Star Diary

Midnight Workers

I was returning from a wedding after midnight when I noticed a lanky security guard sitting in front of an ATM booth. I began a conversation with him. He told me about the difficulties he has to face working the night shift, stating that the time between two to four in the morning are the worst. He feels sleepy at that time, and has to muster the energy to stay awake to guard the booth. Night shifts are mandatory for  employees of heavy industries, and even doctors and the support staff of hospitals work all night in case of medical emergencies. Night shift workers fight the urge of the normal sleep schedule, and don't get to see much sunlight. Nevertheless, these people work hard for the welfare of the society, and should, thus be saluted for their sacrifice.
M A Akad Masud
University of Chittagong

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Brute Parents

A couple of days back at around 11 in the morning, I saw a naked child, not more than seven years, apparently playing on the balcony of this apartment in our complex. After sometime when the kid was still in the balcony, I understood that he was a child with mental disabilities, and his parents had locked him up there! He kept knocking on the door continuously, and the people around started complaining about the noise. At around five in the evening, I was shocked to see that the boy was still knocking on the door. People gathered around, and tried to find out about his parents. The boy seemed very hungry, and so my elder brother gave an apple to the security guard to give it to him. The guard managed to climb up to the sun shed, and fed the apple to the boy. Another woman threw a packet of chips, packaged cake, and a bottle of water to the guard. People were berating the insensitive parents for such an inhuman treatment to their own child. There are several schools for the mentally challenged in this country. If they thought that there their son was such a burden on them, why couldn't his parents send him to one such school? They are unworthy of even being called parents. In fact, they should be tried as murderers, who planned to kill their child slowly rather than at once.

Sharmin Akther
Prem bagan,Uttara