Star Diary
In the Hope of Enlightenment
On one evening I was going to Dhanmondi 32 by a Gazipur bound bus from Azimpur. There was unbearable traffic congestion on the road. So, after reaching Kalabagan, I decided to walk the rest of the way to Dhanmondi. As I walked by Dhanmondi Lake, I noticed that two kids, who lived by the lake with their parents, were reading books in the light of lamp posts. People like me who were passing them were as astonished as I was to see their enthusiasm for study. Despite my desire to talk to them, I could not stay there for long. I just want to say that these kids are like our brothers. They have dreams just like us. They also want to be educated. We have a responsibility toward them. In my teaching life I have seen many students who never concentrated on their studies. Their parents had to resort to energy drinks like Complan and Horlics to “increase” their kids' concentration. Teachers are hired to tutor these kids in every subject. I suggest that those parents who spend lots of money on their kids' education to take their children to those poor kids who after working or begging all day long, try to continue studying in the dim light of a lamp post. I urge people who feel that they have a responsibility toward society to bring these poor children into light. Let their potential be explored. Who knows some of these kids might one day turn out to be the next Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar ?
Md Abir Hossain
Government Titumir College
Dhaka
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Photo: Zahedul I Khan
I am Poorer than My Father
My father was a small businessman. Our family had six members, including my parents. My siblings and I grew up in a modest home. My father got his three daughters married in a simple manner. However, there was no shortage or a surplus of food in our lower middle class family. I am a banker in a private bank and thus, am possibly in a better economic position than my father was. However, whenever I visit the kitchen markets for my grocery, I feel shocked at the prices of essentials. Sometimes, I feel uncomfortable buying anything from the market. Hilsa fish has now become a luxury item in the menu. I do not dare to purchase one Hilsa fish, let alone three or four fishes at a time. My father could do that but I cannot. Hilsa was a regular item in the menu during our childhood; my mother would cook hilsa in a number of ways, sometimes we had hilsa fry, at other time it was a fish curry, and then there was hilsa pulao, hilsa with boiled rice and hilsa soup. Now I cannot even dare to touch a hilsa the size that my father would regularly buy during my childhood. I am unable to feed my only child this delicacy that was a regularly cooked in our household when I was a boy. I earn much more than my father used to but the way the prices of essentials have shot up, I can only say that I am actually poorer than my father.
Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad
Via Email
Photo: Zahedul I Khan
I am Poorer than My Father
My father was a small businessman. Our family had six members, including my parents. My siblings and I grew up in a modest home. My father got his three daughters married in a simple manner. However, there was no shortage or a surplus of food in our lower middle class family. I am a banker in a private bank and thus, am possibly in a better economic position than my father was. However, whenever I visit the kitchen markets for my grocery, I feel shocked at the prices of essentials. Sometimes, I feel uncomfortable buying anything from the market. Hilsa fish has now become a luxury item in the menu. I do not dare to purchase one Hilsa fish, let alone three or four fishes at a time. My father could do that but I cannot. Hilsa was a regular item in the menu during our childhood; my mother would cook hilsa in a number of ways, sometimes we had hilsa fry, at other time it was a fish curry, and then there was hilsa pulao, hilsa with boiled rice and hilsa soup. Now I cannot even dare to touch a hilsa the size that my father would regularly buy during my childhood. I am unable to feed my only child this delicacy that was a regularly cooked in our household when I was a boy. I earn much more than my father used to but the way the prices of essentials have shot up, I can only say that I am actually poorer than my father.
Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad
Via Email
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