Dialogue About Village Life and City Life

A friend who grew up in a village compares what she misses with what the city has given her.

A dialogue between Rima and Shormi

Rima: Shormi, you grew up in a village. Do you miss it now that you live in Dhaka?

Shormi: Every day, though not for the reasons people expect.

Rima: What do you mean?

Shormi: Everyone talks about clean air and green fields. What I miss is knowing everybody. Here I do not know the family next door.

Rima: That is true of my building too. We have lived there four years.

Shormi: In our village, if somebody fell ill at night, three neighbours would be at the door.

Rima: But surely the city has advantages you would not give up?

Shormi: Many. My school here has a laboratory and a library. The nearest good hospital at home was forty kilometres away.

Rima: So it is not simply that one is better than the other.

Shormi: Not at all. The village gave me a childhood; the city is giving me an education. I would not exchange either.

Rima: Would you go back to live there one day?

Shormi: I would like to work there. If educated people all stay in Dhaka, the village never gets what it lacks.

Rima: That is a generous way to think about it.

Shormi: It is also selfish. I want somewhere to go back to.