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Dhaka Diary

A Poor Man's Plight
This happened a few days ago. It was afternoon and I was on my way to a friend's house in Dhanmondi. Unexpectedly, there were no rickshaws available. The sweltering heat of the sun was making me irritable. However, I finally caught sight of a rickshaw heading towards me. As the rickshaw drew near, I managed to have a clearer look at the driver. He was a man in his late 50s and had a solemn look on his face. While he was pulling the Rickshaw I heard him mumbling over something. Curious, I asked him about the matter. At first he did not answer my query but after some time he told me about it. What he said was a very sad story. Moments before when I had hired him he had driven a passenger all the way from New Market to Mohammadpur. When the passenger had reached his place He got off the Rickshaw and convinced the old man to wait for a few minutes while he manages to get a change of his 50-taka note. The old man had waited almost an hour but the man never came back. He also inquired about the passenger nearby but he was gone with the wind. I felt very sorry about my Rickshaw puller thinking that such people in disguise of fine gentlemen do dwell amongst us in our society who are dishonest enough to rob the poor of their hard-earned income.

Naome Syed
Mohammadpur

Suffering in Silence
It was a hot and humid sunny afternoon. After giving my exam, I was looking for a rickshaw to return home from my college. A group of boys were gossiping were on the street. Half of them were sitting on the street while the other half on the pavement. They were teasing the girls who were passing by. As I was also going the same way, I could not escape either. The words were downright dirty. We are now living in the 21st century, but there has been no change in our mindset. We often watch several programmes on TV about the problems of women and ways to overcome them. But the individuals in our society still live in their very own ancient world. Men still sit around to pass dirty comments while women suffer silently. I wonder how long we will have to tolerate this.

Nadia Sultana
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Diary from Chittagong

Cell Phone Intrusion
On the evening of February 21st, I encountered an awful incident while strolling down the road between the Karnafully Shishu Park and the huge open field in Agrabad. A huge number of people -- boys and girls with their parents -- were spending time in the festivities that were taking place there. All of a sudden, a group of young boys started to cause a hue and cry with their cell phones, which they were using to take pictures and record video images of girls. Some elderly people went forward to solve the impending crisis but came out receiving some vulgar onslaughts from the insolent youths. Some further told me that this sort of phenomenon is common across the country. I couldn't help wondering the impact of mixed technological advancement on certain occasions. Furthermore, I could neither figure out a solution and moved on.

Rafiqul Islam Rime
Agrabad, Chittagong