Logo  

<%-- Page Title--%> Dhaka Diary <%-- End Page Title--%>

<%-- Volume Number --%> Vol 1 Num 107 <%-- End Volume Number --%>

May 30, 2003

<%-- Navigation Bar--%>
<%-- Navigation Bar--%>
   
<%-- 5% Text Table--%>
 

The silly gentleman

I was on a bus from Gulistan, sitting beside a man who was aged between 35 to 40. I did not know him but I noticed that he had a valuable watch on his wrist and wore quite an expensive pair of spectacles. As the window was open and the bus wasn't moving, I requested the gentleman to close the window, as the local area was quite infamous for snatching and pickpocketing. He gave me a dirty look and told me off. I was rather embarrassed and to make matters worst, he started to smoke. He seemed lost in his thoughts when suddenly there was a jerk in his hand. He immediately raised an uproar. I realised that someone had snatched his watch and had run off. He was giving me dagger looks but I paid no attention to him. As I was getting off the bus, I turned to him and said, “Dear gentleman, learn to trust other people's judgement. Don't think everyone is foolish.”

Md. Zillur Rahaman
Bangabandhu Hall, University of Dhaka University

 


Postal service blues

We are but a little too familiar with the government offices and their procrastinating procedures. I rarely send letters by the postal service because most of the work I do is through Internet. It's fast, cheap and convenient. Last Eid-ul-Fitr I sent a lot of Eid cards to our clients and patrons through the postal service. That was almost three months back. A few days ago one of the Eid card was returned. It seemed that it could not find its proper recipient. But the astonishing thing was that the postal department took three months to send back the simple card to the return address. This incident proved to me how inefficient our postal department is. Now I have the feeling that if I send someone a card, congratulating the person on his marriage, by the time the person gets the card it might be his baby's birthday! I hope that the postal department improves their service because a lot of people depend on them as a means of communication.

Mohammed Sohel Hara
Topkhana Road

 


Modern Marketing

I was on a local bus on my way home. I noticed a little girl of maybe 15 years of age board the bus and started to draw the attention of the boarded passengers. She said she was an orphan and had a limited source of income. One of her daily activities was to sell 'Cocola Lozens' to people. She hated the idea of begging and hence, was selling chocolate instead. This was a common scene but what got my attention was the fact that she started to hand everyone a pair of lozens. I thought that she was giving them away for free. The heat must have made her lose her mind but then I saw that once she had made sure that everyone had some chocolate, she was asking them if they would like to buy them. Each cost Tk.1 but the fact of actually having the item in their hands made many people pay. Those who didn't want to buy the item simply gave it back. In many countries there are 'try before you buy' policies, but I guess that the closest that the people of good old Dhaka can get to is 'grip before you let your money slip' policy.

IHK, Gulshan 2

 
     
   

(C) Copyright The Daily Star. The Daily Star Internet Edition, is published by The Daily Star