Dhaka Diary

Rapid Action
Balloons!
This incident occurred on Pohela Boishakh (last Friday). The streets were crowded, people were celebrating the day filled with colour and fun though there was a huge traffic on the streets of Dhaka. Everything seemed normal on the festive day, until I passed a small RAB pickup truck, the ones used as a personnel carrier. The vehicle was deserted but something inside it caught my eye. A balloon! The long ones with a flower-shaped end, a favourite among small children. What I kept thinking was, how in God's beautiful world could such a timid and frail object end up inside the RAB's vehicle? There could be only one answer, not even the toughest RAB sergeant could prevent the low ranking officers from having some fun on the first day of the Bangla New Year!
Mushfek
e-mail

Insensible Cruelty
The other day I was going towards Science Laboratory, when I saw a man standing in front of his makeshift shop carrying a sack. As the sack was moving, I suspected that he had something living and breathing inside the sack, which struck me! After a while, when the man opened his sack I was absolutely horrified. There were about 40 pigeons in that single sack. All of them were alive. The man then put the pigeons inside different cages to sell them. Can't these shopkeepers be a little more sensible about these little creatures?
Atiqur Rahman
DC

Befriending the snake
The other night I dreamt something interesting. I saw a snake that was earnestly trying to befriend me. According to the conventional interpretation of this dream, something that we would hear from one of our elderly grandmothers, a snake is the symbol of an enemy. To dream of snakes means that one's enemies are increasing and are close by. If they bite the person in the dream, one's enemies are going to do serious harm. So, when I woke up, I recollected this dream-theory and as I did not have anyone near at that moment to ask the meaning of the dream, I came up with a slightly altered interpretation of my own. Enemies with sweet words and smiles are very dangerous indeed. The National Election is coming up soon. I hope the people of both cansat and Bangladesh will not befriend their enemies, enchanted by their sweet words and lofty promises.
Mahamuda Rahman
English Department, Dhaka University

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