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     Volume 7 Issue 44 | November 7, 2008 |


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Star Diary

The One-armed Man

The other day I was going to Mirpur to my aunt's by bus. It was noon, and the bus was crowded. Travelling by bus in Dhaka during the summer is never comfortable. I was trying to divert my attention by looking out of the window. At one point of the journey, a one-armed man mounted the bus, and was asking for alms. The man was in his thirties, and he was carrying a small child with him. As usual, people did not want to help him, and some were even criticising him for not working for a living. With tears in his eyes, the man answered poignantly, “Everybody blames me for not working, though I am quite young. But nobody offers me a job. Who would offer a one-armed man any work? I lost my arm in an accident while working in a factory, and now I am completely useless. Even by selling my blood, I cannot feed my child for two days. What else do you expect me to do?” The man's story really touched me along with the other passengers. This incident makes me wonder about the situation of our country. With the price of necessities rising everyday, what will the poor do? Even the price of their blood is not enough to feed their family members.

Sadat Shams
Maple Leaf Int. School
Dhaka


An Eye Wash

Afew days ago, one of my friends went to the FDC to watch a shooting taking place there. There he found a prominent actor with other well-known actors and celebrities. The prominent actor was chain smoking at every interval of the shoot. However, just a few days prior to the shooting, the same actor was a part of an anti-smoking seminar where he spoke of the ills of smoking. That is what I call 'eyewash for the fans' for the sake of fame and popularity.

Subbir Ahmed
Stamford University Bangladesh
Dhaka




As I was returning from my school in a rickshaw, I listened to the rickshaw-puller's traumatic story. The old man's left eye was blind. He used to be a security guard, when he lost his left eye in an accident. Eventually the owner threw him away, even though he was able to work. He did not get work anywhere. His son studies at a private University and earns very little, not even enough to bear the expenses of the family. I was devastated with the story. After I reached my destination, I gave him a Tk 100 note and walked away.

Mahbub
'Old Town'
Dhaka


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