Star Diary

Accommodating Cultures

A few days ago, I was withdrawing some money from a bank in Motijheel. After completing my transaction I was about to leave the bank when suddenly I heard an interesting conversation. Three men were filling out a form; apparently they were applying for the primary share of a certain company. One man was quite loud about the fact that he could not write Bangla but was fluent in English. The person who was saying this seemed educated and it was obvious by his speaking that he had been living in Bangladesh for a long time. I was not surprised to know that he didn't know how to write Bangla despite being an educated Bangladeshi, but rather was a little taken aback by his arrogance and the way he was declaring it with a certain amount of pride in his voice. I have even heard parents talking about it, smiling and proud, about how their children are fluent in English but did not know much Bangla. I believe that this degrades us as an independent nation. We should learn other languages and culture, no doubt, but should not ignore our own.

Mohammed Sohel Hara
Adamjee EPZ, Dhaka
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A few days ago, I was on my way to Cox's Bazaar with a friend. Just as the bus left, the driver began to speak on the phone while driving. He was also talking randomly with people on the bus, which did not seem safe to me at all. I requested him not to talk, but he did not pay me any heed. This really upset me. The bus driver is responsible for all the passengers on the bus, though he did not seem to care about it at all. This is how accidents occur on the road, especially on long-distance routes. Whether on a bus or a private car, we should all be careful while driving and avoid talking so that we don't get distracted on the road.

Mohammed Jamal Uddin
International Islamic University, Chittagong

Signal Trouble

I was going to Dhaka University from Uttara by bus early in the morning one day. I had an appointment there at 10 am, however, looking at the traffic condition, I was hoping to reach the destination by 11 am at least. It was a horrible three-hour journey and I was late for my appointment. When I came back home and watched the television news, I saw that the new traffic signal system had been introduced that particular day, which had a lot of electronic controlling of the streets rather than the usual manual controlling. That's why, there was a lot of confusion on the road, since everyone would not go along with the traffic signals. It was quite frustrating that people driving their vehicles are so careless and irresponsible regarding traffic rules. I am wondering how many people missed their appointments that day, or patients who suffered a lot more on their way to the hospital. If we citizens do not obey and respect the rules then how can we expect that government to be successful in all their willingness to change?

Tahmidul Islam
Ex-BAF Shaheen College, Dhaka.

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