Sunday, December 10, 2006

A Skeptic, A helpless and Newton’s laws of motion

Today while I was coming back from BUET by bus, a boy got into the bus from science library. By his outfit he looked poor. So when the bus started running again, the boy stood in the aisle of the bus and start addressing towards the passengers. This is quite regular if you are a regular bus goer. Most of them asked for money stating that they themselves or their father/mother/brother/sister are sick. But I ignored them almost all the time unless the help seeker is very old. But today’s story was different from all others.

The boy told us that he is a student of class 9 studying science and his sister is in class 7. His mother is a garment’s worker. He needs money as he can’t fill their exam fees for their upcoming final exam. So I called the boy. He came towards me and we had the following conversations :

Me: Which class are you in?

He: Class 9 sir. I am going to be in class 10 next year if you kindly help me.

Me: You are studying science?

He: Yes sir.

Me: Can you tell me Newton's laws of motion?

He: Yes sir. Which one do you want to hear?

I was impressed with his confidence but still not very sure about his story so I asked again.
Me: How many laws are there?

Without a hesitation he answered,
He: 3 sir.
Me: Tell me one.

He: Which one sir?
Me: The one you like most.

He: Okay sir. First law : Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. (In his language : bol na dile prottek gotimoy bostu gotimoy thakbe ar sthir bostu sthir thakbe)

I was so impressed! Also at the same time I was happy that this boy proved me wrong. So I helped him with whatever I had in my wallet. He thanked me and got down from the bus. But after he left I was feeling sad for him. The way I helped him, wasn't a permanent solution. May be next year he'll be seen again begging for money to fill his exam fees. I am so stupid! I should write his name and contact address and could easily arrange something to secure his further educational needs.

I am sorry little boy, please forgive me.

Where were I? : Now let's come to another important topic, where were I and why there wasn't any update in my blog lately. The reason behind these is I was extremely busy with a proffessional project. In addition to that there were first one of my aunti's wedding, then our departmental picnic and now I am heavily involved with the preperation of CSE festival or CSE day whatever you may say. More over class has started. So the result, my virtual life almost became obsolete. But I'll still try to be more regular. Keep visiting..

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Posted by Dewan M Ibtesham Shafi at Sunday, December 10, 2006

21 comments:

  1. Heh... "O' irony why thou did not smite me when the time was right"

    onukabbo ensues:

    লাল সবুজের বঙ্গদেশে
    বঙমাতার অঙ্গঘেষে...
    আসছে দেখ ঐ দেখা যায়,
    অসভ্য সব মোষের দল।
    কাদছি কেন,কি সব বলিস?
    কাদবে কে বল, স্বয়ং ইবলিশ?
    নারে শালা,ও কান্না তো নয়,
    দীর্ঘশ্বাসের শ্লেষ্বা বোধহয়

    Zoom in koira lekha ta deikhen...apner bus-travel-chronicles suina bhaab lagliso :)

    BTW, what are you doing in buet these days dressed in (almost) formal clothing most of the time? Job-hunt? Or teacher potano?
    ReplyDelete
  2. Bhiyah That "lil boys" scenario is so beautifull yet so depresing =( it just comes to show u.. he really appreciates his education .. yet PPL like us.. would rather watch televison then study..x-(... its like. u take advantage of things u have.. n u thrive for things u cant have huh..? IRONIC..!
    n btw no excuse for an late posT URE FANS WERE MISSING U LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE..:P..!
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  3. pretty sad :( there's lot boys roaming road side like this :( but we can't do anything for them....shafi bhaia wish so that i can do something for them in my coming future...:)

    Good luck for ur professional project........:) really nice to check out ur new entry :)missing ur daily entries....:( hope someday sometime u will be back with ur full swing hehee :)

    take care.......all the best......don't forget to invite us on ur cse day....have smiling days...bye bye...:)
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  4. Left a comment, don't think it went through. If it has, disregard this one.

    Remember to breathe. Now I know what you meant by being busy. lolz.

    About the boy, don't be sad. He obviously has angels looking out for him. I'd like to thank YOU on his behalf. Not everyone would have done the same. InshAllah, he'll reach high.
    ReplyDelete
  5. shafi, i found this boy telling the same story in a bus from kakoli to uttora last friday. i helped him too. before stepping down from the bus he needed 100 tk more. but the thing im interested in - which day did this boy get help from u??

    the problem in helping the poor is, there are a lot many cheaters around telling different stories. its not unethical/rude to testify his position. we just want to make sure we help the one who is truthful. so dont feel bad.
    ReplyDelete
  6. btw, adapting newton's laws of motion to immigration issues:
    http://spazzedme.blogspot.com/2005/11/newtons-laws-of-immigration_25.html
    ReplyDelete
  7. once i have seen a student of DU working as a ricksaw puller for bearing the cost of his study...I dont know how long the little boy can continue his study but I wish him his dreams come true.
    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh my, that's a sad piece of tale. I know one gentleman who now is a rich engineer but started his way as that little boy in your tale. Two things come to mind.

    1) Why is there no such zakat or other religious project by those religious parties to help such people.
    2) Is there any scholarship etc. at BUET or others?
    3) High school education should be free.
    4) Those other beggars who claim to be the same (poor child trying to get an education) but are lying should be whipped.

