Dhaka Diary

Hope, lost and found
A while back, when I was a student of Dhaka University, I was returning to campus after a summer vacation along with two friends. Upon reaching the campus from Gabtoli, the CNG dropped us off, took the fare and drove away. Unfortunately, one of my friends forgot to take out his luggage. We ran after the CNG, screaming at it to stop but it was simply too far away. My friend had his clothes, cash, books, academic papers, necessary mark-sheets etc. in his baggage and all was lost. We could do nothing but just stand there on the pavement. Suddenly, we saw the CNG driving back towards us! It seems that the driver had noticed the luggage and quickly returned to give it back. We were overjoyed and offered him some money but he declined, saying that he had just done his duty. It was definitely surprising and refreshing to see honesty and the realisation that we can still have faith in our fellow beings, even today.

Moazzem Hossain, Department of English, DU

Just for Humour
A couple of days ago, a friend and I were returning to our university hall from Mirpur. It was close to midnight when we got on a local bus. After a short while, another passenger got on and sat next to us. When the conductor approached him for the fare, the passenger surprised everyone in the bus by saying, 'Only if you play some music, I will pay the bus fare.' Accordingly, the driver switched the player on, playing music as requested. To everyone's astonishment, the passenger began to dance in the bus with the help of the conductor, a 10- year old boy. We finally got off the bus at Shahbag, with a smile of course. We seldom get to experience such humour in our hectic day to day life and it was a refreshing change.

Mahbub Alam, Zia Hall, University of Dhaka

Chittagong Diary

A Lesson to the young
The other day I was walking on Badamtoly More in Agrabad. The rhythmic shouts of 'Ch-a-garam' (hot tea) and 'Lebu cha' (lemon tea) drew my attention to an old man of about 60 years of age. He was carrying a flask, a few cups in a tiny bucket and some biscuits and cakes for sale. It is always a sad sight when the educated young men cheat on their fellow men and take bribes while working at a job to make extra money. Maybe they could follow the example of this old man, who was painstakingly trying to earn his bread on the street.

Forhad, Department of English, Chittagong Universityz