::: Star Campus :::

Campus Spotlight

Campus adda

"It's the inevitable phase in our lives, where we can actually pretend that we are not concerned with the things that go on around us," says Muhib (a graduate) with a nostalgic smile. "It was the time when we took challenges to be our ultimate destinies, where we looked around and realized how colourful the world is, and had in our hands paintbrushes to colour our own lives from this amazing palette." His smile broadens further. "My female classmates singing Rabindra sangit, those long talks about our futures and poltiics."

Even though things have changed from Muhib's days, with Gibson guitars and big smiles on their faces, the swooping high-fives and "rock on's," this adda with a modern, and perhaps much more Westernized twist is The Campus Adda, and its where all the fun lies, and has been there long before the red apple fell on Newton's head!

Call us what you want: Generation Now, Gen Yo, the Me Generation, the Djuice Generation, or simply 'those kids', but we are creating a new soical order, one in which the horizon no longer stretches to the finite boundaries of the nation.

This is the generation that is connected instantly to the rest of the recklessly paced world at the click of a remote control button or a tap of the 'Enter' key.

Let me first assemble the utensils, masalas and meat before I start cooking the delicious mouthwatering dish everyone looks forward to for a bite.

Cha, an indispensable ingredient, is the key to start the adda, to create the environment, and a bunch of 'kids" with uncountable stories waiting to pour out.

The classic campus addas are mainly circled around the Universities, but the two years of college like NDC, VNC are the ones we can't forget, ones we refer to as the Wonder Years, the addas are more carefree and laid back, some thing similar "You know Bushra is so lame its not even funny! The other day when I was entering her room for something I left there, you know what she did?" I can guess!", "She shrieked at me to go out! And said, Mahreen there's thing called knock that you do when you enter a room." No way! What did you say?", 'hehehh I was like, And bushra! there is a thing called lock, that you do, when you are in a room!", "Good one dost!, "I know! Wasn't it though?"

"Pull a chair over dost! You have got to listen to this, its hilarious!" the curious eyes broadens as Hamdu goes on about how his 2 year old cousin managed to swallow a bug the other day and tried to catch a mosquito! Rafel almost fell down from his chair saying" Abar jigae! My brother chewed on the entire bug!" a round of skeptical looks, followed by comments like" Heh! Alga fapor!! Your brother doesn't even have teeth for crying out loud!" (further investigation on this matter proved Rafel's story to be in fact an Alga fapor). After a sip or two from the tea, Andy finally bursts out," Ok, is it me or does anybody else realize that our siblings are becoming omnivorous Insect eaters!?"

As the adda moves into the varsity areas, the tones and environment and subject matters changes to something of this sort:

"Abar Jigae?! says Abir, almost dropping his cup. How could this boy possibly be unaware of the new Nokia 4562 (imaginary) in the market?

But Rabi is completely uninerested in mobile phones by now. Pausing only long enough he launches into how he made his 'classic bargain' of the banned and forbidden Satanic Verses from Nilkhet for just 500 Taka. "Who gives a pig's tail about mobile phones after deals like that?"

A wave of disapproval goes through the crowd.... "who is Salman Rushdie anyway?" Do you seriously want to say you would go buy books if you had 500 bucks in your Pocket?" an outrageous proposition, which launches into a debate about the best things they could get out of 500 bucks.
-Nazia Ahmed

Adda…an interesting aspect of campus life
Adda, the word itself has excitement attached to it. Whenever you hear it, you would picture a bunch of people talking, laughing, and giggling. It is an integral part of campus life. You would not find a single person who has not been a part of an interesting adda session ever!

Like all other universities, adda holds a special part in the lives of NSUers. The students at NSU love to addafy all day long. They can start an adda anywhere and anytime; before a class, after a class, inside the campus or somewhere outside the campus!

They don't need a reason or a topic to start one, it starts automatically!

