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IT was a posh bakery in Dhanmondi. I ordered a pastry. It came. I devoured and went to the counter to pay the bill. There was a Tk 100 note in my wallet when the bill was Tk 12 only. The man behind the counter seemed disturbed to see the big note and asked me whether I ordered only a pastry. I felt really insulted to see his snobbish look. I asked for a chocolate thinking it would cost me not over Tk 10-15 and would save my face a bit. But when he said Tk 40 my heart started sinking! They really ripped me off for a coco-coated wafer simply. But I paid the money in exchange of his look.
Any way, I felt relieved after getting out and was looking for a rickshaw to go to Azimpur. I started a hard bargain with the rickshaw pullers. They asked for Tk 15 but I was trying to save Tk 3.00 and eventually managed to make one agree. When I got on the puller said with a mild voice, sir why you guys don't want to pay Tk 2.00 or 3.00 more to the 'garib manush' (the poor) like us. He was right... Wasn't he?
Sabbir Ahmed
Department of English
University of Dhaka
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