Opulence and coarse tastes

Fishing net is expected to enmesh fish. At times fishermen get surprised or even shocked by catches they generally do not expect. In rivers like Sitalakhya -now highly polluted in certain parts -depletion of fish has become a natural outcome. To its north, fishermen can still hope for modest catches.

Now that most rivers in the country have become lean with flow of waters very weak, fishermen draw a boundary with bamboo poles within which they deposit branches of trees and on the surface keep hyacinth to turn the watery enclosure into a temporary fish sanctuary. After a few days they surround the enclosure with large nets and pull it close to the bank after removal of the branches.

Fish gathered there thus get caught. This is a professional fishing art developed by local fishermen. Naturally, their governing motive is to get as much fish as possible out of the enclosure they have set up. But recently, they were more than surprised to see that the net has caught something millions of times precious. It was nothing but a luxury Toyota Prado car that they netted. The simple folks did not have any ambition of driving the car. So they contacted a representative of the local body who informed the police station of the precious find.

With help from local people, the police pulled up the car which had developed mosses on its body. Sure enough, the car was not there earlier because the fishermen of the enclosure caught fish there before. It was carried there by the stream of the river slowly but surely. It would have drifted further if it did not get stuck at the enclosure. This is evident enough that the car was abandoned at some point or even met with an accident. The last can be ruled out because, if there was such an accident, the bodies of its driver and passengers would have provided some clues. Can it be that the car was driven unmanned into the river when the military-backed government launched a campaign against such luxury cars imported and run without legal approval?

During that tempestuous period, the common people came to know how the country's super rich built personal holiday resorts, kept exotic pets like deer, snakes and even tigers. Some of them ran costly and luxurious cars and jeeps of brands even many educated people had not ever heard of. At that time Audi, Hammer and similar other cars were left abandoned on streets. The police recovered them without any effort. Maybe, this car too imported through illegal channel was thus abandoned. The gathering moss on its body should point to it.

Such cars are still recovered from different areas of the city. One of those was recovered from a Mohammadpur garage a few months back. Then the other day, an Audi car with British number plate was seized by the police. All this, however, seems to be the tip of an iceberg. The super rich cannot be satisfied with cars middle-class people drive. They need something special matching their status. Why not allow import of such costly cars through legal channels? This is like slapping restriction on the advertisement of jewellery shops.

When opulence is no longer a vice and people's tastes are growing coarser. At certain level it goes to the extent that some prefer to sit on glass walled restaurant right on roads and streets exposing themselves to the full view of passers-by below while they take meal.

Some take immense pride by flaunting their wealth, others their dress, still others their cars and swaggering manners. It is a peculiar world to live in. People are taking their pursuits to a level where, refinement is becoming a rarity. One will feel no remorse to cause another trouble or pains by behaviours, habits like smoking and spitting right in front.

When the ordinary people have nothing to lose, they become the lord of the road but the moment they come across someone of the blue blood category, they cringe and wonder. It is an uneven society where money talks. Human rights and equality of man are better left on paper.