Letters
Take
Another Look, Chintito
Chintito should have looked around Dhaka city roadside shops
more seriously before giving his verdict on rating our city
("Would you like to ride on your own ass", SWM,
December 24, 2004). I remember seeing one interesting signboard
of a tailor-shop on Elephant Road. The name of the shop
declared the signboard rather candidly, 'Clad Tailors'.
How would Chintito react, if, on entering a tailor-shop,
he found the 'master-cutter' and others sitting there unclad?
A Z M Abdul Ali
Dhaka
On
Western Traditions
This is in reference to an email published in SWM on December
31, 2004. I completely agree with the writer about the consequences
of western traditions on our culture and behaviour. It is
true that Western traditions are vastly focused on most
of the urban Bangladeshis. Some people feel proud to follow
those traditions even though they don't think in depth about
their consequences. According to them, life is only for
enjoyment! The writer concluded that it was up to the young
generations to choose what is best for them. I want to add
here that the older generations are also responsible for
guiding the younger generation towards the right path of
life and teach them about our own culture, tradition, society,
norms and values. The younger generations are not experienced
so they cannot predict the consequences of Western culture.
But the obsession with satellite culture confuses me in
terms of who to regard as older and wiser and who not to.
Hindi soap operas as well as English movies all influence
people in their formation of bizarre relationships and the
cultures they follow.
Md.Habibur Rahman
East Bashabo
Long
live SWM!
On the New Year 2005, I heartily applaud SWM for its outstanding
contribution to the society in terms of continuously giving
us relevant news about the outside world as well as our
country. In this connection, I highly praise your efforts
in trying to establish the truth and focusing on important
issues. The SWM team deserves salutes from its readers for
their inexhaustible effort in this regard. I, wish you a
A Happy Brand-New Year and strongly hope that the SWM team
will continue its endeavour with even more vigour in the
days to come in the year 2005.
Rafiqul Islam Rime
Agrabad, Chittagong
Best
of 2004
I enjoy reading SWM very much. I did not miss a single issue
of the magazine in 2004. As the year ends, I would like
to remember the writings, which impressed me the most. Actually,
there are many such write-ups but I will name those which
are hard to forget.
Neeman Sobhan was fantastic throughout the year. But I think
her best articles were "A New Day" (Jan. 2) and
"A Gentle Animal" (May 28) issue. The first one
rejuvenated the mind on new year's eve while the latter
one was simply unforgettable. Then comes Nadia Kabir Barb's
article titled "Lasting Impressions" (Jan. 16)
which depicted the pains of a very young girl in a touching
manner. Richa Jha is a writer who reveals the truth through
her wit and humour. Among her articles, "In Love and
Out of It" (Sept.24) and "Vision-Revision"
(Nov. 5) were highly enjoyable. As far as Chintito' s writings
are concerned, it is difficult to decide which one is better
than the other. But the three best ones were "Change
Thy Attitude" (Sept.10),"Papa Don't Preach"
(Dec.3), and "Bangladeshi Idle" (Dec.17). Again,
"A Chant" written by my favourite writer, Iffat
Nawaz in the June 4 issue was extremely touching. The fiction
I liked the most was written by Tanvir Manzoor Hussain called
"Everything" (March 12). Among foreign writers,
Dr. Anabel Jensen's "The Princess with the Glass Heart"
(Sept 3) was praiseworthy.
SWM was wonderful throughout the year 2004 and I hope it
will continue in this way in 2005. I wish its writers and
readers a happy and prosperous new year.
Wajahat Anwar
Mirpur-10,Dhaka
Why
not "Desh Diary"?
When I was not a regular reader of SWM I thought of the
magazine as a means to boost my English language skills.
But since becoming a regular reader it has become an important
part of my daily routine. SWM has excellent sections with
everything I want to see. But I also believe it has some
responsibilities toward its readers. "Dhaka Diary"
is a colourful and attractive page with real life write-ups
from readers and interesting anecdotes. Unfortunately, however,
the page is Dhaka-based. What about other people around
the country? We also want to tell our stories. My suggestion
is to rename the page "Desh Diary". I hope the
SWM authorities will take this proposal into consideration
and will no longer deprive us.
Biddut Khoshnobish
Absolutely
Stunning!
I congratulate and heartily thank SWM for bringing out a
true picture of Bangladesh through the Photo Feature "Dying
Durgapur" captured in still which made me nostalgic.
I would like to give special thanks to Khaled Mahfuz Saeed
for digging out the hidden treasure (i.e., natural beauty)
of our apparently ruined country. This is because, I was
really embarrassed when I saw photos of Bangladesh in foreign
websites. In one of the photos--I saw many passengers were
trying to get up in an over-crowded bus (rather than any
scenic beauty of Bangladesh ). This is not the only thing
worth photographing. We all should come in front of the
world and say that we have many other things to show , besides
overpopulation.
Md. Shamiul Haque
Dept. of English,University of Dhaka
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