Eid Mubarak. At the end of 2013, when the world is moving fast with 4G-5G, only 3G is peeking in Bangladesh. I said the condition of network and speed is not. But that’s not to say that we have remained absolutely analog! We’ve also gone digital in the communications system of the patched 2’G network.

When I was in primary school, when the Eid season came, I could see a huge collection of ‘Eid cards’ in the stationery shops. Cards are still sold in the same store after so many years – but they are basically mobile scratch cards. The number of ‘analog’ people like giving Eid cards has decreased a lot.

That said, we are also digital now, even if it is 4-5 kilobytes / second internet speed!

There is no denying that the benefits of exchanging greetings in modern technology are many. Why not? If you’ve been to the pre-existing (or contemporary) era of our 2G, you must have experienced this. For example, an Eid card can only be given to one person. When arriving, the difference will be more pronounced considering the cost.

And look at the current digital age, copying and pasting the same SMS / MMS and saying “Eid Mubarak” to countless people will always catch your eye!

While exchanging Eid greetings among your friends, you will not be surprised if you receive a text message from multiple friends with their own names! Maybe you sent an SMS to “X”, he edited it again and forwarded “Y” in his own name! Meanwhile, “Y” and your “Buzz Friend”, he sent you that wonderful message from “X” again! It should not be mistaken to call it “vicious cycle of SMS”.

But it is not possible to copy-paste Eid card on paper. So the emotions, love, memories associated with it are never lost.

I changed schools once in class four. We shifted to Nalchiti and enrolled in a primary school there (Nalchiti Bandar Sah Primary School). It didn’t take long for new schools, new people, to adapt to the new environment. Another boy next to our house was my classmate. Her name is “Miron”; He was more interested in sports than education. We used to go to and from school, learn Arabic in the mosque in the morning, play cricket, fly kites, catch crickets and so on (?!?). He was known almost everywhere in the small town of Nalchiti. Miron used to follow at least a dozen different routes from home to school at different times, which seemed a little annoying to me. Whether a little adventure favorite! For this nature, he did not eat less than the beating of the teacher’s hand থাক stay with those words today.

I was admitted to that school in Nalchiti one month after January. Then naturally my serial number of my roll went to the end of all. Most likely it will be 35-36. The first boy in the class was “Hasib”; In the first class, the first person to talk to is the chubby looking boy. As far as I can remember, Hasib’s father was a physics teacher at the college. He also had a stationery. I once went to this gentleman with a little long hair to buy a grammar book. He asked, “Which book will you take?” I could not name the publication as I did not have a book list. I just said, “I need the same book as Hasib’s book”; He smiled a little and gave us the book according to the syllabus.

The day was going well in Nalchiti. There was a fat girl in our class. One day in the middle of not going to school, I was learning to read from another girl “Natasha” on the bench next to me. The fat girl whispered, “Don’t say this Natasha!” However, Matu’s advice did not work: P

Once upon a time there was a misunderstanding with Hasib. We all had some faults. But in two / one days everything is fine again. Ever since I was a kid, I used to get very upset if someone got angry with me or misunderstood me. I said “OK”; There were a few others with him… probably “Imtiaz, Green.”

At that time there was a holiday of sacrifice ahead. Our last class is on the day before Eid. There were many stories with them that day. The next day, on the occasion of Eid, I went to the village house to pack and found a white envelope in the book. I opened the envelope and got an “Eid card”. There was also a handwritten rhythm on the inside page of the card with pictures like minarets, moon, stars, flowers. The card read:

“With a sweet smile,

Give it to meYat Let me come

“Laugh.”

Her handwriting was better than mine. I still remember these two lines written in capital letters.

After Eid, I did not go back to Nalchiti. Due to my father’s change of work and some other reasons, I did not go to that school for more than 10 years. I had that Eid card for a long time. But somehow it was lost.

Many days later, I learned from a younger brother of my varsity that Hasib had probably studied at the CSE of Dhaka University. But he did not get any “contact information”.

Nalchiti’s classmates, friends still remember. Is that the case with them?

Maybe, maybe not… however, it is desirable that everyone is well.

Thanks for reading this post in the “Freelancer’s Diary” series. May your life be enriched with the glory of sacrifice. Eid Mubarak.