Dhaka has a record which few cities can claim though I'm not sure many would want to. It's the fact that one ever meets anyone who likes, let alone loves Dhaka. Of course, there is a cult group of masochists who do so - they love being in pain. They love the pain in the ass feeling that attacks its citizens every time one tries to breathe, eat, travel, and go to work, find a place of leisure or go on a walk which have become very risky tasks now.

I once met a New Yorker who after learning I lived in Dhaka in which he had also lived for almost a year trying to save the lives of children as part of his work, held my hands and wept for an entire minute. That kind of sums up the experience and expression of long- term residents of this city. It's not rage or pain, it's a deeply philosophical "I give up" feeling.

"What do you mean you have to go?"

This is not pain at the thought of departure or the anxiety that comes with any travel to those who care about the traveller but the shock that someone wants to go anywhere from another point at all in this city. Why would anybody want to do that? It sorts of defines Dhaka city's primary pain provider - Dhaka's legendary traffic system.

And why should it not? Anyone who has seen Dhaka at 9 in the morning or 6 in the evening can easily opt out of wanting to see the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty and a few more wonders of the world. They can certainly not have to bother about the traffic systems of Tokyo or Beijing or even the beautifully disciplined jams of New York or the once mad rush of cycles at every traffic stop in Beijing because Dhaka is in a class of its own.

I have heard that people wake up at 5 and leave home at 6 hoping to avoid the crowd and then return home at 9 hoping to avoid the crush of 5 when official office hours end. That famous anecdote about the man who saw his child only vertically as she was sleeping when he left and sleeping too when he returned does apply to Dhaka. Except that children are usually awake as their school timings offer no better options. It's the city which has given rush hours a meaning bordering on mysticism.

The divine "atar" of garbage

I try to walk as much as I can as I enjoy it and feel a city is defined by the odors, smells and perfumes that pervade the cityscape. As all know it's a city that is so densely populated that a significant percentage of global garbage is produced here making it the one category where it has few peers. How do I know all this about garbage?

Well, I live in Niketon where the buildings are all 7-10 storied apartments with a very high consumption lifestyle. And with garbage comes garbage collection, garbage bins and garbage collectors. Oh, did I forget to mention that collectors pick up the garbage from each building and then dump them in the truck and then slowly move through the many lanes and streets spreading a kind of divine "atar "to all who have a nose.

Oh, that divine feeling as you smell the powerful perfume of poradise and watch the collectors atop their trucks pick through the garbage finding all sorts of jewels which residents so casually dump. Anyone who hasn't passed by and not felt overwhelmed by the smell and sight of garbage trucks won't feel too interested by what paradise has to offer later in life or to be precise death.

The Tesla triumphs

Every city needs a symbol and when I think of Dhaka, I find nothing suits it more than the recently emerged power rickshaws also called Tesla fondly by many including yours truly. When it first appeared, it was called a "motor rickshaw" but such graduating days are over. It's now in the heart of the city's informal economy bailing thousands of economically low-end citizens and a growing urban alley based middle class who live beyond the reach of the city's feral main street economy.

I love Tesla's not because I enjoy the ride - though it's quicker than the now extinct pedal powered variety - or that it's always a risky ride and fun for adventure seekers but because it symbolises the city. It's reckless, desperately speedy just to survive and gets to where others can't or won't. An entire urban socio-economic micro world has grown around them and it has felled all attempts by the rest to stop them. It's fearless because to survive it has no other option.

Welcome to Dhaka.