There are many places around NSU where adda sessions can be seen. Usually, the canteen is the first choice of students. NSU canteen, situated at the ground floor of SPZ is a place which is always buzzing with students. They usually have breaks between classes and prefer staying at the university instead of going back home. And when they are at the university, the canteen is the place to be, to eat and spend some time in quality adda!

The Girls' Lounge at the 7th floor and the Boys' Lounge at the basement of SPZ are good locations for adda too. Another place at NSU where maximum number of adda takes place is the area in front of BTA Tower. Visit the place early in the morning or late at evening, you are bound to find group of NSU students addafying there! The place is always, and I mean always full of people.

The next place is the ground floor of Star Tower. It is the place, where students wait for their cars to come, or wait for their friends or sit to revise before an exam. Eventually, most of them get engaged in interesting adda sessions which are hard to part from!

If you are looking for NSU adda outside the campus, then places worth visiting are Boomers, Helvetia, New Yorker Café, Abacus and Western Grill. These popular fast food joints are always bustling with NSU students.

I talked to few NSU students about adda. Most of them said that adda is something they cannot live without! They can miss breakfast or lunch but they cannot miss adda at the university! Adda is required to de-stress oneself from the pressure of exams, assignments and presentations! It is an important part of their everyday life and it is hard to imagine a day without it! During holidays, when they cannot meet their friends everyday, telephones and the internet do keep them connected, but nothing can beat the face-to-face exciting adda sessions! The joy that is received from adda cannot be received from telephone conversations or chatting on msn messenger.

Back in our parents' generation, when they were students themselves, endless adda were accompanied by cups of tea and hot steaming shingaras. Now, though the tea and shingaras have been replaced by coke and burgers but the effect of adda still remains the same. The ecstasy which a simple adda can bring is something which you cannot achieve from anything else. It is something you cannot afford to miss. I don't think I can survive a day without adda, can you?!
-Sabrina Hasan Shoily

Adda for ever....
As I get out of my car and head towards the entrance to the university, I tell myself for the umpteenth time since waking up this morning, “NO adda today! I have to get printouts for the quiz this Thursday, make some headway on my term paper and most importantly, attend all my classes! NO MORE ADDA!” Yes, yes, the message did finally seem to sink in to my psyche today was the first day of the rest of my life, a life dedicated to work…Except, could one small peek in the canteen really hurt much? Maybe I won't stop for too long, just take a quick look around the place, see who's doing what…

Half an hour has gone by, and I am still at the café. The small walk was interrupted by the presence of some of the guys from the math class…hey, we have the same class up next, what harm could possibly come from sticking with them and then get going for the class together...

Well, I didn't mean to, but all of the other guys bunked class, and time just seemed to fly by and before I knew it, I was twenty minutes late for the class.

Now, going into a class twenty minutes late is just plain rude. It throws off everyone's concentration; it interrupts the teacher in his "natural" delivery of YET another lecture on linear algebra. Might as well not go to class...but I certainly will not miss the next class…it's still an hour from now, and it IS pretty interesting, after a fashion…

No, before you smirk and nod your head and think, “I know where this is going…” I did not miss the class this time. I went into class; I even gave evidence of my presence by blurting out “present” just as the teacher had started to pronounce the first syllable of my first name. It is an entirely different issue that minutes later me and the girl next to me started “paper messenger”, a.k.a. writing messages to each other on a piece of white paper. The chat got more and more involved and pretty soon random words from the teacher like “electromagnetic force” or “diagonal interpolation” could no longer bother us. The teacher can talk about whatever he wants; we are too busy discussing the latest episode of Indian Idol. “Honestly, what on earth made the Indian people vote for that guy with the nasal voice?” I smile and jot down a reply to the last message sent to me.

