Woman vs. Street

On today's episode, I shall be venturing into the streets of Dhaka to get from point A to point B. For those of you who are unaware, the streets are a battlefield. There are creatures lurking around on the streets in these parts that ogle you, leer at you, grope you, shout obscenities at you, etc. The list is truly endless. Even so, they somehow keep coming up with newer ways to distress you. My challenge today will be to walk around 4 blocks along these streets without losing my mind and keeping a straight face.

As my journey started, keeping a straight face seemed to be the most difficult feat. With so many people staring, I constantly felt like there was something on my face. Was I wearing my clothes inside out? Did the video that I posted on YouTube when I was 13 suddenly go viral? I just want answers!

Walking also sort of felt like playing a video game where you had to constantly dodge creatures that intentionally shove you. If you get shoved, you lose a point. Lucky for me, I was on an easy difficulty level street. Also, what they gain from these shoving is beyond my tiny brain.

As my journey progressed, and I ventured deeper into the streets, and unsurprisingly, things started getting more difficult. Now, I met with creatures that not only stared and shoved but they also yelled and told me how I should live my life or what they thought of me. These creatures had also mastered the art of staring and nothing you said or did would be successful in moving their fixated eyes from you. I tried staring back only to have the creatures leer at me.

After what seemed like ages, I had managed to reach my destination. Whether my sanity remained intact or not is a completely different story.

Tasnim Odrika is having an existential crisis at the moment and doesn't really know who she is anymore. Send her compliments at odrika_02@yahoo.com