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| Volume 11 |Issue 44| November 09, 2012 | |
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Star Diary
SUPERSTITION A few days ago I went to the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to receive a foreign delegate. After the pickup, we were coming back from the airport to Fakirapool to my uncle's office. The foreigner took an interest in our country and started asking several questions about our culture, heritage, popular tourist spots and so on. At a traffic jam in Mohakhali, he suddenly pointed at an odd sight. Three to four torn shoes were hanging from the bottom of a bus, bewildered, he asked me why they were hanging torn shoes, of all things, from a moving bus as this could be dangerous. I was as confused as he was, as I don't know the actual reason. Later, upon enquiry, I came to know that this is a form of superstition, and that the bus drivers believe they will avoid collision and accidents if they hang old shoes and have them trailing behind the vehicles as they drive. I agree with the foreigner that this is dangerous and unnecessary, not to mention embarrassing for those of us who have to explain this unattractive sight to visitors. Anyway, I urge the authorities concerned to look into the matter as it concerns safety. M Noray Alam Rasel Tourist Nightmare! I went to visit a popular resort in Gazipur for Eid with my family this year. Everyone speaks quite highly of the place and the website is impressive so naturally, I had high expectations. The resort looked just as lovely upfront as it did on the website, but my experience was unfortunately not that great. My room was spacious and beautiful, but I discovered on my first night that the shower tray and bathtub were both leaking, flooding the entire bathroom. The next morning, I was woken up at 6 am by the loud sounds of construction going on in a room upstairs. When I called the concierge, he began to argue with me saying they had to have the contruction completed by the end of the month and that nothing could be done about the noise. The food was terrible and the service even worse. The car we rented from them to go to tourist sites broke down three times on the very first day. The entire trip was a nightmare. I really do wish Bangladeshis learn a little more about customer service and not charge extravagant amounts and be unable to deliver what they have advertised. It really is a shame. Md Hedayat SHAMEFUL ACT It was a pleasant afternoon as we were walking on the pathway beside Chondrima Uddyan. My cousin and I were returning from Farmgate and thought of making our way home on foot. The beautiful Crescent lake allured its visitors from all walks of life who were busy with their own activities–some enjoying jhalmuri, some slurping on ice-cream while others simply chatting with a handful of peanuts. Some policemen in uniform were also patrolling the area a little distance away. Suddenly we were encircled by a group of teenage boys, demanding money from us. We were startled to see that they were completely naked and it was extremely embarrassing to talk to them. Some of the boys came out from the lake after taking a bath out in the open. As we somehow managed to escape from them, we saw the policemen laughing at us and teasing the boys. The boys too responded shamelessly to this, parading around in front of them. It was a very painful sight to see–an act of clear child abuse. The youngsters were not aware of the dangers of what they were doing. Who would save them from falling into the hands of pedophiles when such acts take place in front of the eyes of the law-enforcers? Naome Syed Copyright
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