I Look I See

Minhaz is an interesting character I’ve come to know recently. There will be lot more stories about him in future.

Minhaz’s Experience with an Old Beggar:
Being a resident of a house just beside Feni Railway Station, Minhaz goes to the station quite often. In this way he became familiar with a beggar who always begs in the station area. And out of compassion for the beggar Minhaz wanted to do something special for him instead of just offering alms so that he doesn’t have to beg anymore. Minhaz said to the old man, “I think begging is very hard for you as you are quite old. I want to do something so that you don’t have to beg alms any longer.” The old man said, “Please, give me some money. I haven’t eaten anything today.”

Minhaz: Come to my house. It’s just over there. I will let you have good meal everyday. And you will stay with us. You won’t have to work. You will just do Jikr (praise Allah) and pray for us. I will take care of all your needs.

Old man: But I got a wife.

Minhaz: Don’t worry. She will also stay with you at our house and do Jikr. I will give you two a separate room to live in harmony.

Old man: I got two sons. What will happen to them?

Minhaz: Just come to my house with all your family members. I won’t let anyone of you beg. I will give good job to your two sons.

Old man: But I got three daughters who I will have to give marriage soon.

Minhaz: Ok… I will marry your one daughter and give the other two marriages to two good boys.

Old man: What did you say?

Minhaz: I will marry your one daughter and…

Old man: What did you say?

Minhaz: I will MARRY your girl.

Old man: I can’t hear you.

Minhaz: I said I would marry your daughter.

Old man: Sorry, still I can’t hear you.

Minhaz: Hey, what’s wrong with your ears?

Now, Minhaz went close to the beggar and said aloud, “I will marry your daughter.”

Old man: Aaa a aa u uh.

Minhaz: Hey, now don’t tell me that you can’t even talk.

The old man now began to use sign language. He is not talking at all. After sometime, Minhaz got tired and left the beggar.
I asked Minhaz what would he have done if the beggar agreed with his proposal. He said, “I know these beggars very well. They can never think of leaving begging. So I knew that I will never have to marry his daughter.”

Minhaz”s Experience with a Lame Beggar:
While returning from Jumma prayer one day Minhaz saw a man lying on the floor beside the Masjid entrance with a bleeding crooked leg as if he had an accident just moments ago and now he is in need of immediate medical treatment. The man didn’t seem like a usual beggar but was begging money for his treatment. His fresh blood covered leg made Minhaz feel pity for him. Minhaz counted the money on the cloth kept for the money collection and it was 71taka. He could have left the sight giving a five or ten taka note for the sake of humanity. But being humane he couldn’t leave that poor man in his that awful condition. He wanted the beggar to go his house for treatment. The beggar said, “No, you won’t have to take so much hardship, just give me some money I will do my treatment in a hospital later.” But Minhaz’s continued request made the beggar go with him to his house.
Minhaz is a photographer, although not professional. It’s his passion. He is also a regular blood donor. So he thought if he takes this poor man and admits him to a good hospital in Dhaka the hospital authority will charge much less than the actual fees. Besides he was going to Dhaka the next day anyway. He was just craving to show his mother to what importance his Photography degree and blood donation have come to. So it was necessary to have a good hold of this beggar. He has taken many professions just because he likes to know new things. Well, this is how he justifies his changing professions from time to time. But his mother doesn’t buy his arguments. She says because of his unstable mind he doesn’t fit anywhere. Many times she tried to take him to a psychiatrist or a dervish to talk about his mental disorder. But his father who rather enjoys his activities with his non-stop support to his son’s folly doesn’t let her take any action.
Minhaz brought the beggar at his home gave his injured leg primary treatment and after having a good meal, the beggar left. Minhaz couldn’t make him stay in his house for that day. But the beggar promised him that he would go with him to Dhaka to have medical treatment of his broken leg. So Minhaz bought two train tickets for Dhaka for 240taka each. The train is to leave the station at 8am and his poor fellow was to come at the station at 7 o’clock. Minhaz went to the station at 6 o’clock just because he thought if the beggar doesn’t find him in a short time he would be anxious. But even at 7:30 when the beggar was not coming Minhaz sent a man to look for him. And he found that the beggar was totally reluctant to go to Dhaka for his treatment. Minhaz didn’t have anything to do. So he gave the beggar’s ticket to another person for free and went alone to Dhaka.
While conversing with fellow passengers, he later realized that the beggar was actually a fraud. Having a fresh broken leg no person can beg because of the intense of the unbearable pair. He somehow had his leg broken long ago which made is crooked. Now he uses that crooked leg to blackmail others emotionally. He collects cow blood from the slaughterhouse and then mixes glycerine with it and the blood never coagulates. In this way the blood looks fresh for many hours. When the proper time comes he uses this mixture on his crooked leg and the show begins… “Oh my brothers I had an accident while passing the road, not too long ago. Please give some money for my broken leg’s treatment… ahh uhh… I can’t bear the PAIN…”

