Other side of the coin

AZ, Dhaka
Reading the post-budget lively analyses in the newspapers, we are flooded with the same old comments--the interested parties do not reveal the other side of the coin, especially the businessmen and the politicians. Also, the Think Tanks have to survive. Dhaka is the city of seminars, anniversaries and street demons. In a hot tropical country it is difficult to think indoors without air-conditioning (none available in the rural areas). Confidentially, it is one indirect form of political and social environment control, imposed by the upper strata of the under-developed society. Why we like to debate and agree to disagree, as noticed in our daily lives at all levels. The listener has to say something different. Is it a sign of inferiority complex, to disagree most of the time! Go to a shop, talk to the rickshawallah, or to a hawker, and the arguments and counter-arguments flood the scene. Gift of the gab misplaced? The talker feels like the only dump person in the country, regardless of age, experience, and educational level. Notice our school debates on TV--the speed of the delivery is fantastic, piling up the points against the preceding argument. It is quantity vs. quality (same in political rhetoric). In this delta region, we do not stilt up verbally. Brevity is the soul of wit--but in this region it is tightly wrapped between the pages of the book. Noticed the huge popularity of mobile telephone-the monthly bills must be encouraging to the foreign investors--more are coming (but no assembly plants yet in our EPZs). The budget has reached a lakh crore--astounding for a GDP of around US$500. The audio system losses have to be calculated by some NGOs. Anyway, better than nothing--we have positive talent, but rather misplaced most of the time.