    Good on you to help the kid. I do think education is the best way to help the country out of poverty. Wherever possible, we must help our poorer relatives' kids to get educated and beat the poverty cycle.
    ReplyDelete
  9. welcome back bhaia :)

    apni chheletake shahajjo korte cheyechhen shetai boro kotha... or moto hazar hazar chhatro chhatri ache deshe apni chaile tadero shahajjo korte paren ... or jonno mon kharap kore lav nai ...

    Eshon, bhalo bolso ... but we can't help it, can we?? ;)

    Mezba bhai,
    In Bangladesh tuition fee is not a big issue, (As far as i remember, we had to pay around 25 taka per month) but the quality of the teachers is (in the rural area). And even in the more developed cities, school isn't enough for the students because of the greed of the teachers. So free schooling isn't really a solution. Whether high school is free or not, you HAVE to pay hazar hazar taka on private tutors anyways.
    ReplyDelete
  10. This is harsh reality of our society. The people who can contribute spends their money on mistresses, pleasure trips, and latest Mercedes-Benz models; and their spoiled children spends the rest on drugs.

    Anyhow, it was really nice to see you back on your blog. Wish you all the best with your upcoming projects.
    ReplyDelete
  11. The "anonymous" comment above is mine.
    ReplyDelete
  12. i have been observing this, schools always try to earn extra bucks from exams. they shouldn't charge at all for exams as it is part of the education facility for which students pay fees on a monthly basis. If one student can't pay this extra, which usually goes to teachers' pocket, should he/she be refrained from sitting for exams?
    ReplyDelete
  13. It's really a touchy story.

    May allah bless us all and we can see the poverty in Bangladesh resolves. Which means ppl will never have to think of begging for money or even for eating for a single time of 24 hours.

    I don want to break your heart,but it's even true that how many times you really could be able to identify the real needy person? There are many frauds and very little who are really needy are lost in the crowed of all those frauds. Lets think positive. Though it was from one of my bad experience on trusting an old women.

    Lets pray to God that our political parties start to think about our development more then fighting with each other.
    ReplyDelete
  14. Atunu, It's the winter which is to blame for the formal clothing. It looks very bad to me if there's a tail (actually the shirt) visible under the jacket. That's why I had to be formal :P

    Eshon, esha, nowal I'm not too sure about the boys integrity though. But if he's a fraud , at least a literate fraud. :P

    Tareq, yeah that's the problem. My incident occured 10th december, that was sunday. According to him, he need 180taka more.

    Moon, I've heard about this student of DU from numerous persons. It was so hard to believe, I mean a DU student can earn in many ways, one is ofcourse by tutoring. But why he chose the path is really a mistery! As you've seen him, I can't deny the fact :(

    Mezba bhai, 1)Those religious parties have jakaat management systems of their own, but it's been seen from time to time that those money have been channeled else where and sometimes used to finance terrorists. So people these days hardly believe them. 2) There is government scholarship after high school available if the student can achieve a certain percentage of marks. 3) High school education is free for girls at present. 4) Who'll whip them? The whole country is mulfunctioning and this is relatively nothing compared to the misdeeds of politicians.

    Audity, Mon kharap korinai. Aar cheletar bishoye to tarek shondeho jagiye dilo :P

    Russel bhai, thanks for your wish :)

    Tanvir, teachers get a portion of that money for checking the copies. You can't really blame them for that, in our society they are one of the lowest paid although doing the most important job, building the nation.

    Munaz bhai, I hope you'll share your story about that old woman with us. Bangladesh has enough resources to make poverty history, but the resources can't reach the poors due to middlemen and bureaucracy. So the poor becomes poorer and the rich are becomnig richer..

    Thanks everyone for your comments. :-)
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  15. umm..ami loktake ricksaw chalate dekhechhi kintu universityte class korte to dekhinai..so kotota sotti janina.
    tobe mittha kotha bolar to kono karon dekhina..echonomics e pore..amake bolchhilo ekta tution jogar kore dite.ami phn number diyechhilam kintu pore ar jogajog koreni.

    amra fraud der karone oneksomoy genuineder shahajjo korina..taarcheye ki etai bhalona je amra shaddhomoto sahajjo korlam jaar kichhu ongsho hoyto kono fraud pelo kintu tarporeo kichhu sottikarer needyr to upokar holo.
    ReplyDelete
  16. dosto ,bohudin por apner likha pore boroi bhalo laglo.

    mon udash koren na..... cheletar porar jonno taka lagbe eta mittha o jodi hoy , tar need mittha na.

    ar apner next kaajer list e rag day r program baad porse, :P ... apnera na thakle amader univ experience onno rokom hoto ....... thaaaaaaaanks a looooooot once again .

    sheetal
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  17. shafi... u see. i think he started in a good purpose and found the easy money. may be he needed the money for exam fee. and got stuck with it. thats really bad...
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  18. The Zakat funds have no accountability and no one has a clue to where they end up. There is so much fight between the Islamic parties as to who will control that lucrative fund. Why do you think that is so?
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  19. HAPPY BIRTH DAY.. rong place to put it but.. i had no other choice.. hope u have afantasticle b day.. :)
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  20. hi bro,
    it is an excellent blog... what do you think about an online community??. where we would love to raise fund for these kinda kids.
    anyway, i am really interested to do something... perhaps a big community where we ourselves find out the right person...

    anyway... one concern... if next time you face this kind of ppl.. please dont publish their address over online or publicly... because so many ppl would love to help individually .. i think it may lead in wrong direction... i belief that kid may feel... donation is profitable business...

    anyway it is my thought... :)
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  21. Happy Birthday Shafi bhaia

    wishes,
    Esha :)
    ReplyDelete

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