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Feature

DU produces a Nobel Laureate

Esraj Fairuz

One of the ways to measure the standard of a university is to look at what its graduates are doing in their professional field and how much they are contributing to their societies. Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Oxford are the leading universities of the world because these institutions are constantly producing people of great stature who are doing great things in their life. Similarly, in Bangladesh, BUET and DU are regarded as the top institutions as graduates of these schools have made their mark in their professional field, nationally and internationally.

But on October 13th Dr. Muhammad Yunus took Dhaka University to a new height. He won the Nobel peace prize. The fact that he got his BA and MA in Economics from Dhaka University proves that DU has the ability to produce graduates who can win Nobel Prize.

Now we can tell the world that there are institutions in Bangladesh that can produce Nobel laureates. He has put DU firmly on the world map. He has made the whole DU family proud. Thanks to Dr. Yunus.

Esraj Fairuz is a student of
Dept. of Management Studies
University of Dhaka

From the pits of this urban chaos rose the heroes of today

Nudrat Lohani

After class, we can barely stand up straight and peek over the pushing fighting crowd for a glimpse of that all inviting green relief. But to our dismay, no matter how much we curse and scream, there will not be a CNG that will release us from our sweat drenched miseries and carry us home! This is our ordeal every working day of every month of every year. For unfortunate students like yours truly, this is a hackneyed sob story. It is impossible to find a ride with fair fares during rush hours and CNG wallas are no candy sellers. They will either ask for fares equal to your lunch of two days or refuse to go to your area because of "jam". By the end of an hour of fruitless search you will be willing to walk home and in a desperate move take the next CNG that comes your way. That is how we almost always end up spending 100 taka on a ride that should cost us 40.

Tired of being treated like matchsticks in the mud, a friend of mine and myself decided to take matters in our own hands. We searched for an alternate route and could not find one as bus rides turned out to be even more jolting. Just as we returned to our mind numbing deals and leg numbing waits... be hold!! From the corners of our not so hygienic neighborhood, with the shining colours of his hood glistening in the sun, emerged our knight in his blue striped lungi. And like a divine touch from the heavens above, we realized that it IS possible to travel from Mohakhali to Dhanmondi in the knight driven chariot. We quickly mapped out our area and course of advance and boldly set out on our "mission not- so-impossible". The ride from Mohakhali to Farmgate could have been refreshing if lead excretion of buses was healthy. Rickshaw rides were always dirt friendly so it was no surprise to find my hair carrying dirt like a sponge carries water. The perilous ride through Tejgaon bus stand was heart stopping and a healthy exercise for our knight as he had to dodge and skip vigorous attacks from the enemy, a.k.a. all the other bigger, badder vehicles of the road. Our chariot flew through the narrow "oli golis" that snake from Shatrastar mor to Farmgate and deposited us at the corner of Farmgate bridge. This is where we faced our first obstacle as we stood in front of an odyssey of spit laden pavements and handmade stalls. We rose as the unlikely heroes of today and with courage and honour crossed the Farmgate bridge and the trail of stalls that followed. Battered and injured from the shoving and pushing of zillion arms and legs, we came out victorious at the intersection of Indira Road. We relied on another knight to carry us through yet more
"oli golis", which make you believe in rabbits living amidst us, to reach our destination, Rainbow at Dhanmondi 28. From there we separated to reach our respective homes with welcoming showers and warm food. After long hours of meditation and scrumptious food, we, the heroes of today, sat down to compare and contrast our adventure to our daily bout of screaming and cursing. With regards to financial matters, it was found that total money spent coming back home was 40 taka. The total time taken to reach home, including time taken to change rickshaws was 40 minutes. With regards to such astounding results, we voted to face such risks and health hazards everyday to come back home. Paying our lunch money to CNG wallas was no longer feasible, for we get real hungry during lunch!

Thus we have adapted to the chaos of this growing metropolis and have found a simple solution to our BIG problem. Whoever said start small to solve big problems knew what he was talking about.To all the unfortunates out there, happy knight hunting!!