Lunch time! Finally, some respite after the day's…umm…"hard" work. A bunch of us sit down for lunch together, doing considerably more talking than eating, and always staying less than an inch shy of starting a food fight. With lunch done, some of the guys head back to class, while the rest of us hang around in the cafeteria, chatting idly, printouts and term papers long forgotten and never mentioned…

There we go; another day of classes has come to an end! I wait for my car to show up, eager to get back home and catch a small nap before getting down to studies. Did not get much work done today, even missed a class for that matter. This adda thing is really harming my work habits…I should do something about it…and so, as the car rushes back home, I lay sprawled in the backseat, already making plans for tomorrow…“ NO MORE ADDA!! I have to get printouts for the quiz this Thursday, make some headway on my term paper and most importantly, attend all my classes! NO MORE ADDA!”
- Hammad Ali

Adda at UIU
Rana, Uzzal, Israt and Mahtab all students of United International University (UIU) were having an adda on a very interesting topic 'Is arranged marriage better than love marriage.'

Rana: I support arranged marriage because our parents always take the decision, which is right for us, if we look at our parents we find them very happy. Their marriage was a fixed one.

Uzzal: I support you but I think everyone should be given a chance to choose his life partner but I do support you, what I am saying is that every one should inform their parents if they have started to like someone."

Ishrat: you are right but I think both arranged marriage and love marriage are good and if some one can convince ones parents then it is great."

Mahtab : I don't support you guys. I think love marriage is the best one and it is helpful to generate love between couples"

Rana: But our parents have raised us and they do deserve our obedience. We must always be obedient to them. They have done so much for us from cradle to know that if we go against their will then we will be doing the greatest injustice."

Mahtab: What do you mean? Are you telling me that you will abandon someone you love if your parents told you to do that.''

Rana: No I am telling you that one must inform their parents if they find someone. In young age everyone makes mistakes and they think like you. Tell me how many are happy who have gone against their parents will?"

Ishrat: Yes he is right."
Mahtab went silent and said "Yes I have now understood. You are right. If I look every were I can find the ruined couples who went against their parents wish."

Uzzal : Yes we are still so young to make such big decision. We can rarely understand our surrounding world."

Ishrat : So we should be free with our parents and always talk with them about these things and should never go against their wish"
Mahtab, Rana, Uzzal altogether " Yes we agree."
- Mainul

A life to cherish
When I take a walk down memory lane of my campus life I remember nothing but the beautiful golden days with my friends spending endless time together in a blithe manner in front of Dalia's. As time passes by all the favourite known faces start to disappear leaving me all alone in the midst of strangers (appearing in job interviews now a days). It is hard for me to accept the fact that my campus life is moving towards the finishing line pretty soon.........sad but true. Time flies in a blink of an eye, I never believed this phrase till now but the meaning is becoming clearer day by day. The memories of campus do not constitute of the long boring lectures or the labs nor the hard library work but the exciting addas that fill our student life. People usually perceive private university students like a showpiece in the midst of concrete jungle living on expensive shops and fast food zones. However, the scenario is completely different because in reality to them the ultimate source of entertainment is adda.........well it is fun, less expensive (time doesn't really matter in this phase of life ) and of course productive in a different sense. The heart of AIUB for all students is the (in) famous Kathaltola where life sparkles like uncut diamonds. There is always a guitar-wala nearby whose ultimate goal in life is to ignite chorus songs among the students. These modern day bauls are in fact brilliant students of the computer science department of AIUB whose brilliance have bought AIUB countless awards from home and abroad. Moving ahead there is Dailia's, densely populated with AIUBians mostly freshmen and the usual customers of drama club, oratory club, photography club and so on (the seniors are inhabitants of Kathaltola). Speaking of drama club, Dahlias is the ultimate planning place of drama where stars of AIUB like Robiul and Sithi are in the process of bringing a cultural revolution in Bangladesh ( don't take me too seriously!!). The "yo" groups usually migrate to Pool Lovers to prove their yo-ness and test their pool playing skills. Well there is another genre of students who mingle with almost every circle in the university and are the most resourceful people that is they have all kinds of information like who's going out with who, which student flunked in which subject and all. The real fun is the "ai - shuno" community the ever helpful dedicated boys whose vital role in the university is to assist girls of all departments.

