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Dhaka Diary

At the Boi Mela
A few days ago, my friends went to the book fair. It was, as usual, very crowded. Two of my friends who were looking for a specific book went through the crowd to a stall, where they were looking and browsing through the stands. While they were browsing, the men started to push and pinch us in the crowd! It was so humiliating! They were not there to buy books but to pinch and harass the female visitors at the fair. Men are always taking advantage of crowds whether in a book fair or a market place. We left the fair immediately without protesting since it was a group of men and we did not think it was safe to protest or scream out loud. If this happens everywhere, every time, girls won't be able to go anywhere.

Fahmida Akram
Moghbazar

From the Hawker's Mouth
It was a pleasant spring morning. I went to the barbershop to get a haircut. As many of you might have noticed, a lot of discussions go on in the barbershops, especially about politics and politicians. As usual that day, one such conversation was going on. As the barber was cutting my hair, I listened to the conversation, and came to find that the people there were talking about the eviction of the hawkers from the footpath. It seemed that there was an evicted hawker amongst them. To my utter surprise, he was saying, "They (the army) are doing a good thing. We should not have taken over the footpath in the first place. So it was our mistake, and now we have to pay for it." Dumbfounded, I wondered how the uneducated hawker, realised that it was wrong to occupy footpath, while the so-called learned 'upper-class' citizens occupy public property and feed people adulterated food.

Sadat Shams
Maple Leaf Int. School

On the Bus
We often see women standing In the bus. But it is not easy for a woman or an aged person to go a long way standing. A few days ago, I was going to Mohammadpur from Motijheel on a Mega City bus. The bus was over loaded. At the Katabon stop, a young lady got on. As the bus was full, she didn't get a seat for herself. I thought someone would offer her a seat but no one did. Then I got up and gave her my seat. Just then, from one side of the aisle , I heard a mocking voice come, "Eh! amar nayok babaji" ("Oh! My hero!") I felt so embarrassed that I got down from the bus at the next stop to make it seem like I was just getting off. Then I took the next bus and went to my destination. I think we should change our way of thinking and behave accordingly.

Onio
ULab