Tales of progression
Photo: Palash Khan /Driknews
Very recently, I was in Sri Lanka and I sadly observed that the down-syndrome I suffer from after visiting any country outside Bangladesh seeing their infrastructure, their roads, their compliance to traffic signals, didn't go missing even this time. Sri Lanka, a third world country as well, still recovering from the war plights, a small country with limited resources and some inaccessible terrain, has outraced us in terms of a lot of things. Even at 3:00am in the night, their drivers comply with the traffic signals, they park their cars accordingly, their roads are neat and clean, they don't blow horns unnecessarily and they stop or at least slow down at zebra crossings. And what is most amazing is that they are capable of constructing a flyover in 60 days and that doesn't collapse or crack within a year of construction! In fact, when I reached the city, I heard a lot about the infamous traffic congestion in Colombo, but practically speaking that is nothing in comparison to what we see in Dhaka. If a war-torn country can be so advanced in terms of behaviour, how come we are lagging so far behind even after more than 35 years of independence? I definitely don't expect my city or country to become like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur overnight, but can't we even be like Sri Lanka?
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