Sometimes, things are bafflingly strange here.  And not just in a blatantly bizarre way, but also in an ‘almost alike to things in the U.S. except with subtle, yet hugely important differences’ sort of way.  And it’s really those slight deviations that make things all that much more strange.

For example.

The other night, I was sitting with a couple friends in the cafe that just opened up around the corner from our apartment.  We were studying Bangla and chatting, when we suddenly recognized the song drifting out of the speakers as Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl.”  Except it wasn’t Katy Perry singing.  It could only be what we assumed was a Bengali man.  At first we thought this little gender switch might have been an odd attempt to mask any homosexual themes of the song.  But, it doesn’t appear that gender norms were the main concern here – as they kept all the words as they are in the original.  Including:

“I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it”

“It’s not what good girls do
Not how they should behave”

“Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Ain’t no big deal, it’s innocent”

Yep.  The whole tune, in all its Bangla cover-song, (unwitting?) gender-bending glory.

Granted, the new cafe’s music selection is improving with each week its open.  But I’m just glad we were able to hear that rendition.  Perhaps it’s available online somewhere.