Minhaz’s Experience with a well-dressed Beggar:Minhaz was in Feni Railway Station one day and a well-dressed man came to him and said, “I work in a bank in Comilla, came here on work. A pickpocket took all my money. Please give me 10taka. I’m very hungry now, as I haven’t eaten anything for a long time. I will die soon if I don’t eat something now.” “Hmm…that’s really sad…but what will you eat with just 10taka?” The man had a file with him. He took some papers out of that file and showed it to Minhaz and said, “Please look at these documents. These are my academic certificates and this is my work certificate. Please give me 10taka. I’m starving.” Minhaz became convinced of the man’s innocence and gave him a 10taka note.
But Minhaz didn’t stop there. When the man left him he followed the man stealthily to see what he does with that note. I told you before Minhaz is an interesting character. He saw that the man went to another person and began to tell the same story. As Minhaz went close to the man, he went to another place. Minhaz followed him there too. For sometime this hide and seek continued. And finally finding nowhere to flee the man gave up and went to a tea-stall and bought something to eat.

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The other day I went to buy beef taking my younger brother with me. Although he is just 2 years younger to me, he never had to go to the butcher. As a result he doesn’t have much idea about the tricks that a butcher perform to fool his customer. The butcher put some bones and cow fat in my bag after he gave us the 3kg beef we wanted to buy. I said, “ Why have you given the bones? Take them back.”
Butcher: It’s for free. You won’t have to pay for it.
I: No, you just take it back. I don’t take anything for free.
Butcher: These bones are very good. Without the bones your beef will not be tasty.
I: But I told you to take it back.
My brother: Take it Bhaia. If it is not useful, mom will through it away.

I didn’t argue anymore and simply took those bones and was returning home.

I: Hey, why did you (my brother) tell me to take those bones?

MB: He was giving it for free.

I: Do you think that he will give me those bones without having any benefit from his side? Do you think America has invaded Iraq to help them for free?

MB: We saw that he gave us 3kg meat and then he gave some bones for free. What benefit can he get from that?

I: Never belief your eyes and ears. They will misguide you. Be rational and learn to reason. I bet you that he gave us exactly 3kg including those useless bones.

Then we went to a grocery shop and weighed the beef bag and it was 3kg. We then took the bones out and it was 300grams short. The butchers weigh up meat in such a way that you can never find out if they give less in quantity. And to cover up their trickery they will give you bones and fat for free. If you don’t take anything for free they are then bound to give you more meat. My younger brother had a good lesson that day and said, “I’ll never take anything for free.”

Some Tips in Buying Beef:
When you go to buy beef the following ideas will help you to buy the best type of beef both in quality and in quantity.
1. Feel the warmth of the meat by touching it. If it is cold you should understand that the cow might have been slaughtered a day ago and hence the meat is not fresh.
2. See the upper side of the cow-thigh if there is cow skin attached to that. Because usually if the skin is not attached, it is most likely to be a buffalo.
3. See the colour of the meat. If it is reddish, it’s a buffalo.
4. When the butcher lifts the scale see below the scale if any fat is attached or not.
5. Make the butcher lift the scale for a while.
6. Don’t let him cut the meat into pieces.
7. The butcher keeps a big wooden box to keep money. They cut the bones behind that box and mix other bones when you are not observing. Don’t let him do that.
8. And most importantly don’t let him give you anything for free.
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I was going beck to Chittagong by a bus and my seat happened to be in the last row among all the passengers. 2 boys and 3 girls of my own age came in the bus and sat just in front of my seat. I can’t really say what kind of relationship they have. But just after entering the bus they began to scream, laugh loud without caring what other people may think of them. Half the way to Chittagong they were content in this way but after the stoppage at Comilla, 3 (1 boy and 2 girls) of them sat in the next row to mine. Now the girl behind me began to clap. It seemed laughing loud and screaming was not enough to attract others, so she began to clap to make it sounder. I didn’t care a bit about it. Or I should say I didn’t let them think I cared about their actions (hey, I have to care about others’ activities, or how can I write about them?…). Maybe my silence disappointed the girl behind me. So she pushed my seat couple of times. But still I didn’t say anything. Then she said, “EXCUSE ME, Aktu seat ta ke upore tulben? (Excuse me, can you pull your seat please.).

