& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Dhaka Day by Day

The ’versatile’ pavement

by Parveen Anam
It takes quite some Imagination to call a pavement versatile. I readily agree, and so would many others, but any mortal soul, out for a morning walk, would nod his head at the ad JecUve And add a few of hla own. in the bar gain Mind the time of the day though. No other time is more appropriate than the morning hours, to prove the versatility of the pavement, tn our this beloved city of Dhaka
As you turn the comer, bent on your fitness scheme, you are brought up short by the asto
ntshlng sight of an entire family using the facility of the pavement as a bed room. True, they are the floating popula Hon as the wise fa then of the city like to refer to them and then wash their hands off any re sponalbtllty towards them The reference Is sufficient
The etty fathers know 'they' exist; good enough Not so the morning walker He is the one. who has to skirt them and jump aside to avoid bumping into them. But the walker is the determined sort. On he walks, head down, arms pumping when lo and behold, he near ly walks Into the little man using the same pavement as hts kitchen, surrounded by the early risers, struggling to htm for their early morning cup of the notoriously sugary tea.
He has his little stove, right In the middle of the pavement, with hardly a thought that the pavement was originally meant for the innocent pedestrian to avoid being run over by the buses and trucks tearing down at breakneck speed.
So the walker, determined sort that he is, jumps down about a foot, onto the road and jumps back on again to continue his journey with gritted teeth, eurstng the architect (or whoever designs pavements) for not having a gentle slope to the pavement as observed In other nations instead of a sharp drop
Never mind hla walk, by the time he is through, be will certainly be a high jumper, he is convinced. However, our hero continues — and walks straight into the mason, carpenter, bricklayer, all busy with their ware laid out again, in the middle of the pavement Countless reminders have the pundits typed and sent out. reminding the city dwellers that the pavement Is NOT repeat NOT to be used as a storehouse for the construction materials stored on all pavements, about six feet apart When any house or building Is being construct
ed. the pavement will be used as the most convenient storage space for the cement. sand, bricks, iron rods, etc, etc Never mind what the city fathers think or say
We all pay our taxes. hence we will use the pavement however we please, is the considered opinion of the average city inhabitant
Now if peddling wares Is any criteria, the Paan walla . the cigarette man. the little Stall walla with hts dubious culinary delights, ail have a claim to the versatile pavement. But what really galls the morning walker Is the pavement be Ing used as the gar bage dump as well We really do need to draw the line some where sometime, he mutters to himself and almost gives up his noble intentions
of keeping 8t.
In the meantime. WE the more ordinary sort need to try and mount a determined cam paign to restore the pavement to its original meaning and uses so the poor morning walker does not have to return home each day with The distinct Impression that he was out on a hurdle race and not a simple walk to Join the ranks of the healthier mortals Because if any thing, he is probably back with a raised blood pressure, at the uses and misuses of the pavements
"Versatility" perhaps escapes him as the appropriate adjective Understandably.