STAR DIARY

Where is our Nationalism?

Last week I along with my friends went to Star Cineplex in Bashundhara City mall to watch a movie. We sat beside a group of young students who were quite loud from the very beginning. Like always, the national anthem was played before the movie started and most of the people around us stood up from their seats out of respect for the anthem until it finished playing. However, this very group of students did not bother to pay their respects by standing up while the anthem played. As we asked them to stand up, some of them did reluctantly. The rest of them were talking loudly among themselves and laughing at their friends who stood up. They started taking pictures of their friends on their cell-phones and started ridiculous conversation among them. Many people around us found it very disrespectful and told them so as soon as the anthem finished. But their body language showed that they did not bother at all. I was disgusted at how ignorant those people were. As soon as the movie started they started complaining about the traffic jam and the incidents of question paper leakage. Since they were complaining about how Bangladesh has failed to move forward as a nation, I was wondering if we can not respect important things of our motherland and improve ourselves, how can we expect a developed nation?

Azmi Hasan
Dhanmondi, Dhaka

WEDDING BLUES

These days weddings have become so expensive that it scares people like me who have come from middle class background. After attending my cousin's wedding last week, later I discovered the bride and groom worrying about settling the loans that they took for the big day. Unfortunately, the culture of hiring expensive photographers and taking pictures has ruined the true beauty of the event. These days the bride and groom are swamped with guests trying to take photos of them. It was completely chaotic and a display of money and vanity and in the end, not too many people can claim they had a good time. I wondered to myself, what is the point of all this. Why can't the whole event be more relaxed, enjoyable and meaningful? In our country, it seems that the goal of having a huge wedding is to show off and please people. I do believe that we should change this trend, follow the way things were done in the olden days when things were simpler and easier.

Sayeeda Afrin
Agrabad, Chittagong