“No, I can’t excuse you. You seat somewhere else.” I said in a fluent English.
“I can’t sit here, can’t you see?” the girl said.
I immediately pulled my seat because I didn’t want to give her the chance to carry on conversing with me. I totally forgot her existence. She opened and closed the window couple of times but I didn’t give a heed to that. I started reading a book of Harun Yayha. It’s really necessary to keep a safe distance from this type of girl.

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I was coming from Dhaka to Chittagong by a bus and like always it stopped at Comilla for a 15 minute so that the passengers can have ablution and snacks or refresh themselves. But when the bus was ready to leave a boy (around 20 to 22 years old) was totally reluctant to get in the bus. And a girl was earnestly requesting him to get in the bus. The boy began to scream at the girl saying, “I told you in Dhaka that there would be no use going to Chittagong. But you didn’t listen. Now, you go there. I’m going back to Dhaka.”
The girl kept requesting his, “Please, please Rahat, just take me to Chittagong and you come back on the next bus.”
Rahat: No, I’m going to Dhaka from here. It was your fault and you will have to pay for it.
Girl: Please, please…(the girl kept saying please, please and tear began to downpour from her eyes unchecked.
Girl: All the people are looking at us. Will you just get in? I’m begging you.

As their drama went, the allotted 15 minutes passed and the conductor of the bus was pushing the boy to get in the bus.

Conductor: Please both of you two get in the bus. We are already late. We can’t make more delay.
A passenger: My dear brother (addressing Rahat) such matter always happens. But you need to forget them sometimes.
Another passenger: Hey, you conductor…What the hell are you doing here? Are you having fun observing the drama of these two stupid? Leave both of them here and lets go.

Meanwhile there was a small gathering of people enjoying the sight. One of the passengers pulled the boy by the hand and said, “It’s nothing. Everything will be all right. You just don’t mind about what happened.
“A quarrel is very common among bothers and sisters.” Said an elderly man.

“Brothers and sisters, huh?” another bystander mocked at the previous one.

I was happy that all the passengers are in the bus and we can go now.

When they are in the bus nobody noticed at them. Rahat was screaming at the girl at the top of his voice and the girl was shedding tears and kept saying, “Please, please…” I think the attitude of our countrymen has changed. Nobody bothered to worry about those two. Maybe the all the passengers of that bus have already got accustomed to such incidents. But even after a long while they didn’t stop. The driver then played Lata Mangesker’s ……. Song, “Tune chor diya re mere haat magar tera peyar meye nehe bhule…(You left me but I haven’t forgotten the love I received from you...)” I don’t know whether it is the song that softened Rahat or he got tried scolding her. But I’m sure if the song was Rabi Chowdhury’s, “Tumi Dukkho pao. Kosto Pao ei ame chai. Bujheye chi, Bujo ne ei amake…(You get pain, you feel sorrow, this is what I want. I tried to make you understand, but you didn’t understand me” the fight would have never stopped. I appreciate the intelligence of the bus driver.
When Bangladeshi girls are having so much respect and honour in this so called old-fashioned lifestyle, they are willing to be regularly humiliated by adopting the western culture. There are people who support this boy and girl free mixing.

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Rifat bhai got his new white pants dyed black. I told him “you won’t be able to wear this pants for more than a week cause the colour will fade just on the first wash.” “I bet I will wear it for a month and the colour won’t fade either.” He boasted. I said, “It’s not possible.” The dye is not that good to last after a wash.” He laughed and said, “You don’t know me. I only wash a pants once in a month.”

I just went inside Rafi’s room with him and Rifat bhai screamed at Rafi saying, “Rafi, I went to Kolkata yesterday. It is really nice there. But in Kolkata it is lot tougher than Japan.” I asked Rafi, “How many countries has Rifat Bhai been?” Rafi laughed out loud and said, “He is talking about his new computer game, Stupid.”

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I stayed in Dhaka University (DU) hostel with one of my friend for couple days about a week ago. And now I’m going to write my experience staying there event by event.
I went to meet my friend, Rafi at his room at 7:30am.  


Hostel life in Dhaka University(DU).
My friend Rafi got a seat at room number 310 at Rafique Bhaban in Amar Akushe Hall. There are 4 beds and 4 tables. And the room size is suitable for four students to stay there with ease. But surprisingly 15 students were allotted for that room.
Teachers can’t help the students in getting a seat in a hostel. It is the big brothers (political leaders) who manage seats for the students. To have the facilities of the university, Rafi went to a big brother and got this seat. He says he is lucky cause there are 20 boys in his friend’s room (room# 312). And his roommates are very good. No addicts, no politicians, no terrorists. Besides, his roommates even help him with his studies. He doesn’t have any problem there. Just a week ago there was a fight between the president group and the secretary group of this hall. 2 boys were sent to hospital after that fight and national newspapers made good coverage of that event. As he got the seat taking help of a big brother of President Group Rafi is a member of this group. Luckily he escaped being beaten by the rival group. Rafi says he doesn’t have any other problem. Just sometimes police come to check rooms, sometimes politicians come to keep their weapons in insides hostel rooms, sometimes they make students go to different meetings and nothing else much annoying.
“Last week couple of students were taken to prison from this hostel” Rafi said. “Hey, what will happen if police takes me to prison?” I asked joking. Rafi laughed out loud and said, “Don’t worry our police only takes the innocent.” I stared at his face with eyes wide open and said, “What do you mean?” Rafi kept smiling.

