LIFE AS IT IS

I wished, I so wished that I were there in front of the U.S. Capitol when history was being made. I am not an American citizen, yet the electricity that swept the country on 20 January had not left me untouched. An eloquent speech delivered by Barack Hussein Obama, the 44 th President of the United States, carried messages of hope for Americans as well as people all over the world. I am lucky to have lived this historical moment when the first African-American president of the United States was sworn in. "I had been planning to be at Obama's inauguration for the last one month, and my visit to the National Mall on January 20 was completely worth the effort,” said Tejaswini Madabhushi, an Indian student at George Mason University in Virginia. “There were huge applauses for Obama, his family, Hillary Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. Bush and Cheney were booed rather loudly - an experience that couldn't have been properly felt on the television screen. I screamed and danced...

The other day while going home from office, I was stuck at the traffic signal of Gulshan 1 for a few minutes. I wasn't looking outside, for my ears and mind were glued to the popular songs that Radio Foorti was playing that afternoon. Suddenly, a teenage boy of say about 18 or 19 years of age walked to my car window and started begging for a few takas. I looked at him and figured that he was showing me his twisted hand to earn my sympathy. The deformed hand shook my inner being…and I took my wallet from my handbag to pull out a Tk.10 note. In the process of doing that, another young man of his age came running toward my car, screaming, "Apa taka diyen na, heroin khaibo taka diya (“Apa, don't give him any money, he will buy heroin with it.") It was at that time when I took a keen look at the fellow and noticed his red eyes, his stained teeth and his almost-black lips. I knew in an instant that he was one of those vagrant drug addicts who spend their days and nights on ...

For couples in Dhaka, finding a non-eating dating spot is like finding a needle in a haystack. The comparison may sound very clichéd but the truth cannot be denied. Restaurants and cafés have, over the past ten years, become the most popular dating places for couples in this metropolis. Today, the city food outlets target the younger generation- the décor and the menu of these restaurants clearly reflect the choice of young people. Soft music, exclusive interiors, modern furnishings and good food have converted countless restaurants into great meeting places. The restaurants now regularly refurbish their exteriors as well as interiors to attract more crowds. They now experiment with their menu and come up with new meal deals. The reason? To attract younger crowds. The idea of buffet lunch and dinner wasn't there even five years ago. People would go to a restaurant and order from the à la carte. Today, a couple would rather go for a set or buffet meal than order from the bill of far...

It's amazing how people's life and their expectations from the world around them change with time. When I first started using the internet in the late 1990's, I was a newcomer to the ‘world wide web.’ I didn't know much about the internet then, and all that I wanted was an account from where I could exchange emails with friends and family. During the first days of my introduction to the internet, I was amazed at every little thing I saw there. Sending mails in the blink of an eye was nothing less engrossing than David Copperfield's magic! But emails soon turned into a normal everyday experience and I knew I had started looking for something more mind-blowing --something that would deliver instant replies to my messages… Very soon I learned about a cyber social network application called mIRC, where hundreds and thousands of people came together to chat with each other. I was amazed once again, but this time to a higher degree. We made local and international fri...

"So this is what they call snow-white," I told myself, standing by my apartment’s kitchen window. The foot-deep snow on our building's backyard covered everything underneath it - the walkways, roads and green grasses. The slanted roof of the apartment building across from ours doesn't look brown anymore - a thick layer of ice has given it a new look, a December look. The blue sky above doesn't look blue either - it looks snow-white! The cotton-like snow floating down from heavens above makes space for itself on whatever it sees below - cars, bicycles, trees, stone benches, fields, roofs of houses and bus stands... the list goes on. The trees that once displayed the splendour of green now stand frail. They lost their leaves in fall and now they are nothing but leafless branches and boughs. Branches that once hung leaves and fruits now hang nothing but ice, white and lifeless ice. With trunks under a white blanket, they crave warmer weather when new le...

Couldn't Garbage Galore just be the other name for Dhaka? This is a capital where rubbish piles up in every nook of major streets, lanes, front-yard of houses, schools, universities, parks, commercial buildings, industrial constructions, shopping malls, vegetable bazaars…where not? Today, we happily walk over the shell of an egg, or slip on a banana peel and we couldn't care less, so used are we to this lifestyle. This is not how modern hygiene-conscious people should live though, and a little effort on our part can surely change this scenario. Many of us dump the whole burden of waste management to the Head of the State. However, the garbage problem is our problem, more than theirs. We ought to keep in mind that our country's leaders have too many times in the past failed to realise their citizens' dreams, so it all comes down to the fact that it's eventually you and your family who remain victims of this poor trash handling. Take a look at your litter can. Is it a...

