In hell, with a taste of heaven

Dhaka is a dump, almost unlivable, the second worst place on this planet.
At least according to The Economist's global liveability ranking published this week.
An improvement from last year when Dhaka was the absolute jumbo, a living hell.
This year Dhaka was marginally better than Syria's war battered capital Damascus.

Dhaka has a long and sad record in the bottom tier of the ranking. And it seems to be a potent candidate for bottom medals in the future, too.
The ranking lists 140 cities based on various criteria such as health care, education, culture, environment and infrastructure.
It's easy to see why Dhaka scores very low in all categories. The infrastructure here is a really bad joke, the environment is literally drowning in pollution, the most secure way to become seriously ill is to end up in a local hospital.
Political instability, crime, violence and social inequility dominate every day life of the approximately 15 million people in Dhaka.

The ranking is, however, not quite fair. Life can be a struggle but Dhaka people seem to cope well with the harsh reality. They are hard working and resilient.

And the ranking didn't measure the good things, like fuchka. (This has nothing to do with the f-word).
Fuchka is street food, right from heaven.
Fuchkas are small, bite-sized hollow wheat breads fried until they are crisp. The hollow part is filled with a mixture of chickpeas, onions, potatoes, a spice mixture called chat masala and tamarind.
In the global fuchka index Dhaka is a clear winner.