I went to a chemistry class at Dhaka University to have a look at the condition of education there.

A Chemistry Class at Dhaka University
The class was scheduled to start at 8am. But the teacher came five minutes late. He then started calling names of the 90 chemistry students of that class.
“Anwar Parvez, Saiful Islam, Tarequl Hasan, Farhana Zamil, Abdul Matin, Tabassum Huda………Ayesha
Siddiki.
Ayesha Siddiki… where are you from?”
Ayesha: “Dinajpur”.
Teacher: “Oh, you are from the land of paddy. How was the paddy cultivation this year?………
………
Ok… Shafiul Haque, Abdul Halim…..Salman Azad.
“hey, where are you from Salman?
Salman: Jassore.
Teacher: How was the mango production this year?
Salman: Not good, Sir.
Teacher: Even if it were good you won’t say the actual thing lest we might want to have some mangoes.
………
Ok …. Abdul Kadi, Munni Shaha….”

There are 90 students in the class. The teacher finished calling every one by name (not by roll number) in just 10 minutes and began his lecture.
“The attendance is very low. Maybe the absent students are enjoying mangoes at home. In our country there are many vacations. Because of the strikes, different religious festivals, independence day, language day, this day that day… almost half the year you enjoy vacation, so you get only one month summer vacation. And you students pass that time doing nothing some even do things that are not suitable for Muslims. Don’t tell me that there are some guys who don’t know how to differ good from bad. Because that is not true at all as Allah has given all of us the power to distinguish good from bad. Anyway, in the western countries the students get 2 and a half months’ summer vacation when the students work, learn something new and try to utilize the time.
In my student life I did every kind of job. I taught 2 students when I was at High School. I used to fish. I used to cultivate…. I did every thing. In my time…..”

Now he began to talk about his school life. Then he talked about his College life, then the university life. He didn’t stop until he has finished informing students about his present activities (But he didn’t say in which private universities he takes classes escaping classes at DU.). For forty minutes his looking back continued.
Finally he said, “This is my final class with you. I will be in USA for the whole July. I think after vacation you will not find me. A female teacher will take your class (Yeah, he is sincere in getting degrees). Ok, let me show what she will teach you. She will discuss about polymers”. He said, “I thought I wouldn’t have to go to the board. But …it seems I won’t be able to escape it today”. Many students began to say, “oh Sir, don’t bother so much, please.” ( But I heard someone murmured “give your lazy body some rest so that you may work extra hours in USA).

To come to the subject he took 50 minutes. I couldn’t understand what important chemistry he taught for the last five minutes. He taught about Religion, he taught about History, Culture, Human natures but he didn’t get the time to teach Chemistry. I think the university authority has put him in the wrong place by mistake. We would have done a great job taking History classes.


My friend’s next class was 4 hours later. So he introduced me to his friends. And after that we had a little chat. Quite like this….

Conversation with the DU Students after the Class
I: Hey, is that teacher always like this?
Rafi: He at least went to the board today. The other days he doesn’t bother to do that either. He was in good mood today so he taught for long five minutes. Hahaha….
I: How can you stand a trickster like him?
Moni: We don’t’ have any choice. The practical marks, the writing marks, the viva… everything depends on him. Even if he gives you fail mark you can do nothing. And teachers do such things regularly.
Rafi: It’s not that he can’t teach better but he won’t do that. He takes all the time to get prepared to take classes at different private universities. He is a human being after all. He comes to DU to have some rest and get proper entertainment by gossiping with us.
I: Hmm…
Moni: He got luxurious government house in the university campus. He got beautiful car, his daughter Samia Zaman, the famous newsreader of ETV, his wife is Dilara Zaman, a prominent actress, and his other children are established in USA. He doesn’t need any more money. But still he hankers after money…


Zia’s Soldiers
I was with Rafi in his room at 7 o’clock and suddenly an elderly boy came to call Rafi and he immediately went with him. After 15 minutes, I heard hundreds of boys chanting a slogan, “ke bolere Zia nai, Zia ache banglay, Ak Ziar lokantore lokkho Zia ghore ghore ….Zia, Zia, Zia… toder moddhe Zia ache? “ache” ke Zia? “Ame, ame….””
(who says there is no Zia, Zia is in Bangla. One Zia is in the heaven, million Zias are in house to house. Is there any Zia among you? “Yeah…” who? “Me, me….””)
“Those stupid can’t even come-up with a new slogan. They always use the same age-old slogan. These (unprintable slang...) are ruining the country.” Said Anwar Bhai, a fourth year student of Biochemistry with much grief.
The slogan continued and I became a little tired waiting for Rafi. At 9 o’clock he came.
“Where have you been for so long?” I inquired.