These small groups are the life of AIUB whose presence adds colour to their world. I become very nostalgic at times when I see these people and realise that very soon I will not be a part of this world. However, to me the colours of my adda life will never fade away and I will always become nostalgic whenever I will hear the song " Coffee houser shei adda ta....." -Arif Ashraf Nayan

HUNG OUT (TO CHILL)
"Oi," I shouted to one of my friends, "let's go to 'Bot-tola'." We just finished class and it was the middle of the day. For anyone who's hungry and about to digest his stomach, 'Bot-tola' is the heaven. So, stricken with hunger and poverty (because none of us had much cash with us), the five of us ventured towards our sanctuary. Even if we couldn't come up with the cash, our worries were close to null except for the amount of oil in the 'poratas'. After consuming six to eight 'poratas' each, and driving our heartfelt 'mamu' crazy with our demands, our blackhole of stomachs seemed to be somewhat full. Then we migrated to the next 'mamu' for his EWU-famous tea with coffee essence. . Then, over our half mini-mugs of tea-ffee (name invented during writing of this article), we discussed the scarcity of some vital elements in EW, namely good looking homosapien in skirts. In the middle of that, our minds turned to studies for fleeting moments which we spent calculating the percentages we got so far. "Oh! Too much math!" Then we turned our attention to more current issues, like submitting the assignments, which we did nothing about, the next day and such other less important(!) issues. Time passed by at snails pace since we had another class an hour later and we went past the same shops over and over again, walking the length of the street that was our campus. Finally, tired of all that walking, we sat down at the base of some building exercising our observatory skills and let our vocal cords work endlessly, going over the band numbers relentlessly
-Towsif Osman

Adda in Dhaka University
We went around various departments of Dhaka University to find out what do students talk about in their adda between classes. Sanjana is very worried about present political situation of the country, as the two main political parties didn't agree to share the same table. She is worried what would happen during the caretaker government tenure.

Sajib, is looking forward to enjoying a vacation during the caretaker government. He said, "I will become a frog in winter and have a sound sleep," with a glitter in his eyes.

Jim agrees with Sajad as he too is looking forward to enjoying the “Champions Trophy”. The adda turns to sports. Their attentions turn to the recent Pakistan- England competition and the tension. They all argued Darrel Hair should not be allowed to be an umpire in any match. When the subject is cricket then why not Bangladesh?

The addabaazes are very happy with the recent performance of Bangladesh cricket team at Zimbabwe- Kenya tour. "The middle order and the bowling departments of Bangladesh team is now strongest ever, if the top order comes back to form we would win two-three matches in the Champions' Trophy," said Ali.

The girls seem not to be enjoying the topic anymore. Mou jumped up and wanted to change the topic saying whether someone has seen the Bombay film “kabhi Alvida Na Kehna”, didn't Rani look too pretty!! Thus the adda was very much in process .Then walked in Murad. His presence in an adda means he would raise the topic of how the capitalist society is destroying the socialist system.

Oninda and Sakib are deadly against the views of Murad. Than the situation gets a little tense. No one is ready to let the things go unchallenged. Mahedi is always there to irritate them. He doesn't like this type of serious topics. These are absolutely bogus to him. Rather he prefers to have some fun…

Rasid is expert of imitation. Always he is ready to imitate someone, how Joiata walks, how Sajjad talks to his girlfriend, the lecture of a teacher … and also you can have the latest information about the departments. But he has expertise in creating “parody". Suddenly Amit starts to talk about how they would build their career, how they can arrange scholarship and so on. They are in the final year? So the group is a little serious this time. Raju argues that without a part time job it would not be not possible. Shaymol does not agree with Raju. He believes if someone have the quality then “mama” or “cha-cha” is not a factor. Today or tomorrow he must have recognition of his quality. And they proceed on…………

I was just struggling to adapt to the "adda", no knowing where it starts and where if ends!!!! Nothing is absent in the "adda", lifestyle, sports, career, culture, and politics. May be these make the addas of Dhaka university so interesting afterall. -Tazmia Islam Nion