Star Diary

Photo: Star File

FARE WOES

Last Friday I went to buy a bus ticket from Gabtoli for Khulna. The salesperson at the ticket counter demanded Tk 800 where the actual price is only Tk 470. The bus fare is hiked usually by around 70 percent. If the rates are fixed by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authorities, why aren't they more careful when increasing the fare? Many of the people living in Dhaka are poor people from rural areas, who do menial jobs or work at garment factories. How will they be able to bear this illegal increase in transport fares? Students too have to suffer from this injustice. I believe that this illegal price determination is sure to ruin the goodwill of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authorities and bring harm to the reputation of the communications minister, Obaidul Quader. The government needs to take immediate measures and look into this matter asap.
Md Masud Rana
University of Dhaka

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Sound Advice

How does everything appear so simple to a person? What is the magic for leading a happy life with no complications? And where does one get strength and strategy to solve a variety of problems? Whenever I see my mother, I struggle with these questions, as she enjoys a happy life, erasing the problems and complexities of her life. She doesn't demand anything from anybody, she has no complains against anyone. After encountering the harsh realities of the capital city, I return home to my mother. She gives me the same ordinary solutions to my problems that she has been giving since my childhood. Sometimes I silently laugh at her suggestions, at other times I only pretend to listen to her and some other times, I simply get angry at her. But rest assured, till date I couldn't overcome any problem without heeding her advice. As a robotic being of an “advanced” generation, I always used to find sophisticated solutions to any problem but never really worked to finish my problems from the root! She might seem like an ordinary, foolish mother to some but I know how talented she is. She always says to me,” The world has no colour of its own. If you look at it through dark glasses, things are bound to be dark.” Now I can honestly say that I understand the meaning of her words; life is really simple until we make it complicated.
Kamrunnahar Shapla
University of Dhaka