Most Read

The festival of sacrifice

10 February 2004, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Syed Tariqul Islam, Nayatola, Moghbazar, Dhaka
10 February 2004, 18:00 PM
. PHOTO: STAR
With the Eid-ul-Azha being celebrated only a few days ago, I think it will be appropriate to share the story told by a Business Math Professor at his MBA classroom before the holidays began....It is long but worth a read... " ...I took a rickshaw from Tejgaon Industrial Area to come to the university. Even though I can afford to come in a bus or a car I prefer these three-wheelers because they make me feel free. Since I travel mostly by rickshaw I know what the fares are for a distance like Tejgaon to Mohakhali. So I hop into one rickshaw and the driver asks Tk 12.00 and I say "Well I always pay Tk.10.00 and that is exactly what I am going to pay you." The Rickshaw puller argues about the traffic but frankly it wasn't as bad and I saw no reason to give him any more than Tk. 10. He agreed and off we rode. In about 5 /7 minutes we came near the Mohakhali traffic signal and we stopped and waited for the green light. Suddenly, there was this man about 30-35 years old, wearing a worn out , torn-in-several-places shirt and an equally shabby pajama, standing next to the rickshaw and asking for help, saying he hasn't had anything to eat for 2 days and has a very ill mother. Obviously, a typical Dhaka street beggar .For some reason, I have never refused such calls and would always manage to pay whatever little I could. So I looked into my wallet and found a change of Tk 5 and gave that to the man which he took quite gleefully and walked away to the other side of road and then disappeared in the crowd as I rode away. As I reached the university and took out my wallet again , this time to pay the rickshaw fare, the puller said to me, "Sir, if you don't mind. but can I tell you something? " I said "Sure". He said " I understand you are a teacher."

I said "That's correct".

He said, "That man, the one, who you so kindly gave away Tk. 5.00."

Google News LinkFor all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.

I said, "Yes, what about him?"

He said, "Well, do you really think that he was starving for 2 days and his mother was ill? I do not think so, Sir, he could very well be an addict and was simply looking for some money to buy some cheap drug from a nearby vendor. Addicts always do that.

You really had no way of knowing the truth, but gave him Tk 5 out of sheer kindness when the same man could earn that money by working anywhere. Yet, here I am using the last drop of my energy to pull a rickshaw and trying to make a legitimate living, you refused to pay me an extra Tk 2, just because you never paid so before. For all you know, that could make a difference for me and my family".

As he pulled away with those words, I stood there thinking how things differ from what one assumes and what could be a reality. I did feel good when I gave that change to the man on the street and yet that sacrifice could easily be for all the wrong reasons. Whereas if I had sacrificed that extra Tk 2 for the rickshawwallah, it could make his life better. Maybe not, but he had worked hard to get that chance.

Did people think about this when they sacrificed for Eid? Were they really sacrificing because they wanted to feel good or for the good of the people?.......Think about the boy or girl who stays at your house to earn a living...who (and probably his entire family) sleeps on the floor on a cold night while you bargain for the strongest looking cattle to slaughter to make your sacrifice.....