Sense
and sensibility
Tazin
Abdullah
......................................................
It's a cold winter
morning -- the sun isn't fully up
yet. Wrapped in your blanket, you
half-open your eyes and realise it's
Friday. You turn around to go back
to sleep, but your eyes do not wholly
shut when you hear loud voices outside.
They get louder and louder and you
ask yourself why you bother closing
the windows.
Unfortunately, it
is not unusual in Dhaka to wake up
to your neighbours having a go at
one other. A common scenario appears
to involve abuse hurled at each other
over the dumping of rubbish on other
people's properties. The residents
of one house sweep their floors, trim
their gardens. Forgetting that others
might like to enjoy the same cleanliness,
they feel free to dump their rubbish
on another's property.
The people next door
may not be the only ones suffering.
Household rubbish is often found on
public roads and drains, making it
a problem for everyone. And if there
is construction going on around you
(which it probably is), then you might
as well put off the comfortable evening
stroll for a time when there won't
be piles of sand and bricks blocking
half the road. Well -- not just you
but, most likely, these things affect
everyone else living around you.
The examples above
are only a handful amongst the innumerable
public nuisances our society experiences.
There are varied and sometimes very
creative ways in which people choose
to trouble their neighbours. But be
it waking someone up with your shouting,
letting your branches grow over your
neighbour's wall or hiring a band
to play loudly till 2 am for your
private party, the bottomline is that
each of these situations result from
a lack of civic sense.
Most people would
agree that the desire to have a clean
house is a commendable one. Most people
would deem normal things like wanting
to build a house or an apartment block.
Most likely, most people would also
easily understand that these actions,
undertaken carelessly, would have
consequences for others.
Perhaps putting ourselves
in other's shoes may help shed some
light on the matter. Imagine your
neighbour's dead leaves falling into
your lawn. How would it be if you
had an important meeting early in
the morning, but could not sleep the
night before because of the band playing
next door?
It seems that, as
a society, we rarely bring ourselves
to these realisations. We seem to
display a distinct lack of concern
for those around us. In our everyday
actions, we each pursue what we see
as our own interests, with little
regard for the interests of other
individuals and of the society as
a whole.
If the moral argument
or the idea of a social conscience
does not motivate you, then perhaps
you can be tempted by clinging to
the issue of self-interest. Believe
it or not, looking out for others
can benefit you! Not dumping rubbish
on your neighbour's property will
most likely ensure that your neighbour
does not return the favour. Unclogged
drains, clean roads and public places
will probably safeguard your children
and you from catching some unfortunate
disease.
Whether one chooses
to be socially aware out of a sense
of civic duty or in pursuit of self-interest,
it does not take a tremendous effort
to change our everyday habits. Start
by evaluating which of your actions
may have consequences for others.
It's easy for instance, smoking at
the bus stop will definitely bother
some people, or someone might slip
on the banana peel you carelessly
threw out your car window.
Then,
see what you can do to ensure that
your actions do not cause too much
discomfort to others. For example,
put the banana peel in your bag until
you are home or near a rubbish bin.
See, it's simple -- give it a try!
All
people great and
small
Tazin
Abdullah
...................................................
While on the road,
you might have noticed large billboards
around Dhaka city with social messages
on them. One of the prominent ones
(if it is still around) has a bold
one. It makes an anxious appeal, asking
people to try ironing their own clothes
sometimes, instead of telling their
young maids to. The maid can, alternatively,
devote some of her time to studying
or going to school.
It sends out an important
message about how to join the effort
to make education accessible to all
children. If you look a little closer
still, it also makes a point about
our perception of those who we generally
regard as the lower classes.
One of these roles
generally accorded to the 'lower classes',
is that of service to the 'higher
classes'. Someone of a 'higher' class,
thus, must be convinced that education
must be accessible to those of a 'lower'
class. Ideally, in the egalitarian
society we have many times claimed
to be, it would not be necessary to
publicly appeal for consideration
towards a maid in a matter so basic
as education.
Our treatment of domestic
help, though a prominent issue, is
not the only one which questions our
ability to be an equitable society.
Our treatment of all of those in the
lower rungs of society is the test
of our claim to be egalitarian. It
has been a long time since that billboard
first came up, but has it affected
our overall outlook? Have our everyday
attitudes seen a major transformation?
