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     Volume 7 Issue 28 | July 11, 2008 |


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Star Diary

Drama on the Wheel

A few days ago, I witnessed a very funny incident which still makes me laugh. I was travelling by bus and behind me, a young man was talking on his cell phone. His voice was low in the beginning, however, suddenly it rose. What I understood from his desperate voice, (along with the rest of the passengers of the bus, of course!) was that his girlfriend was furious with him because of his friendship with a female classmate. He was desperately trying to pacify her that the classmate was only a friend and nothing more. But the girl was unmoved with his plea. At one stage she angrily disconnected the line. This made the young man really upset. In desperation he exclaimed, "Oh! She is impossible! What can I do now!?" Immediately, one passenger from the back quipped, "Leave her! She does not trust you enough. What will happen in the future when you marry her?" Another voice was heard saying "You must stop mingling with your classmate, if she is only a friend.” I was surprised because I have seen passengers discussing sports or politics but never seen discussing someone's personal life so openly! I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Now who needs a Hindi soap opera to entertain oneself when you can witness such live drama on the bus? At least I don't!

Mohammed Sohel Hara
WESTECS, Gulshan




The other day I was going to the BEAM auditorium to attend a seminar. At Bangla Motor, I met one of my college friends. He told me that he had come to an office situated there to get some information regarding a job posting. The company in question recently published a job advertisement in some of the dailies offering handsome salaries. After going to the office, he was asked to appear for an interview as well. Next, they informed him that he had been selected for the job and that he had to pay Tk 5,000 as security money to the company. My friend was shocked! Moreover he had only Tk 400 in his pockets. The authorities of that company threatened him that he had to face difficulties if he did not give the rest money soon, as he had been selected for the job. I told my friend that no good company demanded security money that way and asked him not to give any amount whatsoever to the company. Such methods of deceiving people are increasing day by day. I would like to ask all the readers to be extra careful when they go for random job interviews.

Mushfique Wadud
Department of English
Stamford University Bangladesh



After waiting for almost an hour and having my patience tested in the sweltering heat of the sun, I finally caught up with the luck of asking for a ticket to the ticket seller at a bus counter, on my way back home from Shahbagh.

I was rather, in a hurry, not to mention the pressure of the agitated crowd of commuters standing in the long queue behind my back. The cranky ticket seller demanded a surprisingly higher price for the ticket when the actual “official” price was clearly mentioned on it. Unavoidably, I had to agree to his irrational demand and decided to pay him “his” price for the ticket. But as misfortune would have it, I was short of change. The bus was about to leave and thoughtlessly I gave him a lot higher price than he had unreasonably asked. In a jiffy, the man buried a small ticket in my hand and pushed me towards the bus. When I had somehow managed to find a seat, I handed my 'much anticipated' ticket to the bus conductor. But to my utter despair, I revealed that the ticket I was given was for the place much ahead of my own residence. When I had narrated the whole story about the shrewd ticket seller to the conductor, I was shocked to hear what he too, had to say. The conductor gave me a wry smile and replied consolingly that it was not a big deal and such incidents are frequent among the commuters.

I realised that there was no point in arguing because everyone was involved in the fraudulent scheme. Though I could not help myself but be astonished when I saw a small notice board hanging at one side of the bus that said “Do not use any unscrupulous means with your ticket, it might be required any time for checking by the bus conductor”.

Naome Syed
Mohammadpur

 

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