Shop talk

Heart-shaped watches
Watches with heart-shaped dials are available at the Gulshan outlet of Almas. The colour of the dials vary from pink to blue, black and others. Prices are very reasonable; each watch is about tk.220. These watches could be a good gift if one of your female friend's birthday is coming up. Almas has a wide collection of metal watches that are low-priced yet quite durable. Within tk.200 to tk.300, you can purchase a watch for casual wear from the outlets of Almas store.

Makeup brush sets
Those of you who love to put on makeup, you can buy a makeup brush kit to ensure smooth and proper application of cosmetics. Comprising of a blusher, eye shadow, mascara, brushes and a slim lipstick brush, each set is eye-catching. Most of these makeup brush kits are brought from China and they uphold good quality. This item would not only come in handy for beauticians, but also for ordinary young girls and women. For everyday makeup purposes, you too can buy such a brush kit to make the right cosmetics application. Each of these brush sets will cost you tk.120 at Almas, but these sets are also available at Gausia and also at shops in all the popular malls of Dhaka.

Water Eye shadow
The fashion world is changing fast, and interesting makeup items today, like water eye shadows, are also gracing the shelves of the renowned stores of Dhaka city. So gone are the days when the word eye shadow reminded us of a box of solid colour/s accompanied by a spongy applicator. At the outlets of Priyo and Almas, you will come across these water eye shadows from Prime Collection. Available in a number of shades, each container resembles a nail polish bottle. These water eye shadows look cute and can be purchased at about tk.60 from the stores mentioned above.

Coconut oil
Oil massage is gradually becoming a big hit amongst hair conscious women. A weekly oil massage has become essential for many. Some are resorting to beauty parlours while others are doing this at home. The main ingredient of oil massage is a top quality coconut oil. Parachute hair oil is widely available at the local stores of Dhaka. Available in different sized bottles, ranging from big containers to those that are simply tiny, Parachute is making sure that it can reach consumers of all levels of income, for instance, the 100ml bottle will cost you tk.22. Parachute hair oil is manufactured by Marico Bangladesh Ltd.

By Wara Karim

Basketball
Instead of just watching NBA games on television, it would be a good idea for you to try and play the game yourself. By doing so, you'll ensure that you won't become a couch potato, as you burn plenty of calories during the course of a match. The other advantage of playing basketball is that you'll grow taller. If you're a young man, your extra height from playing basketball will help you in your pursuit of dating women, since women generally have a strong liking for tall men. Now that's the only reason you need to play basketball, right? So, without further delay, get hold of a basketball. At Shaheen Sports & CO. (Hockey Stadium) you can purchase a Spalding basketball for TK 1200.

Aqua Dumbbell
Are you a woman who wants to improve your biceps and triceps in the privacy of your own home? If so, purchase an aqua dumbbell set and you'll gradually have a body like Madonna in no time! Aqua dumbbells are suitable for women who have never worked out before. That's because they are filled with water and therefore are much lighter than conventional dumbbells. An aqua dumbbell set can be purchased for TK 1400 from Shaheen Sports & CO (Hockey Stadium).

Caramboard
Although outdoor games are great fun, there are times when you simply can't play them. We have all experienced such a time a few days ago when it just rained, rained and rained! On such days, life can get very boring unless you've got a few indoor games to keep you busy. Caram is one indoor game that most Bangladeshis are good at, so you can consider keeping a Caramboard at home. Depending on the size, a Caramboard will cost you in the range of TK 225 TK 400 at Kamal Sports (Hockey Stadium).

Hosepipe
You might have a flashy car, but if its exterior is unclean, then it'll do for your image what CFC gas has done to the ozone layer! If you truly want to impress people with your car, then you must wash it on a regular basis. We realize that washing a car is a very tiring experience, but if you use a hosepipe you'll be able to save plenty of energy, and you won't have to fill a bucket with water every few minutes. Besides using a hosepipe to wash your car, you can also use it to water your garden. Hosepipes are widely available at hardware stores, and they cost about TK 5 per feet.

Water Pump
The recent rain-induced floods damaged the water pumps of numerous houses. If you're one of those unfortunate people whose water pump got damaged, then you'll have to start thinking about replacing it. For domestic purposes, a one horsepower pump is sufficient. A water pump made in China will cost you about TK 2000, while one made in Italy will cost you about TK 6000. These water pumps can be purchased from Bangladesh Machineries (175, Nawabpur Road).

Ladder
No matter how tall you get by playing basketball, you'll still feel the need to keep a ladder at home. Whether it's for cleaning your ceiling fans or dealing with a flickering tube light, a ladder will always come in handy. Although ladders are available in many shops of Dhaka, if you manage to go to Bangladesh Machineries (175, Nawabpur Road), you'll be able to get a quality ladder at a competitive price. All of their ladders are imported from Malaysia, and depending on the size, they cost between TK 1500 TK 2400.

By Sayeed Mahmud Nizam

 

Essentials Special

Child rights week
From September 29 to October 5, Bangladesh observed child rights week. September 30 was girl child day, and 2 October was potho shishu dibash. There was nation-wide programmes to commemorate the day. Children drew pictures on whatever they understand about their rights, and there was essay writing competitions and rallies. This type of programme is arranged every year. In this week's essentials, lets look at the forms of abuse that is often inflicted upon a child in our family.

What is child abuse?
Child abuse is any mistreatment or neglect of a child that results in non-accidental harm or injury and which cannot be reasonably explained. Child abuse can include: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect.

Physical abuse
Physical abuse is the most visible form of abuse. Physical abuse injuries mostly result from punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning or otherwise harming a child. Injuries can occur accidentally when a child is at play, but in the case of intentional physical abuse the explanations usually do not fit the injury.

Emotional abuse
It is probably the least understood form of abuse in our society yet it is the most prevalent. It controls the child's psyche afterwards. Children who are constantly shamed, humiliated, terrorised, isolated, ignored or rejected come to see themselves as unworthy of love and affection. This is very damaging to a child's growth.

Sexual abuse
It is a taboo for our society. It is difficult for most people to talk about sexual abuse. Our society most of the time does not even want to acknowledge sexual abuse of children, but it happens every day. It is a form of sexual activity inflicted upon a child that he/she cannot comprehend and therefore sometimes is unable to inform parents.

What makes people abuse children?
In Bangladesh physical abuse is rampant. Parents and other adult members of the family sort of reserve the right of hitting, slapping or other forms of physical abuse. Most of the time it is the result of excessive discipline. This discipline is sometimes inappropriate for the child's age. Parents are simply unaware of the magnitude of force with which they strike a child. Most parents want to be good parents but sometimes they just lose control.

Crimes go unpunished
As we mentioned earlier, family members in our society reserve the right to punish a child, so physical abuse goes unpunished, and other forms of abuse that we have mentioned above are not at all acknowledged in Bangladesh.

By Shahnaz Parveen