It Is The Time…

It is the time when the head of the roadside restaurant is covered up during lunchtime as we only see the legs, knees downwards.  Just pull open the cover and you'll see frantic men like the deer in the headlights. Yes, it's men – the only time when they are covered.

It is the time to date, I mean, eat the delicious fruit from the desert lands. It is  for the university going lad to try out his pick-up line, "Can I get your cell phone number? I'll make sure I give you a wake-up call so that you don't miss sehri."

It is the time when we fuss in the bus while we crave for anything, even the hummus, given the hunger, but we don't cuss. It is  the time when Donald Trump, inspired by Bangladesh and also after his visit to Saudi Arabia, seriously contemplates the removal of Lady Liberty from the country annexed from the 'Native' Americans and sending her back to the country of origin once annexed by the Germans.

It is the time when road rage takes a back stage through the act of assuage. True story – I see two cars collide, thankfully at low speed, after which both the drivers get out of their cars. Not only is there no expected yelling, but in fact, both smile and are genuinely embarrassed and apologetic. I can almost expect the Dhallywood style, rib cage crushing bear hug with blaring philharmonic music in the background and the teary eyed, voice choking, "As of today, you and I are brothers". The reason is that both the cars were going backwards. As is the case when we drive in this country, we are stiff necked and rely only on the rear and side view mirrors. Thus, it is the first time that I witness not a head-on collision, but an embarrassing (to the drivers) butt-on collision.

It is also the time when there are specs of good news. No, I don't mean that we have eliminated child marriage, but at least Gurudaspur Village of Natore district sees its volunteer village police being rewarded with Taka 50 mobile top-ups (flexiloads) every time they report a child marriage to the Upazila authorities. India can follow suit, given its having the highest occurrences of child marriage in the world – every time an impending child marriage is reported, there is a 50 Rupee top-up in its sanitation sector.

It is the time when we are truly secular, hoping that the babysitter is not a Muslim so that she can take care of the 3 month old baby as we take the time to hog up during iftar.

And finally, and more so now since load sharing is the new load shedding, it is the time to shed the hatred and share the love.

Ramadan Mubarak!

The writer is an engineer at Ford & Qualcomm USA and CEO of IBM & Nokia Siemens Networks Bangladesh turned comedian (by choice), the host of ATN Bangla's The Naveed Mahbub Show and ABC Radio's Good Morning Bangladesh, and the founder of Naveed's Comedy Club.

E-mail: naveed@naveedmahbub.com