Mohammad Ali Sattar

When you come out in the streets in the morning to start off your day, you are hit by the same frustrating and horrifying conditions. The day begins with prayers and cool shower and a speedy breakfast.

The clothes we adorn in the morning for work place is mostly well pressed and cleaned up as much possible. Body fresheners help us keep up our spirits and give a feeling of goodness. We have plans for the office and work. We have our meetings lined up, our appointments in place and so. Our minds are crammed up with so many agendas, personal and official, both.

With the loads stress we come out to reach our work place. The same old chaos and uncivilized mannerism scream at your face. The mad aggressive rush of the   vehicles (all and sundry), the ugly postures, swearing of the drivers, passengers, pedestrians, street vendors, onlookers, muggers, beggars, name what you have,  are all there to mock you.

The moment you step out, you are in a different world – a world of unruly minds and unforgiving acts. The most dangerous part of all this is: we are no where there to address this situation. Starting from the community residents to the greater city inhabitants we are all lost in the quandary of disparaging culture.

Another more perturbing fact is we have accepted, or rather embraced the practice than to correct ourselves. For any time, for any race and society the most dangerous choice is when they pick up the wrong expanse in its entirety.

For instance: Look at your locality, the pathways  are narrowed down by illegal encroaching on them by the house owners , the ways are mostly strewn with dirt, the  free way for  illegal rickshaws  through the lanes where  you were supposed walk in peace and the reckless driving of the car owners and their  rustic, uneducated  and unskilled  drivers. We have taken all these in our stride, no reaction, no remorse.

Then on to the main streets, where we sum up the scenario like this: It’s all broke. The Dhaka Roads are free for all. The all too pervasive nature of things is glaringly staring at you. There is no rule here. The unprecedented competition of breaking the regulations is increasing every day. Even the traffic police are a party to these fall guys. They openly side with the law dodgers.

Inducement (buying off and selling off) is a practice now in the pink. Only few years back it was done in private. Now there is no shame and remorse in this trade of breaking law and making own rules. This is a brazen disregard towards the people and the administration; all these are only to give heart attacks to the gullible souls who still value the morale and principles of life and society.

While you are out in the streets heading for your workplace, you come across so many situations that now one stopped keeping the account. The wrong doings and uncivil mannerism has become order of the day. From street vendors to security guards to cleaners to every Tom , Dick and Harry all wear a dangerous look. The aggression in their behavior sends a chill down the spine.

This state of things cannot help us. The ambiance that is created by the fear soldiers cannot be conducive for a rational living.  By all counts we are not safe; by all counts we are definitely leading ourselves to destruction. Alas, we are least aware of the situation. Millions of hearts are crying, but nobody seems to listen…