Rafi: didn’t you hear a slogan minutes ago?

I: yeah.

Rafi: I was there.

I: Why on earth did you go to join them?

Rafi: I don’t have any choice. You know I got this room taking political help. Now, if I don’t go to these slogans they will kick me out of the hostel room.

I: Why don’t you stay in a mess instead.

Rafi: Do you know how tough it is to stay in a mess in Dhaka? Who will cook for me? What about laundry? Where will I get access to so many newspapers, TV, library and other facilities? Who will give me the extra money to meet the expenses in the mess? My father is not rich like yours…

Rafi became emotional so I stopped the conversation for then.

2nd day….
Rafi was sleeping even at 9 o’clock in the morning. I waited for hours so that he wakes up himself. Finally finding no other way I woke him up. “You have become very lazy. Look at me for how few hours I sleep…” I said.

“Don’t give me knowledge. You didn’t walk three miles yesterday. You didn’t have to shout at the top of your voice like me…” Rafi retorted.
His reply silenced me.

Good sides of DU
At 9:30am we took our breakfast at the Amar Akushe Hall canteen. Prices of different foodstuffs are very low. I’ve listed them for you.
Vegetable: 2TK/small plate.
Egg: 5TK/piece.
Parata (bread): 2TK/piece.
Egg (with onion): 5TK.

The quality is acceptable and pricing is lot better than outside the campus but unfortunately the canteen is not so clean. The plates are made of thin steel and make a lot of sound.

After breakfast we went to TSC (Teacher Student Centre) and my friend described different monuments and statues to me.
DU is simply huge, in fact mammoth. I heard that over 40,000 students study here. No bus, mini bus, tampoo or truck can enter the varsity area. Only rickshaws and cars are allowed. So there is no sound pollution or air pollution at DU and hence it is the healthiest place of Dhaka.
At 10am we were at TSC. What a lovely place TSC is! My favourite place in DU. There is a huge auditorium, where you will find functions going everyday, Table Tennis Room, where you will see many players playing all the time, Internet Room, where you will find about 50 students browsing the net in a beautifully decorated AC room and there is a Chess Room which you will find always CLOSED. Then there is Rehearsal Room for performers. I saw many groups of boy and girl; most of them are couples, of course of opposite sex, not caring a bit of what other people may think of them. I couldn’t look at them. It was embarrassing. (Don’t make the mistake by taking all those couples as students of DU). You can do anything that you like to do at TSC. You can practice singing, reciting, giving speech… for the whole day. You can play TT for hours all for free. I saw some players playing from 9am to 6pm. You can ahhh…. Gossip with your sweetheart as long as you please (don’t worry... Nobody will notice you except those who go there on a visit.)
I had a conversation at 5pm with a boy at TT room.

I: I found those boys playing from 9 o’clock here. Do they always play like this?

Boy: They are students of 2nd year. I also used to play like them when I was in 2nd year. For the first 2 years, I think very few students care about study.

I: Ok… will you suggest anyone to study at DU instead of private universities?

Boy: Yeah, you will get every kind of students here. Drug addicts, extraordinary players, good singers, politicians, lovers… every kind. There are lots of things to learn from them that you can’t learn studying in a private university where there are only 15 students in a class like a kindergarten.
Did you notice that player over there? He is one of the best TT players in DU; the best 2 players play in the national TT team.

I: Yeah, he is an awesome player.

Boy: Did you hear the boy singing with a guitar at the entrance of TSC?

I: No, but I saw a boy singing without any instrument that made me stand beside him for five minutes to listen to his song. I’ve hardly listened anyone sing better than him.

Boy: There are many talented singers here who can easily make huge amount of money if they produce an album or sing as a band.

I: What about the curricular activities?

Boy: It is very tough to get a 1st class and a 3rd class here. But it’s very easy to get a 2nd class. So very few students go for the 1st class. Others remain consent with 2nd class and don’t bother to study much and engage themselves in extracurricular activities.

I: Why it’s hard to get a 3rd class?

Boy: Even if you write very little you will get enough marks to get 2nd class. Teachers won’t let you get 3rd class. But those who want to study can shine from here.

