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The Dream Chaser
No matter what else Dilruba does in life she always chases her dreams. She believes that is the key to having an exciting life and being successful. As she says, 'Whether you are a man or a woman, chase your dreams…' By Bidita Anwar
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Dilruba Haider is a socialite, philanthropist, media personality, and a disaster risk reduction specialist. She was born in Dhaka on the 25th of June 1965. She speaks about her father as a person who had all the middle class values but at the same time was someone who used to encourage Dilruba and her siblings to aspire for great things. She admits to inheriting ambition from her father.
Dilruba got married when she was 16, her husband is a lawyer who has long experience of work in development. She says that her husband charmed her into development work. After finishing her masters from Dhaka University in English Literature she worked as a teacher for 6 months; she then joined an NGO called Organisation for Social Action. She has also worked in the Department for International Development (DFID); and as an Assistant Resident Representative of UNDP. In all, she has given 14 years of her life to development and disaster management.
At the moment Dilruba is teaching in the Postgraduate programme in Disaster Management at BRAC University.
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She also free lances for the media. Dilruba believes in never being idle and wasting one's time; she is always into voluntary work and is associated with different fora. Dilruba is also the Director of Pidimm Handicrafts Litd. When asked if she would like to look back and thank anyone else for her achievements, she says there are many people who inspired her and there are many people she could thank, but she also believes it's always up to oneself, for if you take the first step yourself, then there is nothing which can stop you from succeeding. Dilruba loves her work, which till date has been rewarding. The biggest reward according to her is the love and respect of people. She believes that whatever she is today is because of her hard work and she has no regrets for anything she has done till now.
Dilruba says she loves to work for the media. She hosted the talk show Alapon on BTV ten years ago and Na bola Kotha, another talk show on Channel i for eight years. Dilruba started a unique talk show in the context of Bangladesh, on Boishakhi, the 'Dilruba Haider show'. This was the first ever daily, hour-long thematic talk show on Bangladeshi television. Dilruba has been a newsreader for BTV as well as Bangladesh Betar. She believes that through her talk shows she can discuss matters which can have a positive impact on viewers. Currently, she is planning to do two programmes on Channel I.
Dilruba denies being a feminist; she says there are connotations of the term that she doesn't subscribe. She wants to do more things in life and make other people's lives a little better through actions for which people will remember her. When asked to describe herself she declared 'I'm a straightforward honest person who wants to do good for society.'
Dilruba talks about the male dominated world: 'From living life and seeing things around, I think people don't take women seriously. They tend to think women are lesser beings, they are dumb or something ridiculous like that, and that is the main issue which leads to other problems.'
Dilruba smiles when asked about how she manages her family and work at the same time. She confesses, 'I juggle things, my husband helps me tremendously whenever I need to go out of town or the country, he takes care of the kids and the house then; he never ever complains; rather he encourages me to go ahead. He admires me for being professional.'
When asked about her future projects, she says, 'I imagine myself working on and on. One thing I want to do is a fusion between media and development.
No matter what she will do later in life, we can be sure that she will always chase her dreams; she believes this is the key to being successful in whatever field one is in. As she puts it: 'Whether you are a man or a woman, chase your dreams; you have to be strong from within to overcome difficulties; to make a mark and a name in life.'
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