In praise of Eid hangover

There is nothing wrong with Eid hangover. After all, people passing hectic and stressful life full of anxieties in the cities or towns want to avoid the same routine as long as they can. They know there is no respite from the tedious jobs that demand so much from them. In fact, the modern life has turned humans into living robots who are forbidden to enjoy freedom of their own likes and dislikes.
Life in the capital in particular is no longer charming. People enter here under compulsion and then feel that they are led into a huge cauldron as if they are no individuals but simply raw materials used for industrial production. They are just helpless creatures whose survival depends on mere chances. The entire city is soaking everything like a huge industrial unit to shape different parts and accessories for a finished product.
Commuting in the capital city has been a hellish experience for sometime now. It is so frustrating and energy-sapping that any sane person would prefer to live in a jungle rather than rotting in the hours-long tailbacks day in day out. But commute they must because, they have families to maintain and children to raise as competitive citizens of this nation. The rat race thus goes on with the motive of beating competitors in guiles and cunningness.
When the competition is ugly and virulent, people lose their innate capacity for feeling for others and the urge to become good human beings. Also, there are powerful people who give the impression that the law is not meant for them, they are above it. On the other hand, criminals go scot-free. In between the law-abiding meek and humble citizens find their living exposed to all kinds of threat. They are not the moneyed people to have powerful quarters supporting them when they need help.
Not all can digest the daily doses of humiliation and discrimination of such outrageous order. So, if they are capable, they try to leave the country for a better living in one of the countries in the West, considered not without reason the mythical El Dorado. A few, though, find the land of their dream as hospitable as they have thought of. The rest though are not equally lucky. And there are still others who discover it is worse than the land they have left and disillusioned they make a U-turn and come back to settle in the land of their birth.
Despite all its inadequacies, poverty, chaos and lawlessness, the country at large has its own charm. Dhaka and other cities may no longer ensure a peaceful and smooth life but in the countryside, it is simply pure bliss. No wonder therefore with roots in villages, people invent pretexts for delaying their return journey to the ugly cities and towns.
In developed countries, villages offer every amenity of city life. Bangladesh is poised to cross the first threshold and a study has rightly confirmed it. In respect of sanitation, villages have fared better than towns and cities. Even in terms of safe drinking water too the scores for both urbanites and villagers are almost equal.
This means a subtle change has been taking place imperceptibly. After 20-30 years from now, villages will be a better place to live in. If long journey can be made shorter through introduction of fast trains, many will be able to attend offices from villages. Then if the highways are safe to drive, people will drive their own cars to go to offices in towns and cities and return home in the evening.
All this, though, may change radically if the internet facility is fully exploited. There will hardly be any need for physical presence of most of the employees and officers. Office works can be done from home. If people do not have to needlessly waste time and energy on commuting, they are likely to be more productive. The issue of hangover after a long holiday will be a thing of the past.