Bailey Road

Baily Road is a well-known thoroughfare in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. It runs through Shantinagar, connecting the Kakrail-Ramna road with the Siddheshwari junction, including both Nailey Road proper and the New Baily Road. It is generally regarded as one of the classier areas of the city Fact|date=February 2007. Baily Road was featured in a song of the same name by Ayub Bachchu, lead singer of the popular rock band LRB. Baily Road was officially renamed Natok Saroni ("Theater Street"), in recognition of the road's contributions to performing arts in the capital.cite news | last = | first = Bdnews | title = Baily Road renamed Natok Saroni | language = English | publisher = The Daily Star | date = 2005-08-27 | url = http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/08/27/d50827012319.htm | accessdate = 2006-12-25]

Name

Baily Road has been named after Lt. Governor of Bengal Sir Steuart Bayley. Sadek Hossain Khoka, the Mayor of Dhaka, announced the change of its name to Natok Soroni on August 26 2005, accompanied by eminent theater personalities Sayed Ahmed, Ramendu Majumdar, M Hamid, Liakat Ali Lucky and Mamunur Rashid.cite news | last = | first = Bdnews | title = Baily Road renamed Natok Saroni | language = English | publisher = The Daily Star | date = 2005-08-27 | url = http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/08/27/d50827012319.htm | accessdate = 2006-12-25]

Theater street

Baily Road is perhaps best-known as the heart of Dhaka's theater world. The stage productions of Dhaka's major drama companies are usually performed in Baily Road. Over the years, its theaters have played host to some of the country's best actors and actresses. The major theaters on the road are:

*Guide House Auditorium: The Guide House was established in 1964 to spearhead the movement of the Bangladesh Girls' Guide Association and the auditorium was built in 1982 as a means of raising funds for the organisation. In 2003-04 the auditorium went through structural upgradation with advice from eminent theater personalities M Hamid, Jamaluddin and Nasiruddin Yusuf.cite news | last = Sanwar Rahman | first = Avik | title = Guide House to wear a new look | language = English | publisher = The Daily Star | date = 2003-11-10 | url = http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/11/10/d311102503102.htm | accessdate = 2006-12-25]

*Mahila Samiti Auditorium: A centre for stage productions that introduced ticketed stage plays in the 70s. The centre is located in the building of the Bangladesh Mahila Samiti.

hopping and eateries

The street is also popular among Dhaka's residents for its quality book shops, clothing boutiques (i.e. the Jamdani sari stores), and fast food shops.

*Eateries: Baily Road played an important role in popularizing the junk food culture in Dhaka Fact|date=February 2007. The area features fast food shops "Palki", "New Dahlia's", "La Vista", "Golden Food", "Helvetia", "Euro-Hut" and "Domino's Pizza". It also features "Pitha Ghar", a place for indigenous Bengali sweetmeat (known as "Pitha") and "Swiss Bakery", one of the oldest confectioneries in Dhaka.cite news | last = | first = | title = Fun options for Eid | language = English | publisher = The Daily Star | date = 2004-11-12 | url = http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2004/11/02/cover.htm | accessdate = 2006-12-25]

* Boutiques: The major boutiques in Baily Road includes the handloom sari shops, like "Tangali Sari Kutir" and "Jamdani Sari Kutir". cite news | last = | first = | title = Demand for handloom clothes high in Eid shopping | language = English | publisher = The New Age | date = 2006-10-06 | url = http://www.newagebd.com/2006/oct/06/met.html | accessdate = 2006-12-25] In 2006, Khaleda Zia, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, made gift of silk Jamdani saris from the former to Gursharan Kaur, wife of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Sonia Gandhi, chief of ruling Indian National Congress.cite news | last = | first = Star Report | title = Khaleda's gifts for Manmohan's wife, Sonia | language = English | publisher = The Daily Star | date = 2006-03-19 | url = http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/03/19/d6031901128.htm | accessdate = 2006-12-25]

Education

Baily Road is within reaching distance of a number of academic institutions. Among them are Viqarunnisa Noon School, Viqarunnisa Noon College and Viqarunnisa University. There also is the Willes Little Flower School.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.catbd.org/theatrebd.html Theater in Bangaledsh]
* http://www.briow.com/en/city/dhaka/map/
* Army map of Baily Road - http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~mrchowdh/shr/golpo/DHAKA%20CITY-ARMY%2048X%2072FINAL%20MAP.jpg