Emotional
Blackmail
A few days
back, I was on my way home when I was stopped by the Science
Lab traffic signal. Suddenly I saw a poor man who was bleeding
from his head. He was trying to stop the bleeding with his bare
hands and his expression was of great pain. He was going around
saying that he had been in an accident and asking for assistance
from the commuters. He mainly wanted money. As the light turned
green, I was on my way, sad because I could not extend a helping
hand towards the helpless fellow. I was very sad to notice that
no one else around him was paying him any attention, nor was
anyone coming forward to help. Some days later, I got caught
in the same traffic signal and to my amazement, I saw the same
man with the same injury, still going around asking for assistance.
I finally came to understand that the man was faking an accident
and was actually begging. I had met a perfect master of the
trade of emotional blackmail.
Zakir
Shomi, BUET Staff Quarter
The
Night Riders
We
were all gossiping in the dormitory in the IUT campus when another
friend of ours, Arif, entered the room and flopped down on his
bed. His eyes were peculiarly reddish. We were all looking at
him dubiously as he looked like he had juts been in a fight.
Slowly, he told us what had happened. It was about 10 p.m. when
Arif had boarded a ‘rider’ at Abdullahpur. Only one seat was
vacant and Arif took it. After a little while, he knew that
the rider was rigged. Three of the other passengers suddenly
took out knives and started to assault him simultaneously and
being in the position that he was, he could not resist them
at all. One of them, probably the leader, asked Arif to be completely
calm and to give all that he had. He said that if Arif did not
comply, he would simply be thrown out of the moving vehicle
if he did any "teri bery" (hanky-panky). They took
his cell phone, but luckily returned his sim card. They took
two thousand taka off him and all the while, the other guys
were hitting and punching away at him. Finally, the leader told
his companions to give him the "osudh"(medicine).
They took out some white powder-like dust and rubbed Arif's
eyes with the powder. Arif was frightened and tried to scream.
but he was held back by strong hands and some more powder was
applied on him. Poor Arif could see nothing and his whole face
was burning up. In such a condition, he was thrown out from
the moving vehicle right in the middle of the road. With the
mercy of Allah, he somehow made it to the footpath, guided by
the blurry light of the lights on the roadsides. After he had
washed his face from somewhere, he made it back to the campus.
If such incidents occur in our public transportation system,
how are we to travel safely?
Rafi,
Khikgaon
A
Challenge
I
will never forget that night. Four of my friends from N.D.C
and I were close to Rifles Square trying to buy a birthday gift
for a friend. We were walking on the footpath when we noticed
a really nice, luxurious car in one of the showrooms. I jokingly
made a bet with my friends and said that in 2 years time, I
would buy a car like that. To this remark, one of my other friends
challenged me that he would be able to buy a car like this right
then and there. We all made a bet that if he could get a car
like this right now, we would treat him to a Chinese dinner.
My friend immediately took out his cellular phone and called
his dad, who happened to be in Canada. He simply said that he
liked a car and wanted to buy it. His father called his (my
friend's) mother here in Dhaka and within 30 minutes, his mother
and uncle were at the showroom. They talked with the car dealer
and a deal was made. It only took about 35 minutes and my friend
had the keys to that car in his hand. He had won the challenge
and we all owed him a Chinese dinner. I suddenly felt that in
a country like ours, where people can't eat two full meals a
day, there are people like my friend who can buy a car, just
to win a bet. Bangladesh never ceases to amaze me.
Majba,
South Komlapur
