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     Volume 12 |Issue 01| January 04, 2013 |


   Inside

 Letters
 Voicebox
 Chintito
 Cover Story
 Current Afairs
 Writing the Wrong
 Profile
 Musings
 Special Feature
 Neighbours
 Media
 Film
 Art
 Reflections
 Health
 One Off
 Exhibition
 Book Review
 Cartoon
 Star Diary
 Write to Mita
 Postscript

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Star Diary

 
 
Photo: Zahedul I Khan

Let’s Love Them

The winter morning, I was going to college by bus. At the Purana Palton intersection, a couple of malnourished children got on the bus to beg from the commuters. The children wore grimy and smelly clothes and were trembling in the cold weather. For some reason, one of the passengers got really exasperated with the children and started abusing them. Soon, he started beating one of the kids. I was shocked to find that most of the passengers took his side and abused the children. It is obvious that those middle class commuters, do not think the street children are human beings. I tried to protect the children and called out to them. I asked about their parents and they said, "Our father is no more. Our mother is ill and she doesn't do anything." They live in a slum beside railway tracks in Mogbazaar. Their family is somewhat dependent on their income. They have never attended school. It seems that their struggle for survival began the very day they were born. Although these children are citizens of this country, they are being treated like animals everyday. It makes me wonder if it is impossible to improve their lot. I hope that our humanity will soon allow us to contribute to our society the way we should.

Bipul K Debnath
Dhaka College, Dhaka


A Frightening Wedding

Last week a grand wedding took place in our neighbourhood. The father of the groom, brought an elephant, a horse, cow cart, and a palanquin(palki) for his son's wedding. The wedding rituals continued for a whole week and there were hartals in each consecutive day during that time. One night at around 9 o'clock, all of a sudden, there was a loud noise, and it was the night before a hartal and the entire country was tense because of all the killings happening. Naturally, people thought this was a bomb explosion, but it was actually the sound of fireworks set up for celebrating the wedding. I was on the road, with my mother, coming home after class. A group of hartal supporters burned quite a few vehicles that day and everyone was really frightened to hear the loud noise of fireworks. A few people even started running and many got out of their houses in fear that a bomb had exploded. As we got home, we could do nothing but laugh thinking of the entire situation. That same night, at 2 in the morning, they did this again, waking everyone up from sleep and filling them with fear and anxiety. People also faced a great deal of difficulty trying to get inside our road as these people kept their huge elephant standing exactly in front of our road, blocking the entrance .I do not deny their right to celebrate a wedding but they definitely have no right to make people suffer amidst their celebrations.

Arshi Siddiqui
Via email


GOOM

I have been going to the Priyangon Shopping Centre to buy clothes and have them made by a tailor there for a very long time. A few weeks ago, I went there as usual to pick up my clothes and my tailor was nowhere to be found. His shop was still there and the two others that work with him were too but they had no idea where he was. I waited for over an hour and called his phone but it was switched off. I returned the next day and the next and there was no sign of him. By now I was quite concerned that something had happened to him so I tried to talk to the other tailors in his shop and get them to ask his family or friends about him but they seemed unconcerned. They said he'll come back soon even when I pointed out he never disappears this way. I contemplated going to the police but wasn't sure how they would react or how they will treat me. So I stayed silent. He still hasn't returned, and noone except me seems to wonder why.

Shaila Ali
Dhaka


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