Dhaka Diary

All is 'Fare'
I was on a five-day tour in Dhaka City. I went to my aunt's house in Mirpur several times during that tour mostly by CNG scooters. What astonished me was the difference in the fares. One up and down trip, the metre reading showed Tk 65 and Tk 68 respectively. The second time, I paid Tk 78 going and Tk 67 returning. I know that there are many types of scooter metres but how can they vary so much from one another? Some metres don't even show how far one has travelled while many others give false reading. I saw this new kind of metre where I had to pay Tk 78 for the same ride. I would like to warn all those who commute by CNG scooters. Try to board scooters that have a standard type of metre, not the new fancy types. Otherwise, you will be hassled with different fares at different times and that can be really annoying. Shouldn't BRTA do something about this?
Gibran Mahmood

Money Matters
Our tutorial teacher's lecture usually consists of a 30-minute discussion about her family and another half-an-hour's discussion on the subject she teaches. Regarding the first part, we've learnt how we make different kinds of "halua", what her family likes to eat, what her friends like to eat, etc. We also know that she has two drivers, three maids, two computers and her frequent visits to Singapore for her illness. Some days back, she was talking about a recipe from Darjeeling and suddenly asked how many of us had been to India. When no one answered, she became perplexed and angry with us. She started to scold us for not going to places and seeing the world. She even said that we were spoilt. Maybe our teacher is very rich but she should know that not all of us at Dhaka University are as wealthy. We can't go to Singapore for treatment even if we wish. While she was rebuking us, we could not help but think; we could all be travelling to all places of the world, simply if our dear teacher paid for the trips. To put things simply, the main matter of everything is 'money'.
Rahad Abir Dept. Of English Dhaka University

Evil Woman
One day, someone rang our doorbell and I opened the door to find a woman. She was not too shabbily dressed but I would say that she was from the working class of our society. She said that her husband was our garbage collector and was ill. He could not collect the garbage that day. She then asked for some money to buy him some medicine. I told my father about the situation and he gave a 50 taka note to the woman. Thanking us, she left. Two hours later, our garbage collector came knocking at our door, asking for the trash. I was amazed and I told him about his wife's visit. He simply smiled, took out our trash and said that he wasn't even married. I understand now that the woman had lied and cheated us of our money. It is sad how some individuals take advantage of people’s trust and compassion.
Golam Kibria