I: Hmm….

At 7pm Rafi and I went to the canteen again to have something to eat. The price list of different snacks is like this:
Dal Puri: 1taka/piece
Kima Puri: 3taka/piece
Shingara: 1 taka/piece
Jelapi: 1taka/piece.
Boot: 2 taka/plate.
Alur chop: 1 taka/piece.

The taste is really great. Don’t miss it.

Then there are many graves of prominent politicians, poets like Kazi Nazrul Islam, Doctor Mohammad Shahidullah etc. (I can’t recall all the names. You will have to be content with etc.). Every brick of DU is a part of history. Every moment just by passing through the university road you will learn history.


3rd Day
Attending a Political Meeting
At noon an elderly boy named Kamal came to Rafi to take him to a meeting (election campaign). I also went with him to the meeting just for to know what my friend in going through everyday. Moni (Rafi’s friend) tried to escape from going there by hiding in a bathroom but unfortunately couldn’t escape the eyes of another big brother. I expected Kamal Bhai to be bad looking, hot-tempered, furious by nature (as he is a political leader), but I found his totally opposite both by look and behaviour. He is a student of one of the best subjects of DU: Biochemistry.
From Akushe Hall about 10 students went with us.
After changing rickshaws twice and due to traffic restrictions on rickshaws we had to walk half a mile to the meeting place (Karwan Bazar). Kamal Bhai paid the14(8+6)taka rickshaw fare. At 3:30 we reached the meeting place. It was a huge gathering of people, no less than of 30,000 people. Many groups of people came to the meeting after our group. This meeting was specially organized for people of Barisal. Before this meeting there were other meetings for the election campaign, like for day labourers, for people of Noakhali, people of Cumilla, for businessmen, for native Dhakaits. My friend Rafi, had to attend al of them. That made him a labourer businessman Noakhalian Cumillean Dhakait Chittagonean (by birth he is Chittagonean). Rafi jokingly told Moni (who is from Barisal) to look for his district people there. Moni said, “Like you district people?”
Actually no matter what the politicians give names to the meetings for their election campaign the people are the same. 99% of the people are forced to go there and of that 1% there are curious people like me who have never been to a political meeting before and the politicians and their stupid supporters. If the people weren’t forced to go there, I believe there would have no listeners at all.

After an hour at 4:30pm Kamal Bhai told us that our job is done and gave a 50taka note for 4 of us as rickshaw fare. Once the meeting was over, thousands of people were looking for bus, rickshaw or taxi. So even after managing to get in a tightly packed shabby old bus, we considered ourselves very lucky.
When I reached Rafi’s hostel room I had a terrible headache and I was lost sleeping. At 9 o’clock at night Rafi woke me up and said, “You have become very lazy. Look at me for I didn’t even sleep.”

Things I Regretted for Going to the Meeting:
1. I had a terrible headache so I couldn’t go to anywhere else that night.
2. My nice shiny shoes lost their polish, a loss of 10taka.
3. I couldn’t hear what the politicians were saying although I desperately tried to hear so that I may write them for you. But the excessive sound of the microphone prevented my all attempts.

Some Tips to Stay Safe in a Political Meeting:
1. Keep some cotton in your pocket to put it in your ears when you are in the meeting to avoid sound pollution.
2. Wear old shoes. You won’t have to regret even if they are regularly overstepped.
3. Don’t wear sandal cause is some cases you may have to run like an Olympic 100 meter sprint runner, you may lose your sandal.
4. Keep medicines to avoid headache, foot ache, eye itching.
5. Avoid the cameras. If your picture unluckily gets published in any daily newspaper you will permanently be labelled as a supporter of that party. You may find yourself beaten up by supporters of other parties.

Some questions
1. If a student loses 5 hours of his day for the political meetings then when will he study?
2. For four of us Kamal Bhai spent 62taka just for our attendance at the meeting. Hundreds of Kamal Bhais are assigned for every meeting. Where do the politicians get the money to give those Kamal Bhais?
3. Why these meetings if nobody can hear what the politicians are saying?

No Exam on 3rd July:
At 9:30pm, when I finished my dinner with my friend and came to his room I heard about fifty boys carrying out a slogan just beside our building. The slogan went like this…
“Ak tarekhe porikkha hole jolbe agun halle halle. Ak tarekhe porikkha cholbe na cholbe na….(the halls will be set in flames if the exam is held on 1st July. The exam can’t be held on the 1st July no, no, never.)”.
Then we heard someone out of the crowd say, “Hey, the exam is not scheduled on 1st July it is on 3rd July.”
“Did you see that Zahir? Those stupid don’t even know when the exam is!” Rafi told me laughing. “I think those students get more time than it is actually necessary to get well prepared for the exam thanks to session jam. Why do they still need more time?” I asked. “Well, these boys never study. Maybe for excessive involvement into politics or for other activities they didn’t get the time to study. And I bet even if you give them 5 years extra time, they will not be able to pass because now they don’t have the mentality to study. But for these spoiled guys we, students are suffering.
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I went to thank Mr. Neil Russell for all that he is doing for my student visa purpose. The other day my conversation with him was quite like this…

NR: You weren’t getting visa of a single country and now you are getting two. (Pointing at Australia and Singapore).

