Silly Tales

Remembering Blisters

When I was about 10 years old, our school went for a picnic to Gazipur. We gathered all the money we had saved up and bought chicken, buns, potato chips and the toppings to go on everything and then selected a site to build the fire. We gathered several good size rocks from the surrounding area to build a ring around the fire and then started it up. We actually had a really good time roasting the chicken. There were maybe a dozen or so of us there. Once we were finished, it was time to put out the fire and the older boys, a few teenagers, began kicking the rocks away from the fire. All I could wonder was, why are they kicking the rocks instead of throwing them away by hand? I thought I should step up and show the elders the better way to throw the rocks away! I grabbed a rock with my bare hands and instantly realized why they were kicking the rocks instead of using their hands. For the rest of our picnic and a couple of weeks after, I had to be treated for blisters on the tips of ALL my fingers and thumb on my left hand!

Md Ata Islam Khan Mojlish Bidhu
Dhaka Residential Model College, Dhaka.

Soapy Rice

A couple of days ago, my friends and I were discussing funny incidents from our childhood in our student lounge in our university. One of the stories that really made me laugh was when one of our guy friends was telling us about how he had helped his mother in the kitchen when he was young. His mom had asked him to wash the rice before she could cook it one day. He had gotten all full of himself feeling all important and what not just because he could help wash the rice. When he was done with washing, his mom cooked the rice and served a bowlful on the table for dinner. After everyone had taken some in their plates and were ready to eat, they realized that the rice smelled a little odd. His mom asked him about how he had washed the rice and soon found out that he used 'Palmolive' hand wash to make sure it was squeaky clean!

Tahmina Khan
Raffles Institute of Higher Education

Ragging On the seniors

When I had just joined university, I was not as scared and shy as most people. Thank God for that. Most people get into university with the fear of getting 'ragged' but since I have had friends from this university, they had warned me about what I might face. One day, during my first week of classes, I stopped by the canteen to catch a breath from all the back-to-back classes when a bunch of boys and girls, who were evidently seniors, came up to me and asked me to stand up. I stood up with a smile on my face. They asked me to stand in the middle of the canteen and sing the National Anthem. To their satisfaction, I moved to the centre of the canteen and sang out what sounded like the National Anthem but with the lyrics a little jumbled up here and there. I indirectly commented and made fun of their appearances through the song and the whole canteen had burst out laughing. Before they could get to me, I saw one of my lecturers pass by and I went and joined him in a hurry. I was so proud of myself!

Tasnim Afroza
BUET, Dhaka