Star Diary

Photo: Zahedul I Khan

Unforgettable Smiles

It's walking distance from my house to Farmgate where I catch a bus to my university in Bashundhara. As I waited for the bus in front of a restaurant, I saw two little girls in ragged clothes, collecting empty plastic bottles in the plastic sacks they carried. They were shivering in the cold. The older child was probably around 12-years old, while the younger one looked barely six. The six-year old looked hungrily at the sweets displayed in the window of a sweetmeat shop nearby. She probably did not understand that there was a glass protecting the sweets from dust and prying hands, and unthinkingly, licked the glass. Her sister pulled her away and slapped her lightly on the back. The scene moved me, and I bought some sweets from the shop for them. When I handed the sweets to them, they both looked at me with twinkling eyes and smiled sweetly. Those smiles were the sweetest I had ever seen in my life. I will probably never see them again, but their genuine, love-filled smiles will always remind me of those two little girls.
Sanjib Samadder
North South University, Dhaka

An Unusual Bus

A few days ago, I happened to see an interesting sight near Firm Gate. A BRTC bus going at full speed stopped at the stop. It was soon understood that the conductor of the bus who was also a woman was letting only female passengers into the bus. There was also a woman ticket collector. Most of the men who were trying to get into the bus were surprised when they were firmly refused an entry. One man who tried to budge his way in was met with a huge protest from the conductor as well as the other women in the bus. The bus later sped off with its female conductor shouting about female rights, a rare sight in the city.
 Azmi Syed,
 NUB, Dhaka