Dhaka University students celebrate every season with various events depending on the time of year. This winter they have been organizing barbecues during their semester breaks. There are also various department- and hometown-based arrangements, including rice cake festivals.
As bone-chilling cold sweeps the country, Dhaka faces a similar plight. Winter's grip intensifies, affecting both the atmosphere and daily life.
DU students are finding comfort this winter in the warmth of teas infused with various flavours, including jaggery, tamarind and chilli, at the TSC–as if a sip of tea in the morning or between activities, especially studies, breathes new life into them.
Evenings witness crowded tea stalls at the TSC, making it challenging to navigate the adjacent footpath.
“I had not come out of my dorm room since morning because of the severity of winter. If there are no tutoring sessions in the afternoon, I come to the TSC with friends for tea in the evening. A hot cup of tea reduces the cold feeling at least for a while,” DU student Shahriar Hossain said.
“Winter is my favourite season, and tea is my drink of choice. So each complements the other. This winter has been quite pleasant. But the worst part of the season is that we have classes at 8am. Nobody likes classes so early in the morning in this cold,” Antara Talukder of the Urdu department said.
Tea sellers are also ecstatic about students thronging their stalls throughout the day.
One shopkeeper, Md Kalam, said his sales had increased exponentially because of the weather.
Some departments had already resumed classes after winter break, but many students had yet to return to campus from their hometowns, said Sabbir Hossain, a management student.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka University administration ban on mobile vendors last year to reduce outsider presence on campus means there are no more winter rice cake shops in the university area. Some said they were missing an essential flavour of winter, but the majority said they were happy to see a reduction in the number of outsiders at the university.
