Star Diary

A rare example of honesty

The other day I was coming back to my dormitory in a rickshaw. Having reached there, I paid the rickshaw puller. When I was entering my dorm, the rickshaw puller called me. He said that I had a forgotten my mobile phone on his rickshaw. He requested me to take it. I was surprised to see such honesty. I thanked him from my heart and offered some money as reward. But he refused to take the money. Moreover, he told me that it was his duty to give it back to me. If all men were as honest as this rickshaw puller, our country would have been the happiest land on earth.

SK Zahid
Dhaka

---

The right lesson

A few days back I was coming from Natore by our company's micro-bus. A young driver, who recently got appointed, was driving the automobile. He seemed very intent on showing his professional skills by speeding on the highway, which turned out to be a very bumpy ride. To add to my woe, he insisted on turning the air-conditioner on even though it was rather cool outside. His excuse was that the wind beat in his eardrum with the car windows rolled down. I struggled to remain patient until he foolishly took a short-cut and got us stuck in an endless traffic jam near Gazipur. Then I lost my temper and blurted out, “Now look what you have done!” Unfortunately, my rebuke had the opposite effect and he tried to overtake trucks and buses, queued in front, from the wrong side where there was very little space. In a flash, the micro-bus's tires on the right fell into a road side pit and got stuck, causing us an hour delay. I felt that it served him right for his unnecessary haste.

Manna Ahmed
Mohakhali, Dhaka

---

Brutalised by TV

Do we ever think how easily we are manipulated by television these days? Let me cite an example. As I was watching a rather famous television programme showcasing some of the so-called funny home videos, I was appalled at the way they labelled one particular video as 'hilarious'. At first sight, any-one would fall victim to the laughter-inducing music and bellows of the invisible audience in the background. But on closer scrutiny, the atrocity of the video came out: a large, adult grizzly bear mounted on a tricycle, barely able to accommodate the animal's enormous size, sliding in mid-air over a few-inch wide plank fixed about two stories high above a busy urban road. On another occasion, I was stunned by an advertisement for an upcoming circus abroad. A small, red squirrel was tied tightly to a plastic toy car and was sent circling the edges of the circus ring whilst having a miscellany of tiny objects hurled at it by the amused spectators. The fear in the animal's face was obvious yet everyone was busy cheering ridiculously at the 'adorable' sight.

How can we even call ourselves human if we continue to treat these beautiful creatures with such callous disregard? There must be a reason why we were blessed with faculties beyond the grasp of any other living being on this earth. It's about time we proved it and stopped misusing our power in such despicable acts of cruelty.

Sarah Iqbal
Mohammadpur, Dhaka