I: Yeah, I’m lucky I guess. I’ll know a new country. My brother is very interested in business. Maybe, I can help him do business in Singapore.

NR: Yeah… for business Singapore is a great place but never trust anybody there if you are doing cash business.

I: Why?

NR: There are many Indians and Chinese there who will always cheat you.

I: Are they that bad?

Rubel was sitting there beside Russell. He said, “You are going there, you will see that yourself.”

NR: Yes, it’s good not to do cash business there. Use check.

I: What about education and other things there?

NR: It’s a beautiful country. The roads and houses are very clean. The education would be good I hope since your all teachers will be Australian there. It’s just the business that is tough there…
I was there for four and a half years. In 1992 I purchased a plain full of computers from a Singaporean girl. And I made a huge profit there.

I: Is computer very cheap there?

NR: Yeah, very cheap. I took the computers from cargo and put them in a military plain and sold them to Russia. The girl from whom I bought those computers was of just 19 years old. I gave her a bag full of money.

I: Just 19-year-old girl doing business?

NR: Yeah, then a 19 year old girl. Rubel, did I tell you the story of that girl’s boy friend taking all that money from her?

Rubel: No.

NR: Her boyfriend cheated her and took all that money from her. Singaporeans cheat with their own people too. So you better be careful.
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A week ago I went to an agency in Dhaka for my Australian Student visa purpose. There, after talking with the consultant (Neil Russell), I saw a well-dressed, good-looking boy staring at me curiously with a smiling face. I went to him after I had finished my conversation with Mr. Russell.

I: Are you also applying for Australia?

Boy: My case is different from yours. I got refused recently. But I will apply again.

I: Can you tell me why you were refused?

Boy: There weren’t any good reason. I showed a bank deposit of 14 lakh (1,400,000)taka and 6 lakh taka as liquid money in the American Express bank. All of these bank documents were genuine. I was a little stupid actually. I should have come to this agency at the first place.

I: Russell told me about 99% students are getting refused by the Australian High Commission(AHC) for the last 2 months without any reason at all.

Boy: After the fight at the British High Commission in February all the students are now applying for Australia. That’s why they are refusing everybody.

I: Hmm….

Boy: But when I applied for Australia in 99, things were totally different. I just went to the AHC submitted my papers and they gave me the pre visa, and then I sent the first 2 semesters’ money to the university and got the visa. The AHC didn’t even justify my documents. I was in Australia for 4 years. And this January I came to Bangladesh.

I: Why didn’t they give you citizenship?

Boy: They only give citizenship to those who study. But I didn’t study there. I made mistakes….
I went there to study. But I didn’t study much. I just studied a little and then started to have fun there.

I: What kind of fun?

Boy: All kind of. I took loans there from every possible way. Then I came back to Bangladesh (BD) and changed my passport and all the documents.

I: I don’t get it.

Boy: I had a huge bank loan. So to avoid repaying those loans I came back to BD and changed everything.

I: So… why do you want to go to Aus again?

Boy: Aus in the best country to live now. It is the future USA. Everyday you will find new opportunities there. Just think about those people who went to US 20 years ago and in what position there are now.
I have been to New Zealand, Singapore, Australia and I’m sure that there can’t be any country better than Australia.

I: So why didn’t you study there?

Boy: Like I told you, I made a mistake.
I will now go to Singapore like you and then I will go to Australia. If I can’t go to Australia then I will go to New Zealand.

I: But how did you manage to change the documents?

Boy: I never used authentic academic transcripts (Now my interest grew to know his method. You know forbidden things draw extra interest to everybody). 4 years ago when I applied for Australia I used the name “Abdul Karim”. I took SSC and HSC certificates from a boy and submitted them to the AHC. I stayed at the Dhaka education board for 18 days and whatever letter came from the AHC concerning me, I took them from the postman, replied them myself. And for every letter I had to pay him 1000taka. I left no chance for the AHC to question about the authenticity of those documents. Australians are really stupid. If they had just attached my photograph with the photocopies of those certificates I would have easily got caught.

I: Hmm… what’s your name?

