Star Diary

Children on the Streets

One afternoon, I was walking on the street. I saw a few street children around an area where they were clearing away the accumulated trash and rubbish. What saddened me greatly was the fact that the children were scrounging for food amidst all the rubbish and were eating it as well. This is of course a very common scene in Bangladesh. But it is really sad because this should not happen in a civilised country. Every year the government announces a budget for the citizens. It is introduced every year with a new vision. But the fate of these children has not changed one bit. The government introduces new policies every year to eradicate poverty, but we still have people who go without eating for days together. These children do not need a big budget, luxury food or policies. They just need the basic necessities to survive. I would request the government to think about the children on streets when they work on the budget for the nation.

Md. Mahi Uddin
Shahjalal University of Science & Technology

Hit and Run

One evening last week, I was going home from work with a family member and colleague in the car. There was, as usual, a bit of a traffic jam, and of course, some vehicles trying to get even an inch ahead, however that might be. All of a sudden, I heard and felt a bang. A small goods truck rammed into the front bumper of my car, trying to cut the inadequate space between two vehicles stuck in the jam. Before I could even realise what had happened, it got out of the jam and sped away. I was so mad. It was a truck for Opsonin's 'emergency medical supply', putting the lives of others at risk. Not only was the driver desperate to get ahead, but it was irresponsible enough to hit and run. As fate would have it, it could not get very far and we caught up with it. We did not get out and all violent as some people do (but which never really does any good anyway), we told the driver that we had noted down his license plate number (which we actually had) and that he would be reported (which we ultimately did not do). Unfortunately, things end there -- there are hardly ever cases filed and almost never any consequences. I felt angry and helpless but hope that at least the driver lost some sleep over our threat and will drive more carefully in future.

KAT
Gulshan 2, Dhaka

Mobile Etiquette

The other day I was going to my office on a bus. The scorching heat, the crowd, and the traffic -- everything was at its highest limit! Waiting in utter despair, I flipped through the newspaper that I had brought to pass the endless time. Suddenly, a man turned on the loud speaker of his cell phone and played a song with vulgar lyrics. The song annoyed everyone. To my utter surprise, he was swinging and moving along with the rhythm of the song. This did not amuse people on the bus one bit. Instead it bugged them a lot. At one point, I asked him to put the volume down to which he went berserk and retorted, “It's my phone, I will do whatever I want to do with it.” Nature has its own way to deal with its anomaly. The man's reply detonated the crowds' anger; the entire mass inside the bus rebuked the man for the nuisance he was creating! The man had to get off at the next stop as everyone was glaring at him in a fierce way. Albeit the crowd responded sharply, mobile etiquette is yet to be imbibed within people, especially in our country.

Rabiul Islam

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