Take for instance
the age-old Bengali adage that we
must be respectful towards our elders.
A noble idea, most people would agree
and most certainly, one that is called
upon often. While the saying did not
refer to which elders or which particular
kind of elders, it appears that respect
is usually reserved for those belonging
to 'our', usually higher, class.
Traditionally, we
confer the title of apni to our elders
as a show of reverence. It is strange
that this title is so rarely used
when speaking to someone older belonging
to the lower classes. Even our noticeably
senior citizens may be dismissed with
a tumi or even tui, if they happen
to belong to the wrong social class.
Picture, especially,
that annoying beggar that runs up
to your car everytime you stop at
the traffic lights. She then knocks
on your window with her knuckles and
sometimes with the brass ring on her
finger. It's bad enough that she whines
on and on, but to start knocking on
your window as well! So, you angrily
tell her to go away.
You didn't have money
on you to give away you didn't even
have enough for that burger you wanted!
And she does this same thing every
time. And unless you had scolded her,
she would never have stopped.
You could have, alternatively,
rolled down the window and simply
asked her to go away and if that didn't
work, you could have just been quiet.
You could have reminded yourself,
that had you been in her position,
you probably would have done the same.
You could have remembered that had
this been an equally annoying older
person or even a younger person of
your own social class, you would have
behaved differently.
But these are common
courtesies you would accord to anyone
else and small acts that can usher
the beginning of a larger social transformation.
Perhaps our inability
to respect all individuals stems from
our unwillingness to disassociate
people from their assigned social
positions. As a society, it severely
diminishes our ability to be of assistance
to one another in social development.
'Education for all', 'food for all'
and similar slogans display a noble
intent, but until we are truly inclusive
of 'all' in our social perception,
they will remain mere slogans.
...................................................
The author is a freelance writer.
Who
do 'they' represent?
Tazin
Abdullah
.........................................................
WHAT
do they stand for? What do I have
to do with them? Who are they?
Got
your curiosity about who they might
be…even a little bit?
'They'
are the people that form the government
of Bangladesh our ministers and our
members of parliament. They are the
ones who, in our system of parliamentary
democracy, represent us -- in principle.
But
how many times have you found yourself
shaking your head at the red mouthed,
pan-chewing MP? How many times have
you run into heated discussions about
how this country is rampant with corrupt
government officials from top to bottom?
And how many of those times have you
asked yourself who put these people
in power in the first place?
Whether
in the ruling party or the opposition,
those who are in charge of proposing,
debating and carrying out our laws
are people who we, in principle, choose.
Yet, the word on the streets and dinners
alike is that the politicians are
ruining the country. So, the question
is do they, who are apparently ruining
the country, represent our intentions
as a society?
Yes
and no. Yes, because those of us who
are registered voters have cast the
decisive votes. Thus, when a party
begins to call hartals, it can safely
be assumed that the individuals who
voted for those parties want hartals,
despite the consequences.
When
a top government official asks for
a bribe to process an application,
it can be assumed that his position
is a reflection of our approval of
bribery. After all, if the majority
of us did not find corruption acceptable,
why would we choose representatives
who thrive on it?
On
the claim that the parliamentarians
may not represent us, there is more
to say.
You
may not have registered yourself.
Or you do not vote because you simply
may not care. Or you might be in the
camp where you feel you cannot make
a difference. In which case, your
indifference can make you responsible
for those in power.
Perhaps
the case is stronger for those in
remoter parts of the country where
literacy and awareness of issues is
low. There is the strong possibility
that they may be harassed into voting
for a particular candidate. Their
knowledge on policy, social or political,
may be too detached, making it easy
to persuade them to vote in a particular
direction. They may, unwittingly,
have voted for that corrupt official.
Whether
the answer to the question of representation
is yes or no, it does not absolve
us of our responsibility as a society
to elect the eligible people to parliament.
We need to ask ourselves why we cast
the votes that we do?
Look
around you. What changes would you
like to see less garbage, less pollution?
Maybe, you would like to know where
you taxes go. Perhaps an improvement
in public education would be a good
idea. And it probably isn't just you.
People around you, your friends and
your relatives may want to see those
same things.
.........................................................
The author is a freelance writer.
