::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Star Diary

Tale of a Rickshaw Puller

It was raining heavily. After waiting for half an hour, I finally found a rickshaw, which took me to my campus. I noticed that the rickshaw puller was very old. To make matters worse, he did not have any protection from the heavy rain. I felt very guilty. I offered him a place under my umbrella, which he declined. It seems he was used to the heavy downpour. I asked him about his family. His voice filled with sorrow when he related that he had three full-grown sons, who were married now and hence lived separately. Clearly, they did not bother to look after their father. That's why, the old man had to pull a rickshaw to look after himself and his wife. When I reached my destination and paid an extra Tk 10, he refused to accept it. I was bound to respect his dignity.
Md. Kamrul Islam Mishu Kutubi
Dept. Of English
International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC)
Chittagong

To Take or Not to Take
The other day, during my class break, I was hanging out with my friends when a beggar came about, asking for alms. She was saying that she needed to have lunch since it was 2:00 pm and she was hungry. One of the students suddenly took her to a nearby tea-stall and bought a bun, a banana and two laddus (sweetmeats). He actually spent at least Tk 10-15 on the beggar, where as we would just give her Tk 2. However, the beggar refused the lunch. She wanted to beg for the money instead!
Mazed
East West University
Dhaka

Food for the Poor
A few days ago, I was going to Gulshan 1. Stuck in the traffic jam, I saw a car driven by a foreign woman standing right beside me. As was expected, a large number of street children and poor women gathered around her car, begging for alms. What surprised me was that the woman immediately gave small packets of rice and daal to the beggars, which she had kept ready inside her car. This is indeed a very small action, but if we showed passion to the poor around us, maybe the food problem will eventually subside.
Md.Zelhaz Ahmed Tipu
Kuril, Badda
Dhaka