Dhaka Diary

Wife hunt
Last Friday. I went to Aarong with my mother to do some shopping in Gulshan. The whole place was buzzing with customers and the employees were trying their best to serve every one of them. With no obvious uniform except for an identity card, it was absolutely impossible to figure out a customer from a staff member of the store. While waiting at the counter to pay for the things that we had bought, I noticed a man picking out two yards of yellow striped cloth and approaching one of the store staff members. The staff approached the man as well, ready to help and offer him services. The man, however, with his eyes fixed on the piece of cloth that he bought, took hold of the woman's arm and began to pull her through the crowd very casually. It was not until she asked in a stern voice as to what the man thought he was doing, the man realised his mistake and looked horrified indeed. He thought the lady was his wife, since both his wife and the staff were wearing the same colour! He apologised profusely and ran away to the other side of the shop to look for his wife.
Eman Yousuf
Nikunja

Superstition at its best
I am a student of English and am appearing for my MA final exams under the National University board. I work part time in an NGO and since I have no family members living here in Dhaka, I live in a private hostel in Moghbazaar. There are many other working girls and students who live in the hostel as well who have become one big family. Every evening, we sit together to watch TV or just to read. It's a wonder to see some of the girls having strange habits and beliefs sometimes. The other day, as I was studying for my second paper final, my room mate was also studying for her exams. However, rather than her studying for the exams, she was paying more attention to the activity of closing her eyes and mumbling to herself. I stared on, as she was done with her mumblings and opened her eyes to write something on a little piece of paper and went on to dipp it slowly, in a glass of water. The water immediately got a little blue, because of the ink from the paper. She stirred the water with a spoon, and drank it up! It was not until then that she took out her books and began to study.
Rabaab Hussain
Moghbazaar

A shooting spree!
The other day, I was passing by the Mouchak Market, when I saw a big crowd gathered at a distance. Good lord! Is this some kind of a mob beating up a mugger? I thought to myself. Even though the crowd was not moving much, it was getting bigger and bigger and I could see a lot of people smirking and grinning to themselves. I could not help but get off the rickshaw and try to peer through the crowd to see exactly what was happening. That was when the crowd suddenly moved backwards like a wave in the sea, knocking me and several others down on the ground. That was when I saw what exactly was behind the gathering. A drama serial shooting was in process and the spot boys were trying to shoo away the crowd for the protection of the crew members and the actors. So much for quenching your curious mind.
Nandiny Das
Green Road

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