EHSAN KARIM

MBA (Day)
Representing: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Organizational Behavior (BP6903); Sec 56
Faculty: Dr. Ioan Voicu
Home Assignment-2
Date: September 28, 2015

Controlling Emotions in A Bangladeshi Environment

Different people define emotions in different ways. Some make a distinction between
emotions and feelings saying that a feeling is the response part of the emotion and
that an emotion includes the situation or experience, the interpretation, the
perception, and the response or feeling related to the experience of a particular
situation (Elder, 1996). That is why there are differences in the demonstration and
acceptability of emotions from cross countries (Tartakovsky and Grohol, 2012).
However, fundamental emotions are common in nature in terms of peoples reaction,
but in this study, I shall focus more on the broader terms that may have long term
effects on the human brain and I use the term interchangeably.
I chose to study in terms of Bangladeshi context as I was raised in a
Bangladeshi society and adopted with Bangladeshi culture, which is rich in nature
and have familiar understanding of Bengalis emotions likewise.
Emotions are such an amazing facet to living life. Many psychologists have
tried to develop an understanding and apply rational theory and models to it. And yet
emotions remain an incredibly vast and widely misunderstood subject matter, and in
many instances are implied as a bad thing. Bangladeshis are famously one of the
most emotional people in the world (Rashid, 2013). It is hardwired deep into the DNA
of every citizen. Indeed, its no surprise that Rabindranath Tagore was recognized for
his talent to capture emotions through his poetry when he became Asias first Nobel
laureate winning the Nobel Prize in 1913 for Literature. And it is these emotions that
make up so much of this nations personality and character. In this study I shall focus
on how people from Bangladesh react and control their emotions in terms of multiple
parameters and situations, for instance religion, human rights, political turmoil,
natural disaster, sporting activities, road situation, purchasing of commodities,
hospitality etc. These aspects have both momentary and deep-rooted effects on
them as well.
If you travel to over 70 countries across five continents and in all that travel,
Bangladesh is the only place where you meet a person for the first time and been
invited that very same evening to have dinner at that persons home with their
parents, wife and children. It is an amazing kindness and sense of hospitality that
Bangladeshi people should be very proud of. Emotions are at play in many of our
day-to-day activities and at the heart of everything that is wonderful about
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EHSAN KARIM
MBA (Day)
Representing: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Organizational Behavior (BP6903); Sec 56
Faculty: Dr. Ioan Voicu
Home Assignment-2
Date: September 28, 2015

Bangladeshi people. So, what does emotion have to do with the world of business
and money making? After all, making money demands cool and calculated rational
thinking. That is true in part but when only operating that way, one misses a huge
opportunity: much of Bangladeshs economy remains at a commodity level. When
buying and selling goods and services, consumers in Bangladesh are often just
offered purely rational and functional benefits. For example, when buying oranges at
New Market, you just find the freshest, the biggest or the ones from the famed
orange orchards of Chaatuk in Sylhet. All these factors are purely functional and
rational. But what if buying an orange somehow made you feel you were making the
best choice for your childs health, that because you chose that orange, you were a
good parent who was putting their family first? Or what if when you bought that
orange it made you feel like you were living a health conscious life, or it made you
and others think that you were a stylish and modern person who knew what things
were trendy?
People of Bangladesh are very devoted and emotional when it comes to
Religion. As 90% of the total population follows Islam as their religion, so they pray
all the time and they have the fear of God among themselves. But sometimes, with
immense emotion, some group of people become extremist that leads to crime
(Hasib, 2015). However, majority of the Muslims in Bangladesh have firm believe
upon God and they have emotional attachment, for which they practice all the rituals
of Islam likewise.
In terms of political turmoil, people control their emotions interchangeably.
For example, they vote for the right political party to govern, but when they face
difficulties and corruption from the elected party, they show devotion and irritation
side by side. On the other hand, people are very motivated when it comes to human
rights. Considering the example of recent situation where the Finance Minister
imposed 7% vat on private education that makes the university students unhappy.
Afterwards, it leads to volatile situation in the country when the students started
protesting against the wrongdoing that leads to counter reaction from the law
enforcement. From this situation, they have shown interchangeable emotion as they
oppose the decision from the government they have voted in order bring justice and
peace in the country. But when it comes to human rights, absolutely no alternatives
can be considered.
Tragedies such as naturally provoke emotional reactions. But reason and
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EHSAN KARIM
MBA (Day)
Representing: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Organizational Behavior (BP6903); Sec 56
Faculty: Dr. Ioan Voicu
Home Assignment-2
Date: September 28, 2015

perspective, rather than emotion, are needed when deciding how to respond. For
example, a house fire that kills a family is also tragic. But no sane person would
recommend that the rest of us move to caves until all houses have been certified as
fire proof. The people of Bangladesh mitigate some risks and accept others,
recognizing that the benefits outweigh them. The same is true in Bangladesh, where
some 4,500 garment factories employ approximately 4 million workers (Powell,
2013). In the grand scheme of things, they are better off with the factories than they
would be without them; the benefits outweigh the risks. When tragedies hit the
country, unfortunately, at the very first point, people start provoking the government
and held responsible to some party, but when they are calm, all of the residents
come forward to solve the problem as well.
People of Bangladesh are very much devoted to sports and when it comes
to cricket, they are the die hard fans of the national cricket team. If Bangladesh
hosting any cricketing event, people try to enjoy all the matches even if they have
other important things left to do. But sometimes, their emotions tend to vary. For
instance, if any player performs really bad consecutively, then they start neglecting
the player. As they have emotional attachment to the game with expectations, that is
why disruptive emotions occur.
From the overall point of view, the above mentioned incidents and situations
trigger the emotions of Bangladeshis, which resulted with both positive and negative
impacts in their lives.
References
Elder, L. (1996). Critical Thinking and Emotional Intelligence, Critical Thinking Across
the
Disciplines,
16(2).
Accessed
from:
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/cognition-and-affect-critical-thinking-andemotional-intelligence/485 [Accessed on: 25 September 2015].
Hasib, R. (2015). Rising religious extremist in Bangladesh, The World Post, 10
August.
Powell, B. (2013). Sweatshops in Bangladesh Improve the Lives Of Their Workers,
And
Boost
Growth,
Forbes,
24
September. Accessed
from:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/09/24/repeat-after-mequantitative-easing-did-not-go-to-the-banks/ [Accessed on: 26 September
2015].
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EHSAN KARIM
MBA (Day)
Representing: Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Organizational Behavior (BP6903); Sec 56
Faculty: Dr. Ioan Voicu
Home Assignment-2
Date: September 28, 2015

Rashid, T. (2013). Harnessing Bangladeshi Emotion, Dhaka Tribune, 26 May.

Tartakovsky, M. & Grohol, J.M. (2012). How to Manage Emotions More Effectively.
Accessed from: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/07/03/how-tomanage-emotions-more-effectively/. [Accessed on: 26 September 2015].