Talking about roundabouts

We are in a state of uncertainty. Today's islands may be destroyed tomorrow, trees uprooted and towed away without any trace. People are braving and marching ahead for the sake of a better future. Push and pulls, nudges, cuts and drives, hops and scotches and what not, and we still end up at the silly point. Going round and round looking for a safe roundabout.

I am trying to expose the present situation of Dhaka streets. Crazy things are happening for so long. The profile of the city street line is changing along with the tide changes. I saw those things but never thought of writing or addressing the issue publicly.

I really got depressed when the water fountain at Shahbag was wiped out. For me, at the age of forty plus, it has been a synonym for the city I grew up in. I conceptualise it as Dhaka fountain. I assume this slaughter came to many of us as uprooting the origins.

We should absorb changes that will bring betterment in the long run. But when we see havoc around city roundabouts (the demised ones) we know some sort of insanity has crawled into our reasoning. How long will we go through this and why should we suffer?

This is for you, all the policy-makers, the lawmakers, the donors and obviously the politicians. Give us a better today, because tomorrow's dream has been elusive for such a long period that we cannot just keep faith upon your wisdom.

A couple of years back a huge tree at a posh club in Dhaka had to be cut because it was sick and decaying. The club members planted another sapling to replace the tree for the next generation. Why cannot our city fathers long for such gracious deeds?

The funds allocated for the streets and roads of Dhaka city and its beautification must be a handsome figure. Why cannot we plan a new settlement and an organised living abode using a portion of that fund?

The nation will realise that our policy-makers are wise, after all.