is able to cook both western and Bangladesh food. She came highly recommended by previous employers, most of whom have been senior executives with International Organisations and Embassies, including one of our own Board members. Tonika will start with me as soon as I have found an apartment, which I am hoping will be within the next 2 weeks. Her salary will be 10,000 BDT per month (approx $125 AUD), increasing to 14,000 ($175) when Lett arrives (although I am sure that when she finds out how much Lett eats and how messy she is, that she will want a lot more money).
My pospective new driver, who I haven't yet met nor actually hired, called Kalu, and has been driving for over 20 years for numerous high ranked internationals, including the former Director of Information Services with ICDDR,B. As with Tonika, Kalu also comes highly recommended, and so if I can arrange to meet with Kalu early next week, and if he seems like the right guy for me, I will hire him and thus have my help all sorted. The only thing I theen need is a apartment and a car for them to clean and drive (my current car was badly damaged when my previous driver ran into another car on Mondaay afternoon).
The standard salary for a good driver is between 8 and 10,000 BDT, which means that to begin with, the total cost of having a cook, cleaner, driver and bearer will be around 20,000 Taka per month (around $250 Aus). How come wives and girlfriends back in Australia are unwilling to work for such a princely sum? Very selfish I think!
PS. Looking at the unbelievable size of some of the houses around Gulshan 2 and Baridhara, all of which belong to very wealthy Bangladesh naationals, they must have an army of Ayahs to keep them clean. I have been told that many of these house, which often take up to 1/4 of an entire city block, have anything up to 20 bedrooms and bathrooms. God knows why, maybe the Owner's entire extended family live with them. In size, if not style, I am sure many of these houses would rival many of the mansions around Hollywood. I have included below some photos of one such house that is just behind the apartment that I am currently looking at leasing. This one is at least sort of contemporary in design, unlike most which are really bad imitations of old Georgian or Edwardian houses from England and the US southern states.
The Ayah that I have hired, whose name is Tonika, was referred to me by the Ayah who works for aa friend Mark Peitroni who is the Director of Medical Services at ICDDR,B. When Tonika came to the guest house yesterday to meet with me, I was immediately impressed by in fluency in speaking and understanding English, and her very cheerful and polite disposition; and even more importantly she is able to cook both western and Bangladesh food. She came highly recommended by previous employers, most of whom have been senior executives with International Organisations and Embassies, including one of our own Board members. Tonika will start with me as soon as I have found an apartment, which I am hoping will be within the next 2 weeks. Her salary will be 10,000 BDT per month (approx $125 AUD), increasing to 14,000 ($175) when Lett arrives (although I am sure that when she finds out how much Lett eats and how messy she is, that she will want a lot more money).
My pospective new driver, who I haven't yet met nor actually hired, called Kalu, and has been driving for over 20 years for numerous high ranked internationals, including the former Director of Information Services with ICDDR,B. As with Tonika, Kalu also comes highly recommended, and so if I can arrange to meet with Kalu early next week, and if he seems like the right guy for me, I will hire him and thus have my help all sorted. The only thing I theen need is a apartment and a car for them to clean and drive (my current car was badly damaged when my previous driver ran into another car on Mondaay afternoon).
The standard salary for a good driver is between 8 and 10,000 BDT, which means that to begin with, the total cost of having a cook, cleaner, driver and bearer will be around 20,000 Taka per month (around $250 Aus). How come wives and girlfriends back in Australia are unwilling to work for such a princely sum? Very selfish I think!
PS. Looking at the unbelievable size of some of the houses around Gulshan 2 and Baridhara, all of which belong to very wealthy Bangladesh naationals, they must have an army of Ayahs to keep them clean. I have been told that many of these house, which often take up to 1/4 of an entire city block, have anything up to 20 bedrooms and bathrooms. God knows why, maybe the Owner's entire extended family live with them. In size, if not style, I am sure many of these houses would rival many of the mansions around Hollywood. I have included below some photos of one such house that is just behind the apartment that I am currently looking at leasing. This one is at least sort of contemporary in design, unlike most which are really bad imitations of old Georgian or Edwardian houses from England and the US southern states.
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