Dhaka is truly the most fascinating city there is right now, I am serious! As a child, I used to plead with my parents to take me to a circus to watch artists do their tricks and perform unnatural acts at which I would stare in awe, and later burst into applause, because that’s all that would be left to do.
Ever since I came back to Bangladesh five years ago, I never had the chance to feel that my dream to see a circus was ever fulfilled, because of my city, Dhaka -- which is a live circus that nobody should miss!
First of all, Dhaka successfully transformed into a modern-day melting pot quite some time ago. Not just a mixture of people from many different places; there are just too many people here. Too many people to care for, to be honest.
From the start of our day, we endure the long traffic, with the simultaneous construction of all the flyovers amid everything else, and we are too busy and panicked to get to work on time to worry about how all that dust and pollution is affecting our lives.
There are misbehaving chauffeurs of private cars who think they just own the roads, and are allowed to shout out slurs at pedestrians, rickshaw-pullers, and CNG minicab drivers accompanied by their orchestra of horns. Plus, most of them have given a “heads-up” that they are above and beyond the law, unless and until they are stopped by the heroes of the city for their snack money.
There are the heat-stunned traffic sergeants who have no idea about the idle signal behind which people are being slow-roasted, while they are letting vehicles at the other signal pass for what seems to be light years. While all this is happening, the rickshaw-pullers are also practicing for their next Olympic synchronised rickshaw-pulling event, sometimes which accidentally rips off some woman’s scarf, or puts a dent on someone’s fender.
The bikers around the city are the most wanted superstars of this century. The one important reason that they purchased a bike was to become heroes who do not need the laws of the road.
They don’t stop at signals, they don’t know that a thing called “good behaviour” exists, and they will use pavements like they were made exclusively for bikers. Not just that, if you or your rickshaw or CNG is standing in front of them at a signal, they will start kicking the vehicle and verbally abusing the driver to move until they do, and then they disappear into the setting sun, or more appropriately, settling dust.
The latest game in the city is that of vans (otherwise known as microbuses) picking up complete strangers out of nowhere and demanding large sums of money from them -- failing to do so will definitely cost them their lives.
If not that, they are picking up little girls or adult women to do a bit of rub and tug, followed by a little rape game that is completely alright with us, because we are just too busy with our lives, and the most we are willing to do about such things is to put up angry statuses on Facebook, or tweet about it, that cause a further stir among radical feminists and other regular people because someone got the grammar wrong.
Nothing stops for anything in glorious Dhaka city nowadays. Tell me something, when was the last time you received some good manners and gentle behaviour from another fellow pedestrian? Someone who apologised for crossing paths and accidentally stepping on your heels? That’s right, you cannot remember! If especially you are somewhere like Gawsia or New Market, people trampling on your feet is the most common thing, and it is you who should be sorry for getting in their way.
Your entertainment does not stop there. If you are between jobs and strolling around just for kicks, you will find vendors on the street selling the world to you. Whether or not the pavements are blocked and their presence is creating a barrier for people to walk normally is not their concern because they don’t have anywhere else to go and sell their stuff to put food in the mouths of their toddlers.
And is that our responsibility? Well of course! I’m surprised that my question surprised you! Can’t you see how authority is too important and too busy doing their thing? Is it really their responsibility to take care of everyone? Have you checked out the latest publications in the gazette?
Should I get started on the heads of the two divisions of the city? You know, the one that wants to make the city more bike-friendly (as if it’s not enough already) and another who has that smile that makes you forget about every other smile. They are rich people who have no idea how poverty or the streets work. They will keep making promises that will remain unfulfilled, and we will continue to suffer. They don’t talk about setting up more public toilets or more bus stops or more drinking water facilities because they imagine we do not need them at all.
Allowing so many people to move into the city while we are way overpopulated already has created this unplanned mess we call Dhaka. There are no congestion charges here so you are free and welcome to pollute this place, just make sure you pay your dues to those in uniforms carrying arms. There are thousands of restaurants, where you can sit down and take numerous selfies with your food, and that makes your day brilliant! You don’t have to care about a thing because, maybe, sometime into the near future, you will probably leave for a better place abroad and Dhaka will still be rotting.
Dhaka does not need bicycle-friendly zones or sweet smiles anymore. What this live circus needs is a real good cleaning job, some plumbing around here and there, and most importantly, a permanent solution for all the congestion, appropriate pavements, public toilets etc.
And if the mayors are not yet ready to stand up and start doing things immediately, maybe influential businessmen with big bank balances should come forward and, at least, do it all for them in the name of CSR. Maybe the performers of this circus will vote for them next time?
What is really wrong with this city is that some of us angry writers cannot unite enough people to do something about any situation at all. Why should we complain when all that is expected of us is to be like dolls and say nothing against anything? We keep writing for you to stop and notice things around you a little bit.
Maybe one day one of these articles will be strong enough to move some of you to do something. Maybe some of us will be hacked to death by then, but our souls will be happy to know that some of you stood up and did something.
