PRICELESS PRICE

The other day I was waiting at the Gulshan 2 traffic signal. It was midday and I was returning from a class when few men came up to my car window. I was quite surprised to see them- they certainly did not look like beggars. Poorly dressed and carrying shovels and baskets, they looked like day labourers. Most of them were around their 40's but with them, was a very old man, also carrying a shovel.

As I pulled down the window, one of them told me that they came from their home villages to earn some money. There were no jobs in their villages due to hartals and their families were about to starve. Thus, having no choice, they had packed their bags and came to Dhaka to look for work. Even the old man had to come to earn something for his 65-year-old sick wife.  However, due to the continuous blockades and hartals in the city, they were unable to find any work. Whatever meager amount of money they had brought to eat was now all gone. They wanted to go back but they didn't even have the money to buy the tickets. 

While one of the men put out his hands for some help, "Anything you can spare. I just want to go back," tears trickled down his eyes. I could see the desperation in their eyes and realised that in a healthy nation, these men could be proudly working and providing for their family. They would not need to beg on the streets. 
Nusrat Jahin Angela
Dhaka

A RARE SCENE

Stopping by the Ahsan Manzil in the old part of town, I saw a group of children playing cricket in a nearby alleyway. Of course, this is a very common scene in Bangladesh, where, thankfully, children still find ways to use alleys and roadsides to play cricket, football and even badminton during winter. However, what I saw made me smile for at least 10 minutes. Along with the boys, little girls were seen bowling and batting. One little girl (who was probably the 'dudbhaat' or too young to play) was made to run and bring back balls from rooftops, neighbouring garages and shops. An 8 or 9-year-old girl, who was probably older than the rest, was seen tying an orna around her waist, taking up her batting position with the bat and then screaming at the fielders for apparent cheating. Those 10 minutes were probably some of the most fulfilling and satisfying for me ever! Not only did I witness a healthy game of cricket between boys and girls, I also found the girls to be confident, enjoying their freedom and simply running around as children should.  
Shirin Moni Tayyaba
Lalmatia, Dhaka