Star Diary
The Ugly Face of Society
The other day I was heading to my University in Bashundhara Residential Area on a rickshaw, through the narrow road behind Apollo hospital when I saw a small crowd in the middle of the road blocking the way. As I went forward to investigate the situation, I saw a big pipe from a nearby construction site being dragged by some labourers. The pipe was too big for the narrow road and so, it was blocking the whole path, causing a great deal of havoc to the passengers and the pedestrians. Since it was the first day of Ramadan, everyone was a bit off their tracks in the middle of the day. So, the people around gave the labourers a heated scolding. They were being blamed for blocking the road during rush hour. A man sitting on a bike began losing his temper completely as one of the labourers started arguing back. Then all of a sudden, the man from the bike got up and started to beat one of the labourers furiously. At one point, to my horror, he took a piece of brick from somewhere and slammed it on his head! The poor labourer was bleeding profusely. The left side of his face was completely covered in red and so was his white shirt. The crowd immediately went silent. Some people got hold of the injured labourer and wrapped his head with a 'gamcha'. That worn out, dirty 'gamcha' was the only piece of medication he was offered. On the other hand, the man, who literally committed a crime in broad daylight, left the spot uninterruptedly once the pipe was removed. It is a point to marvel upon, that how the man on the bike thought it was his right to beat up a fellow human being just because he was poor and how we, the concerned citizens, were able to turn a blind eye at such discrimination that prevailed in our society even in this day and age.
Tashrifa Haider
Independent University, Bangladesh
OF STRUGGLES AND SMILES
Baby Shakil came to this world early. He breathed heavily as various tubes were seen sticking out of his tiny structure. His fellow fighter Tabassum grunted from the bed beside him in the NICU while my classmates and I were gathered around Shakil to study his case. He could barely open his eyes and watching him breathe with that much effort was very unnerving. I was wondering about the extent of difficulty he was facing and the emotional vulnerability of the parents. Suddenly, I saw just an inkling of a smile on the baby's face. I don't know if it was a part of me imagining this or the baby did really smile, but it left me surprised. This is when I realised that we face so many difficulties all around us all the time. Struggle is present everywhere, whether in bigger forms or smaller. But there is no reason to be demoralised every time something gets thrown at us. Rather we should face them with whatever we have and that too with a smile.
Fabiha Tanzeem
Purana Paltan, Dhaka
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