What if There is No Electricity & Internet in Bangladesh Anymore. What Would You Do?

Few days ago I met with a fellow freelancer in Habiganj. We had some chat about the state of the digital employment in here and how so many people are skeptical about the whole work from home on the internet thing.

Too many people in Bangladesh think that freelancing and online based work is just a trend which will be over really soon.

It feels so funny when you get to hear things like that.

He was telling about this story about this freelancer getting asked this question. Let’s reconstruct so you will have a clear picture of what I am talking about.

So there is this freelancer who was giving a speech to a group of people like this..

Reconstruction

At one point someone from the audience asked this innocent question:

“What will you do if one day you find there is no electricity or internet connection in Bangladesh?”

I know this won’t happen in Bangladesh (not without any solid reasons) but what the freelancer replied was pathetic.

He simply replied this:

“I will become a Rickshaw puller.”

Info: A rickshaw is a common 3 wheeler public transport in Bangladesh. A rickshaw puller is considered the lowest level job in the social hierarchy in BD.

After hearing about this response I was like..

Now since I was not present in that place so I don’t know whether it was a piece of sarcasm or not. But if that so called guru actually meant that thing then I am afraid this person lacks the entrepreneurs DNA.

That freelancing guru was nothing more than a digital slave.

Okay so let’s lighten the mood a little. Let’s imagine a hypothetical situation where we don’t have any internet at all in Bangladesh.

Scenario 1: No Internet

Maybe the government decided to pull off access to the internet highway.

In that case my freelancing and online marketing career will be over.

So what will I do for a living?

Good thing is computers and television will still be around and people will be more interested in entertainment like movies, music, series and all.

TV, Radio, Magazines, Books and Newspapers will be huge in Bangladesh. I will go into this business.

Since there is no internet, there will be no email, chat or video call. People will have to rely on traditional postal mail, telegram and courier service. This will be the right time to get into this business.

Okay let’s say we don’t have electricity too.

Scenario 2: No electricity + No Internet

Somehow we have finished all of our natural resources and we don’t have any money to buy electricity from another country.

What will I do then?

Without electricity there will be a huge demand for batteries and solar panels. This is going to be the business to be in.

For those who can’t afford to pay huge prices to run their televisions, they will resort to a much less expensive form of entertainment such at theater, concerts, or fairs. If I can’t get into the battery business, I will go into this entertainment business.

Without electricity, we all gonna need candles. This is yet another business to go in.

And without electricity, people will still need traditional postal communication methods.

With creativity and technical knowledge a person like me can easily find a career in the ever demanding creative entertainment field (Books, newspapers, magazines)

With all those opportunities, only a person with slave mentality can end up being a rickshaw puller.

I refused to take on a traditional 9–5 job, that’s why found my work in the internet marketing field. Then one by one many people started to learn about this alternative path, and now we have an explosion of freelancers in BD.

Don’t be a digital wage labor!

Be someone different.

Tamal Anwar of #BLOGKORI signing off.