Can we be optimistic?

Some one once told me that I should teach my children the facts of life as represented in its various forms of deprivations. The argument he put forward was rather interesting and thought provoking. The way he championed his view-point is that, one has to have prior "training" to deal with the various possible and real deprivations that life has to offer whereas no prior "training" is required in order to deal with the material and physical comforts as they come.

Well, enough is enough. Let us come down to earth and review a few factors or elements of life and living in this very dear homeland of ours, which have turned me into a pessimist.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The economists and the financial management wizards continue to bombard us with all kinds of charts and figures as to how our economy is progressing for better. Yet I see none of that when I see the poor continue to be poorer and the gap between the well to do and the poor continue to get wider and wider. On the other hand I remain pessimistic about the development and/or emergence of any viable and effective middle class, an essential factor in the development of democratic traditions.

It is simply disheartening to see when both our government and the entire political hierarchy put the highest value on say, the number of bridges built and how wonderful roads have been constructed as all-important parameters of our national development.

Many say that the NGOs have done a wonderful job of dealing with poverty at grassroots levels; I fail to understand how. The NGOs are engaged in merely keeping the poor somehow survive at the borderline of poverty. The NGOs are in the business of building a power base for themselves and their management gurus. I see little possibilities for change of scenarios in years or perhaps decades.

Three decades have passed, but the two major political parties have given us nothing except lessons in vandalism, demagogy including bashing each other's opponents. The political culture has turned into a practicing ground of all forms of militancy. I do not know, but nothing short of a "mass upsurge" (perhaps not the kind Awami League or the advocates of BNP believe in) shall change the scenario for better. Once again I am Pessimistic. The scenario may not change even them.

Everybody wants to be a city boy or a girl. So all roads lead to Dhaka, Chittagong or Khulna. Hence cities are turning into mega Bustees, though with a difference: Bustees comprising of high-rise structures of abominable proportions. Wait till you see a disaster of unprecedented proportions take place, say, with the strike of an earthquake of moderate velocity. Not all the deliberations on the "impending danger of earthquake and disaster management on a post-facto basis" will then be of any use and help reverse the situation.

Our craze for mega city has also helped in the unbridled march of the land grabbers. They are perhaps more dangerous than the terrorists. Terrorists murder a few here and there but the land grabbers are creating recipes for sure and slow death of millions. They are filling in water bodies of all kinds including the riverbanks through indiscriminate land reclamation affecting the navigability of river traffic. Will there be a reversal of the situation in the coming decade? I have my doubts.

Indiscipline reigns supreme everywhere. Here in the capital city you can no longer distinguish between a commercial area and a residential area. Shopping complexes have made civilized living difficult for the residents of the area. Not only that it has ushered in a kind of consumer culture, which we can ill afford. One has to take a close look at the Dhanmondi Residential Area. Does any one really believe this situation can ever be reversed for better? I am highly pessimistic.

Look at how a perfectly serene and beautiful environment of the lake in the Dhanmondi Residential Area has now been turned into a rowdy centre of cheap entertainment disturbing the peace and sleep of its residents. Our mindset is slowly turning towards a loud and messy culture of the bustees.

I have a small car, that I procured for the first time after completion of 32 years of service in a number of international organisations and that too forced by a debilitating condition of arthritis. As I move about the city I am continually under threat of being bumped off the road by bigger vehicles owned by the rich and the affluent of our society. The mindset is highly disturbing. I am thus highly pessimistic about the attitude of the rich and the well to do towards the rest of the society. Will that ever change? I doubt it.

You arrive at a vendor to buy fruits or some such consumables, the shopkeeper decides prices of his merchandise based on your looks, the way you are dressed and whether you have arrived in a rickshaw, a small, a luxury jeep or on foot. I have since as per advise of my driver keep my car parked some distance away and routinely send my driver to do the purchasing. Invariably the prices paid by him are ten percent lower than what I have paid on few other occasions. We specialise in fraudulent practices, selling or buying both goods and services.