Does rain and romance have a strong connection? Perhaps so, because a drizzle does spark a passionate light of love in many human minds. It is often the lovers and poets who have a special fondness for rain. It is a common belief that those who love to watch rainwater splash on their windowpane, or like to get drenched during a downpour, or enjoy riding a rickshaw with the hood released, or listen to melodious numbers on a rainy day are people who understand ROMANCE better than the rest. The rain lovers can arrange for a perfect surprise treat for their loved ones, write beautiful letters (in these days, emails and SMS) or talk amorously hour after hour over the telephone. These are just beliefs though, but I guess every statement has some degree of truth in it. Only a few weeks back, this Dhaka city was inundated with a heavy shower and many of us remained protected in our own comfy homes, hardly stepping outdoors. During that dull period of one week, I talked to numerous peopl...

Derived from the Sanskrit word 'bindu', bindi means a drop. It signifies a mystic third eye. Although once associated with Hindu marriage tradition, today the bindi is a fashion accessory for girls and women of all ages, religions and backgrounds. A nicely draped sari is complemented with a stylish bindi worn between eyebrows. Today bindis are worn with salwar kameez and even jeans and fotua. These fashion accessories are widely available at the stores of Dhaka. Gausia is indeed a heaven for bindi lovers. Bindis of all colours, patterns and sizes grace the shelves of the shops of this busy market. Bindis are also available at Eastern Plaza, New Market, Rifles Square, Metro Shopping Mall, Karnaphuli Garden City and most other malls of the capital. The outlet of Priyo located at Fatema Arcade, Dhanmondi also has a wide collection of bindis. The bindis available at Dhaka come from India, and most of these are genuinely trendy. There was a time when bindi meant placing a dot on the...

KARMA, the boutique, was established at the heart of Bijoy Sarani (besides Rangs Bhaban) on May, 2002. After completing her BBA from New York, Sohana Rouf Chowdhury has taken up dress designing as her favorite pursuit besides a busy professional life. She has, in fact, inherited this store, earlier known as Visage, from her mother. Now under her management she intends to design clothes for a select group of people. This self-made designer has succeeded to prove her ingenuity in every dress that she has in her collection. This summer, she has emphasized on white, the coolest color to wear in this sticky season. She has experimented with hues like fuschia, turquoise and aubergine. Sohana Rouf loves to work on cotton materials. Tie-dye is her another favorite, which sells like hot cake. She stresses simple yet modish cuts and designs, which are simply eye-catching. She has a splendid collection of chic short kameezes and trousers. Her cotton collection aims at office-going women, who ...

It's pleasing to see that some large organizations in Bangladesh are trying to use their public exposure to promote social and environmental responsibility. Whereas most companies use advertisements to promote their products, and channel their profits into their own endeavors, a few are being unselfish. Have those large billboards ever caught your eye? I don't mean the ordinary ones, which promote electronics, housing projects, clothes, cigarettes, audio cassettes and every other possible product and service to appeal to consumers. The billboards I'm thinking of belong to an organization that is making known its name and logo in a total different way. These advertisements stand high over some of the major streets of Dhaka, on structures of steel and concrete, and on the bodies of over-bridges. Instead of highlighting the quality of their banking services, the billboards of Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. carry messages that aim to create public awareness. These billboards ra...

Clothes were invented to cover and shield our bodies, and though this function holds true today, what we wear today plays a huge role in our lives, from impacting the way we look to reflecting on our personalities and more. At one time dresses prepared from simple printed materials made our girls and women quite content. However, today we want way more than just down-to-earth prints; we want customised outfits every day. The emergence of block prints, tie-dye and embroidery satisfied the females' most coveted dream to put on eye-grabbing outfits and appear attractive to others. Block prints, embroidery, hand paint, batik and intricate work of sequins now characterise the saris and salwar suits of our women. While many dress designers have their own workmen, others resort to the shops located on the third floor of Government New Market. If you are wondering why, then it's suggested that you do visit this place on a working day and see the crowd there. The entire third floor of N...