International issues: neurology in Bangladesh.

Farrah J. Mateen, MD Ascending the steps of the Pink Palace, it is easy to imagine the land of the old Nawabs. Their doughfaced, proud faces, now confined to mere portraits, are still poised to overlook Old Dhaka. Below, on the Sadarghat, the palatial park is crowded with people of all ages: sellers, schoolchildren, rickshaw drivers, peddlers, beggars, artisans, businesswomen, and many people, it seems, without any business at all. Wrapped by this megacity of 20 million people, the Pink Palace is a reminder of the wealth once known to the Indian subcontinent and its capacity to build for the ages. Most of my neurology rotation in Bangladesh had been a reminder of its poverty: its crowded waiting rooms, its overworked doctors, and the end-stage pathology, previously beyond my imagination.