Boy: Let me see… (He took the passport out of his pocket) well, it says my present name is Ashraf Ullah.
I was a stupid. I should have changed my documents just after coming to BD in January and applied for the visa then. We, 9 friends came to BD at the same time and 7 of them got the visa again. But my one friend and I got rejected. He was over smart. He showed bank balance of 1 crore taka(10 million taka) from the “A One Bank”. What a stupid. Why would the Aussies trust that bank?
My friends are really missing me…

I: Oh, my Allah. Are you saying that all the 9 of your friends did the same thing as you?

Ashraf: yap…

I: What did you study in Australia?

Ashraf: I actually went there to study Computer Engineering. I studied couple of semesters but didn’t complete.

I: Hey, when you go to Singapore with you new name I guess you won’t be able to use your past documents, will you?

Ashraf: No. not at all.

I: Why did you do it? You got nothing.

Ashraf: I told you before. It was a mistake. My brother… you are going to Australia too in future, don’t make the same mistake as me. You will ruin your life.

I: Yeah.

Ashraf: Ok… this is my mobile number and my name is Rubel. Don’t worry this is the real name.

I: Hahaha….

Rubel: As you are also going to Singapore probably we can meet there too.

I: Yeah, sure, why not?

In the mean time Mr. Russell came and told me to talk to him again after 5 min.

Rubel: He kept me waiting from 11 o’clock. (It was 3pm then).

I: Does he know about your past?

Rubel: Yeah.

I: Why did you tell him?

Rubel: Listen, with three people you should never tell a lie. One is lawyer, another is doctor and the other one is consultant. It is for your own good.

I: What will you do if you go to Australia again?

He looked seriously at me for a while and then suddenly burst out laughing and said, “ I will do the same things I used to do.” Then I said, “I will have to go to meet Mr. Russell. He is waiting…”

Rubel: See you later in Singapore then…

But in my mind I said, “NEVER”.
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The other day with my parents I went to my father’s friend’s house. My uncle has 3 daughters. Upon conversing with my father for a while he complained him about me for not going to his house. At the time we were preparing to leave his house, he told me, "You are a student, my daughters are also students, you would come to our house gossip with my girls about studies… in this way, you would develop a bond of love. This is how two families come closer and builds up a good relationship… But you never come to our house.”
When I said this to one of my friends, he said “Are his daughters beautiful?”
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Every time you open the BTV/BTV World, you would find our honourable (but not respectable) Prime Minister distributing goats among the poor. She says, “Goats can change the financial condition of the poor people of our country.” Now my question is why goat? Why not cow, chicken or duck?
I know that goat is tough to handle and wants to go to the opposite direction no matter where you take it. This is why many prophets including our prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) was made to take care of goats. This made them more tolerant? Is our government also trying to make us tolerant to its injustice by this mean?
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I always want to have an educated and talkative person beside me while I’m making a long journey, so that I can learn new things from him. Few days back I was lucky to have a lawyer to accompany me on my journey from Dhaka to Chittagong. His name is Ajay.
He told me a story of his own which depicts how a lawyer can bring justice in our society.
His Story:
One day, Ajay was traveling by a Dhaka-Chittagong bus and on the way a traffic police stopped the bus. The driver went down to inquire of what went wrong. After using abusive words, the policeman at one level slapped the driver on his face. Every passenger saw it but nobody protested. Then Mr. Ajay went down the bus and asked the policeman what the driver’s mistake was. “Why does it matter to you? You go and sit on your seat like a good man and let me do my job.” Said the policeman furious. “Okay, One thousand four hundred and thirty. We may meet at Chittagong court tomorrow. I guess.” Saying this Ajay came back to his seat and the driver also came in the bus and started the bus. Everyone forgot the police event. But 15 minutes later the same policeman came to the bus with his bike and stopped it again, but this time to Mr. Ajay.

Policeman: Tell me who you are.

Ajay: I’m just a simple passenger of this bus.

Policeman: No, you will have to tell me why you said we might meet at Chittagong tomorrow.

Ajay: Oh, that was nothing. Don’t you think that if you go to Chittagong tomorrow and then go to the Court Building, we may meet?

Policeman: Please just tell me what you meant by that.

Ajay: I meant nothing. I was just talking about a
possibility.

Policeman: Then tell me why you uttered that number.

Ajay: I’m a lawyer. Just think if I file a case against you that the policeman by this batch number, at this place, at this time did this… Do you think you can escape the punishment?

Policeman: I’m very sorry. Please forgive me.

Ajay: Don’t beg apology to me. Beg it from him to whom you did injustice.

Now, all the passengers came forward in favour of the driver. Mr. Ajay found that the situation may get out of control. So, he let him get away and told the driver to start the bus again.
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