Consider a two taka note – however ragged the condition, as long as it is recognisable, it is exchangeable.
Look at any public system in Bangladesh and we rarely do much better as a whole.
Recently, I took a train to Dhaka while returning from a wedding in Brahmanbaria. As soon as I boarded, the train’s odour hit me square in the face. It was not a crammed up train where people stand on each other, mind you. It was not the toilets being used with the door being left open either. It was simply an odd smell that just hung there – for no apparent reason.
I was wondering how people tolerated this when it struck me. Most probably did not notice that it is there – that odour was simply a part of the whole Bangladesh Railways experience. Those who noticed, like me, had no other choice but to accept the misfortune and take that train regardless. The others it seemed had more important concerns in life.
I do not intend to single out the railways for criticism; this is the general nature of services throughout the country. Poor maintenance, underfunding and low income limits our ability to improve public services.
Take the overloaded inland waterways transports for example. People risk their lives every moment to reach their destinations in these often overcrowded, almost always ill maintained steamers. Keep in mind that this is a privatised service. Accidents happen, people die – still, the system persists.
Look at Dhaka’s airport – the first experience and the vital first impression for most foreigners coming to Bangladesh. Long queues and delays are endemic. And again this is not uncommon in other government offices, not to mention the risk of being hassled for bribes.
Perhaps it dawned on me as the train was moving, we have simply accepted the system and internalised it as normal for us. Then again, none of this seems normal for me and hopefully I am not abnormal.
Maybe because I had availed better quality services outside Bangladesh, this was why I was bothered.
Now, I questioned it. I was at odds trying to find a solution. How could we improve the standards of our civic life?
The most obvious solution would be to guarantee better quality for the privileged at a higher rate and use increased income to spread improvements across the whole service. In principle this should not be that hard to implement. Even today, I could have reserved a whole bunk if I wanted to.
But then, of course, another realisation hit me. The moment a separate service is introduced, and the affluent will have the scope of simply paying for a star rated service, they will forget about the people who linger at the bottom. I, along with a few thousand others can go to Chittagong on luxury buses and simply forget about the millions who have no option but to suffer.
What is the ultimate point of creating class distinctions?
We must continually invest and provide “A” class service until all the people are accustomed to being pampered as an expectation and complain if they do not get it. Notice how people from the West scoff at our services and its shortcomings?
They are habituated to better quality services, so, when they are deprived, they start complaining.
Then again, it is said that most airports in the Middle East write toilet instructions in Bangla, because some from our nation are not properly toilet trained. So, what is the chance that the Bangladeshi people will be able to look after public property?
Does the concept of public property actually exist in public perception? Does the public actually deserve more?
This brought me on the face of a chicken or the egg problem. What do we do first? Improve the service or enlighten the people?
Our state actually represents the nation we are. We are like our two taka note. No matter how battered we accept our situation without question. Worse still, we watch indifferently as our condition worsens. Come to think of it, 42 years have passed and we have not yet been able to find a working political system.
Gradually, our dignity, discipline and pride are on the decline. Hence, I am certain we cannot give a proud account of our condition to someone from a different nation and we have only ourselves to blame.
We have to act. Change must start in our own backyards. We have to stop passing the buck and playing musical chairs, and should rethink our standing as a nation.
Both the state and the nation needs to change for the better. And they have to do it together. We must ask for more and raise ourselves to a position where we deserve more.