Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Auchin Pakhi (Dream Bird) by Hasan Azizul Haque


The exposition of the story is about this poor father and his son, who live well under the poverty line at a time when strikes were fairly common. The time period is clearly not mentioned but I am guessing it is during the liberation war or during one of the many events that leads up to it. The father was the only earning member of the family who worked as a school master at a local school and barely made enough money to lead a comfortable life let alone dream about luxuries as obtaining a pet.

The story is told in third person limited narrative where the father was the main narrator. The main character’s family consisted of only himself, his wife and their only son, Babul. Now they may be living under poverty due all this strikes and the husband’s not-so-much earning, but the man surely was a doting father as he tries to fulfill all his son’s wishes; sometimes even going for extreme measures for that. For example, when he bought that chandana bird for his son. Now, owning a pet might not seem like a big deal but under the circumstances of the family’s poor financial situation, buying a bird and taking care of it was quite a deal as it meant that they will now have lesser food and money to buy other stuff. Now, it is not clearly mentioned but implied that the father’s job is currently on hiatus because of all the strikes. So, just like the atmosphere of the story, the mood of the characters were kind of restless all throughout.

Should private universities in Bangladesh teach their students morality?


Topic: Should private universities in Bangladesh teach their students morality?

My answer: Yes.

In fact, I believe morality should never even be out of our system. I do not mean that there should another extra subject on morality. That would be awful, because as human beings we like to learn things and enjoy doing it when we are not under some kind pressure of exams and stuff. What I am suggesting is to instill the sense of morality subconsciously, like hanging posters and fliers here and there on walls or notice boards, so that one can some moral values while walking or doing whatever they are doing. It should be like a reminder, not something forced upon the students.

I also do not support some extra free classes where there is a certain teacher teaching us morality. That would be nothing different from normal classes. But, if necessary, the universities can arrange some sessions where different people can discuss what morality is and what should be about it; though I believe that would not be much fruitful since everyone has their own opinions.