Dhaka
Diary
All
is 'Fare'
I
was on a five-day tour in Dhaka City. I went to my aunt's
house in Mirpur several times during that tour mostly by CNG
scooters. What astonished me was the difference in the fares.
One up and down trip, the metre reading showed Tk 65 and Tk
68 respectively. The second time, I paid Tk 78 going and Tk
67 returning. I know that there are many types of scooter
metres but how can they vary so much from one another? Some
metres don't even show how far one has travelled while many
others give false reading. I saw this new kind of metre where
I had to pay Tk 78 for the same ride. I would like to warn
all those who commute by CNG scooters. Try to board scooters
that have a standard type of metre, not the new fancy types.
Otherwise, you will be hassled with different fares at different
times and that can be really annoying. Shouldn't BRTA do something
about this?
Gibran Mahmood
Money
Matters
Our
tutorial teacher's lecture usually consists of a 30-minute
discussion about her family and another half-an-hour's discussion
on the subject she teaches. Regarding the first part, we've
learnt how we make different kinds of "halua",
what her family likes to eat, what her friends like to eat,
etc. We also know that she has two drivers, three maids, two
computers and her frequent visits to Singapore for her illness.
Some days back, she was talking about a recipe from Darjeeling
and suddenly asked how many of us had been to India. When
no one answered, she became perplexed and angry with us. She
started to scold us for not going to places and seeing the
world. She even said that we were spoilt. Maybe our teacher
is very rich but she should know that not all of us at Dhaka
University are as wealthy. We can't go to Singapore for treatment
even if we wish. While she was rebuking us, we could not help
but think; we could all be travelling to all places of the
world, simply if our dear teacher paid for the trips. To put
things simply, the main matter of everything is 'money'.
Rahad Abir Dept. Of English Dhaka University
Evil
Woman
One
day, someone rang our doorbell and I opened the door to find
a woman. She was not too shabbily dressed but I would say
that she was from the working class of our society. She said
that her husband was our garbage collector and was ill. He
could not collect the garbage that day. She then asked for
some money to buy him some medicine. I told my father about
the situation and he gave a 50 taka note to the woman. Thanking
us, she left. Two hours later, our garbage collector came
knocking at our door, asking for the trash. I was amazed and
I told him about his wife's visit. He simply smiled, took
out our trash and said that he wasn't even married. I understand
now that the woman had lied and cheated us of our money. It
is sad how some individuals take advantage of people’s
trust and compassion.
Golam Kibria
Copyright (R)
thedailystar.net 2004
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