Every time I visit the national monuments in Bangladesh I come home with mixed feelings. Although I have visited numerous other national historic national monuments all over the globe, very few of them emotionally jolt me so much.
It was almost 10 years since I last visited the Savar Shaheed Smriti Soudha (The mausoleum of the martyred in Savar). Like before, the enormous campus, the greenery and water body surrounding the mausoleum impressed me. Compared to Bangladesh standard and definitely compared to other national mausoleums like Shaheed Minar or Rayer Bazar intellectual mausoleum, the Savar mausoleum was much better maintained. However, despite all the beautiful landscaping work, well maintained water bodies, the sanctity of the mausoleum itself was in a relatively sad state. People are sitting, sleeping on the pillars, badam/ ice cream/fruit vendors are selling their products, young couples are busy with themselves, gangs of young men are loitering–all on the alter of the mausoleum. Then at the base of the mausoleum, the floors are covered with excreta of the birds sitting on those seven pillars.