Gridlocks, mega-infrastructure projects, the constant clanging and drilling of construction – in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, it’s easy to forget that this fast-expanding city, where everything is malleable, replaceable and new, is also one of the oldest settlements in south Asia.
Witness to the rise and fall of empires and home to settlers from Portugal and Armenia to Afghanistan and Iran, Dhaka has been the centre of diverse influences and radical cultural shifts for centuries. This November, in the old town of Kamrangirchar on the city’s western edges, Bangladesh’s first religious school for the third gender community, the hijra, celebrates its first birthday.
The easiest way to reach the school – named
