Previously in every moonsoon Dhaka city was flooded during the monsoon. So, our apartments. We use to take boats from home to the main road (Bishwa Road). Though it was the river water, but then it get mixed with city's dirty drain and suarage water. Otherwise boat trip was much better, no pollution, no machine noise.
During the flood time, once I stayed at my friend's room in Shamsun Nahar Hall. The University of Dhaka was close because of the flood. My friend left to her home town. But I needed a place to live to avoid flood, so I took guest permission for one month to stay in the Hall in my friend's room. On those days she had a single bed room. So, no privacy issue. Though I was alone, but I spend my time in my own ways.
Unluckily there was a big incident happened in the hall on that time.
On those days, a new authority came to take responsibility of the Hall. She was very nice, she took some new initiative to make the Hall live better for the students, I saw overall everybody started liking her.
She notice, inside the Hall there is a canteen and a small grocery shop for the girls. I should inform you it was a girl's hostel. In the shop and canteen some boys and men use to work.
We never felt an disturbance because of them, they always concentrate in their work, never make any girl feel uncomfortable. We even forget that those are men.
The new authority thought, this is not good. Why young men are working inside a girl's hostel, where girls are living in a relax mood in a relaxed dresses.
She ordered to put some net in between the hall and canteen. Now inside the hostel, it's look like a jail. It didn't feel good. Girls didn't like it. and no one asked the boys, how they are feeling about it.
Girls wanted to remove it. Well, there could be other reason to remove it, but I was living alone, so I don't know much about it.
At the middle of the night, some girls said, lets break the net. their group said, let break it. they were laughing, gigling and started hitting the net. Then some other girls joined, no one liked these. Then all (almost all, because I didn't join, just tried to see from my balcony in the dark night, and truth is didn't see anything) girls join them. It became a fun work to do. They broke all net, even newly built gate, inside the hall. I saw some rally where girls were saying something against the new authority and against the net. Intentionally all lights were off or broken, from my balcony no faces were visible.
Clearly the authority didn't like it. the women and other workers who use to work and live in hall had noticed all and they knew all girls. So, the authority easily got the main girls name who took the initiativity for this kind of work.
Next night the authority called a meeting. This time I join. I always respect rules, if you know me. Now the main girls, who started this work were scared. What I understood, they had been called before to the authority, they are very worried about their education life, because the authority can make them out from the university. So, in this meeting those girls remain silent. The other girls started talking about other problems, because the authority said, she wont put the net again.
I saw journalists were standing outside when the rally and breaking part going on inside the Hall. They could hear noises, but couldn't get inside.
Well, I didn't like what happened, but it was a big experience in my lonely life.
No comments:
Post a Comment