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     Volume 5 Issue 106 | August 4, 2006 |


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Dhaka Diary

The Couples
A few days ago, I took my grandfather to an Eye Clinic in Dhanmondi. After we had finished our work there, my grandpa took me to La Bamba for a treat. When we entered the shop, we were shocked! The place was infested with boys and girls paired off and were sitting with their arms around each other. What was more surprising was that they were only teenagers like me and each of them had a schoolbag with them. It seemed like they were cutting classes! I learnt from the people working there that these students were regular customers and they spent a fortune on snacks. As we left the shop, I couldn't help but wonder at the pace at which the country is getting 'developed'.
The Dark Lord Dhanmondi

The other side of the 'law'
It was one o'clock by my watch. I was returning home from the school under the blazing heat of the mid--summer sun. But the roads of Dhanmondi were packed with heavy traffic. I was at the Star-Abahani crossing, waiting for the road to clear up a bit so that I could cross the road. An old blind beggar, sweating profusely under the heat, was standing by me, also willing to cross the road, but it seemed he had no one to help him. I was hesitating if I considering helping the man, when suddenly the traffic-sergeant on duty approached him. The sergeant, to my utter surprise, helped the poor man cross the road, and quite more surprisingly held an umbrella over his head while doing so. And when they had crossed the road, the sergeant slipped a ten taka note into the blind beggar's hand behind everyone's eyes. Now, witnessing this, I was really amazed. We always blame the police for their lack of professionalism and corruption. But after that incident, my views about the police have changed a -- there can be a kind and affectionate person on the other face of the coin, which we hardly notice.
Sadat Shams Maple Leaf Int. School

Encounter with an “educated” fraud
One day, I went to the bus stop early. I found the bus was already there, so I got up and took my seat. After sometime, a young girl came and sat beside me. She looked like a student and was carrying a bag and was well-dressed. When the conductor came to check the tickets, she took out her cell phone and became involved in very serious talking. When the conductor asked for her ticket, she started talking even more seriously over the cell. The conductor checked others tickets and later came to her again. This time she handed the conductor the ticket of another bus, and a used one! When she was told that this was a used ticket she replied that she bought it from the counter. The ticket she showed was the ticket of a bus that went to Tongi, and she was on a bus that was going to Banani! The conductor understood that she was trying to go without a ticket. The girl then pleaded that she would pay them the money later and that she needed to go to Banani immediately. The conductor understood that she was a fraud and he stopped the bus and practically dragged her off the bus! This really amazed me. The tickets hardly cost more than 15 taka, why would an educated person try to ride a bus without a ticket? Where have our ethics gone?
Zannatul Lamea (Ishita)
BBA Department, NSU

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