Dhaka Diary

Selling stuff
It was quite late when I was strolling along Dhanmondi Lake all by myself, enjoying the cool breeze of the early rainy season. While I was passing by road number 12A, a man suddenly emerged out of nowhere and blocked my path. It was quite dark and there was nobody around. I thought that the man was a mugger and became scared. However, to my surprise, the man came forward and tried to sell cannabis or “ganja” as we call it. Terribly shocked, I gently refused and tried to walk away. I thought that he would follow me, but instead he asked me to inform any friend of mine who was interested in buying the “stuff” and that he would be available at the place with it. As I swiftly walked away I wondered how these people openly run illegal businesses like selling drugs. I was also concerned about the future of those who buy the drugs, and I personally feel annoyed how these 'criminals' get away with the crime.
Sadat Shams
Maple Leaf Int. School

Good manners
Simple manners go a long way. A few days ago, I, along with some of my friends went to Star Cineplex to watch a movie. While the movie was going on, a foreign child dropped his popcorn on the floor. His mother immediately picked up all the popcorn and threw them in the garbage. The Cineplex authority saw this and appreciated it. They offered another pack of popcorn to the child, but the mother would not accept it. Instead, she went and bought another pack for her son. In a nutshell, what the woman did was something very simple and trivial, but definitely worth a mention, especially when this kind of behaviour is rarely seen nowadays.
Md. Mashiur Rahman
Tejgaon

Package offers at the board office market
Last week, my uncle and I went to the board office to translate my uncle's certificate into English. Everyone is aware of the harassment involved when one goes to do an official task. As we were standing in queue, we saw a man moving about. We could not understand what the man wanted. Finally, the man got a customer. By negotiating, they agreed on the terms that the man would stand in line instead of the 'customer' and get his task done quickly. In return, he would be awarded Tk100. A while later, I came to know that the man sold packages, which had several offers. One offer stated that the man would even get you a certificate within a short time, with an official approval from the authority, if you can manage Tk 2000. However, if one wants to save Tk 500, the man would get just the certificate, while one goes through all the government harassment standing in queue, which would definitely take a long time. I could not help but wonder at this.
Mohammed Selim
Dept. of Finance, DU

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