Feature
Riding a bike can be fun
Abdul Mannan
MY daughter's jaws dropped when I told her that during my student days in the mid sixties at Dhaka University I would always use a bike to go to attend my classes or to go around Dhaka city. Her jaws even dropped further when I told her the great historian R C Majumdar, who later went on to become the Vice-chancellor of Dhaka University (1937-42) also used to bike down to the old arts faculty building (now part of Dhaka Medical College Hospital). It is vividly narrated in the book 'Aamar Joubon' by the eminent poet Bhuddo Dev Basu. Bhuddo Dev Basu was a student of English Literature in Dhaka University. Bike was the common mode of transportation for practically all teachers of Dhaka University in those days.
These days seeing a student riding down to the university on a bike would be quite rare, if not impossible. They would prefer riding a motor bike that makes tremendous noise than riding a simple bicycle. Riding a bicycle can be so much fun and so good for health that one has to ride it regularly to appreciate it. I have had the privilege of riding a bike in my school days, and even during the days of my graduate studies in US. It is true that Dhaka streets are no longer safe for biking. It is one of the most chaotic cities anywhere in the world. Dhaka in the sixties was not the mega city as it is today. There was not much of Dhaka beyond Dhanmondi. When I first came to Dhaka in 1956 the city did not extend even beyond Dhaka Medical College. It was simply a gem of an oriental city.
In my days the commerce department classes would be held in the new Kola Bhavan, (the current one, inaugurated in the month of October 1965) and the walking time between my hall of residence, the Haji Mohammad Mohsin Hall and the Kola Bhavan, would normally be fifteen minutes. To make a short cut we had to scale the boundary walls of Mohsin Hall, cross the big slum-type tile-roofed class, four employee staff colonies (the present day Registrar's Office and the Mall area) and then enter the Kola Bhavan. I was missing my old bike left behind in Chittagong. My friend Mushtaque (now retired as Secretary to GOB) said he had an old bike, which he no longer used. I could borrow it from him and use it on one condition. Once in a while I would have to give Mushtaque a lift to his house on the back seat. I agreed. I got the bike from his house in Crescent Road, invested twenty rupees to buy a pair of new tires and tubes for riding it the next day. In the sixties there were not many cars on the campus, and many students would bring their bikes. Kola Bhavan had few bike stands on the northern and western side of the building. There were also bike stands outside the university library, TSC, Curzon Hall and the Registrar's Office (this building now houses part of Jagannath Hall). One had to keep their bikes in these stands and if you forgot to lock it the occasional bicycle thief would just say 'thank you' and make away with it.
In 1968 there was a big monsoon flood in Dhaka. Whole of Mirpur area was under water. Beauty Cinema was the new land mark of Mirpur in the mid sixties. The cinema hall was under water too. Not having any idea what a flood would belike, I thought it was a chance of a life time. So I took out my bike and rode it all the way to Mirpur, which was partly under water. The feeling of seeing a flood for the first time is unbelievable. It was scary as well as sad to see many people desperately trying to find dry ground for their family and the simple household pots and pans.
Mushtaque brought the news that in a movie theatre in Posta Gola they are playing the Kirk Douglas-Richard Harris movie 'Heroes of Telemark.' In those days it was a global block buster. Mushtaque offered to buy the tickets if I carried him to the movie theatre. So we went. When my final exams were over Mushtaque came to reclaim his bike. He said his father wants the bike back as he wants to ride it himself. Mushtaque's father was a senior police officer. The parting from the bike made me sad. It was such a fun riding a bike to your class. Just try it once in a while.
Professor Abdul Mannan is a former Vice-chancellor, University of Chittagong. Currently he teaches at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. March 17, 2008
abman1971@gmail.com
Mini Sundarban in KU campus
Mohammad Mohibul Islam
SUNDARI' is the main tree of the Sundarbans, the biggest mangrove forest in the world. It was believed that Sundari grows only in the Sundarbans but research has proved that it can also grow in places other than one particular place. A group of scientists of FWT Discipline completed a project of growing Sundari tree on Khulna University campus.
It was a successful venture and with proper care now the place looks like a mini Sundarban! Research also proved that not only Sundari, other varieties like 'Goran', 'Pashur', Kankra etc can also be grown in the coastal areas. Saplings of 1m height were planted, now these have grown upto 10-12m in height. The trees look lively and vigorous. Therefore, if proper plantation is done it will help both environmental and commercial purposes.
(Student of Agro Technology Discipline)
Khulna University)
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