Star Diary

An Inspiring Story

After getting on a rickshaw, I found out that my rickshaw puller was an amputee. I was shocked for a moment and looked at the paddle to figure how he was pulling the rickshaw. The rickshaw was advancing slowing as he was pulling it with only one leg. After a while, I understood that he was trying his best to drive faster. I asked him about how he lost his leg to which he replied tersely without going into details that he lost it in an accident. I was amazed by the man's confidence and his sense of self worth. After getting of the rickshaw, I paid him some extra cash, and told him to keep it aside for a prosthetic leg. We often wonder how poor amputees manage to survive but this guy showed us that if you have a will, you can manage to do anything!
Samiul Raijul
North South University, Dhaka

Photo: Anisur Rahman

A Terrible Mentality

On my way to school one morning, I noticed that the whole street was jam packed. While I waited for the traffic to gain momentum, I saw a teenage girl in a red school uniform trying to cross the road filled with vehicles stuck in the prolonged jam. A driver from one of the parked cars shouted, “Look, how girls are becoming cow dung by going to schools. They do not even know how to pass a car without scratching its surface with their bags. Why do their parents send these cow dung to schools?” The girl retained her civility, said sorry and went away. Too err is human. I am sure the car must have had several scratches on it in days gone past but to utter harsh words to a girl for such a trivial mistake is truly demotivating. Such low mentality sickened me. If there are more people like this man living in our nation, then it can never prosper.
Esaba Ahnaf
by Email