Valentine’s Day this year had love flowing towards me from all directions. Let me list the ways:
1. I met an extremely kind man at the embassy who selflessly helped me to submit my application directly without an agency, called at my number to ask for added documents to speed up the process, and accepted them way beyond the fixed time limit.
2. I met a man who accepted a torn Tk1,000 note, the last note in my purse that everyone was refusing to take, in exchange of his service -- without complaining.
I took a CNG back home and the driver turned out to be one of the most gloriously self-educated men I have come across in a long time
3. My phone switched off because it ran out of charge. I met a student at my university who let me send boring and time-consuming official e-mails from his phone, even though we were not friends and he did not make any flirtatious moves towards me.
4. I met a nice teacher who went home leaving his phone charger behind for me so I could charge my phone while I remained at the university.
5. I finally took a CNG back home and the driver turned out to be one of the most gloriously self-educated men I have come across in a long time; and I smiled from ear to ear when I heard the inspirational story of his struggle. His elder son studies at Dhaka University, he has adopted his sister’s daughter, he gives credit to his wife for guiding his sons, and he dreams of going back to his village once his sons settle down.
Maybe, in life, when being yourself means carrying your heart on your sleeve and being hurt on a regular basis, you should still remain the same, just so you don’t miss out on connecting with the ones who are the same -- because one such soul is more valuable than a thousand masks.
Meghna Alam is a social activist and a senior executive officer at Young Economists’ Forum (YEF). This article previously appeared on Meghna Alam’s Facebook profile at facebook.com/pulchritudinous.megh.
