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Strike a compact bargain

SABRINA KARIM MURSHED
If you are a music lover or a movie bug, then a good music or a good movie can turn a dull evening or an afternoon siesta into a lively moment for you.
These days buying audio CDs and VCDs (video CDs) is no longer an expensive proposition if you know the proper place to purchase it from.
Forget those huge stores with all their razzmatazz in posh shopping complexes of the city and opt for something else on the outskirts of Moulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium and Bangabandhu National Stadium. You can fetch a CD or VCD at half the cost you get them anywhere else.
However, before buying them you must be well aware of the fact these CDs are pirated. So, if you need to slash your expenditure you will have to overlook your conscience.
One can get an audio CD for Tk 30 here whereas it is impossible to get one from the stores at any shopping centre for less than Tk 60. A video CD would cost maximum Tk 45, which is unavailable for less than Tk 80 at any other place.
"Nothing but the lower price of the CDs drags me here," said Abu Saleh Siddiqui, a student of Dhaka College.
"When CDs became available in the city in early 90s, they would sell for Tk 750 each," noted Sujit Das, a student of Jahangirnagar University. "Buying a CD was like a dream for me then," he added. "Getting a CD for Tk 30 is almost like a dream come true," he went on saying.
Moreover, the option to change the purchased CDs allures a host of customers to the place. "You can change the CD once you buy one by paying Tk 10 only and continue changing," noted Anwar Hossain. "So, basically you are getting new CDs for Tk 10 only," he clarified. "This is like a video club," the hawker
selling CDs to him gleefully added.
"It is convenient for me to buy CDs from here not only because it is cheaper, but also because there are a wide range of collection," noted Abdul Hannan, a student of Dhaka University.
"Starting from Madonna's album to songs from old Bangla movies, they sell everything," he said. He also added buying CDs from the place became a hobby for him.
"I am least bothered whether these CDs are pirated or not," Rumman Ahmed showed his unwillingness to consider morality. "Whether legal or illegal, I will go for buying it if suits my pocket," he added.
However, the hawkers denied selling pirated CDs. "I don't understand what you mean by pirated," said Nuruzzaman Babu who sells CDs from morning to eleven at night. "We get these CDs from Patuatuli and Eastern Plaza."
"We can sell the CDs at a lower
price since we buy it cheap," Babu tried to explain. "We get them at a cheaper price because we buy a lot at wholesale rate," he went on saying.
Another hawker, Mohammed Masum, noted the big stores sell CDs at a higher price since their expenditure is more than the hawkers'. "Unlike us, they have to pay for the shop, electricity bill
and other establishment costs," he clarified.
The hawkers noted even the police do not disturb them since they sit in front of regular shops in the stadium market. "We pay a good amount of money to shop owners and they tell police that the we cell their CDs," noted Nazrul Islam.