Dhaka
Diary
The
Doctor's Dilemma
I
went to a doctor's chamber a couple of days ago with a broken
collarbone. Instead of checking the injured part of my shoulder,
the physician continued to sip at what it seemed the most
invaluable cup of tea on earth. While I was groaning in pain
and fuming in anger, the doctor, one of the most famous orthopaedic
surgeons in the country, told me how a particular brand of
tea that had recently hit the market tasted so good. He went
on, and I was enlightened more about tea. His 20-minute-long
monologue that ensued was shocking to my ears, and it was
of course about nothing other than the evergreen shrub. The
doctor threw light on it further: Tea is of Theaceae family,
I learnt, and it has toothed leathery leaves, I understood.
He did not even spare its Latin name: Camellia sinensis.
As the conversation turned from sad to tragic, I interrupted
the tea-obsessed physician by telling him that I was feeling
really bad and that I felt as if my left arm had been torn
apart from my body. It worked. But when I was leaving his
chamber I couldn't help wonder how bizarre the incident was.
The doctor's behaviour was eerily similar to a person I already
know -- my mother.
AMH,
Banani
The
Scam Network
The
phenomenon of legitimising the illegal activities is the symptom
of a society, gradually dipping into darkness. On a certain
Friday I was on board a truck transporting my household goods
from Barisal to Dhaka. At every check post on the highway
I paid 20 to 60 taka to the Sergeant in charge there. None
of them even either had suspicion nor attempted to check my
holdings for illegal goods. I also paid all the legal tolls
of bridges and ferry. Aricha ferry ghat is leased by the government
to a group of extortionists who never give the ferry ticket
without receiving extra money along with the rate fixed by
BIWTA for different vehicles. Some truck drivers wait from
even dawn to dusk to get their bookings without paying the
ransom. Besides all of these, I also received a token from
the Motor Worker's Samiti to prevent me from being harassed.
That came to no avail. Needless to say everything that occurred
that day seemed like a scam and they all worked like a network.
How can I call them extortionists when I am getting a coupon?
It's hard to decide what's legal and what's illegal nowadays!
Ahmed
Eakub, Sher-E-Bangla Hall, BUET
Cheating
With Flood
These
days everybody has only one motive…to become rich. Flood
is a common calamity in Bangladesh and with it follows illness,
poverty and suffering. But even at a time like this, there
are those who never let an opportunity go by. At my hall yesterday,
two young girls asked me for aid as they were collecting for
the flood-affected people. They informed me that they were
members of a cultural organisation but I was in doubt due
to their dress up. Suddenly they seemed familiar. I remembered
that a couple of months ago, I saw them selling flowers on
the street. I asked them about their profession and they started
looking at each other. Finally they marked two men on the
opposite side of the street. The girls said that the men had
hired them to collect money from the neighbouring houses and
they paid the girls Tk 200 for their effort. The two men realised
that their scam had been revealed and soon disappeared. It
is outrageous that there are some people who will try to profit
by playing on people's emotion.
Thowhid
Fattah, Mujib Hall, DU
Copyright (R)
thedailystar.net 2004
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