Where is 'Home'? Where is 'Away'?
Where is 'home' and where is 'away'? If your family live in different parts of the world, the distinction might not be as clear-cut as it seems.
As Max put it:
…I've got two homes.
Q: You've got two homes? And what makes the home in Bangladesh homely for you?
Mad Max: Um my dad's family. Mmm…my mum’s family went there as well. …And um…just moved from there… And I like it there.
Q: And here?
Mad Max: And here? The same.
Q: It's the same. So is it the people that make a home, a home?
Mad Max: Yeah. My whole family.
Many of the children translated the Bengali words 'desh' (home) and 'bidesh' (foreign places) in interesting ways, making us wonder if in a globalised world it's possible to distinguish between 'home' and 'away'. As several children told us, 'desh' is Bangladesh, while 'home' (using the English word) is London:
Q: Where is your desh?
Max: I'd say Bangladesh.
Q: What, your bidesh?
Max: My home is England … that's my bidesh.
Q: So, your desh is Bangladesh?
Max: Yeah.
Q: What does desh mean? Is it home?
Max: Yeah.
Q: And what does bidesh mean?
Max: Bidesh means home and desh means away.
Q: Are you sure, I though it was the other way round... I may be wrong. I thought that desh was your home and bidesh was away.
Max: I dunno.
Q: Ok… let's say where is …home is England?
Max: And away is Bangladesh. I got family in there that I don't really get to see… Once in a blue moon.
Ted put it more simply:
My 'away' is here.
