Hungry?

Kid runs into the house, only to find it devoid of human life. He's hungry, his ailing stomach digesting itself. Frantically he opens the fridge, only to find food uncooked, inedible. Desperation causes him to shed his chauvinistic ideas and take up the dreaded tasks of cooking (he could have gone out and eaten, but cute little teddy bears for girlfriends cost a lot, rendering him broke). He takes out a variety of veggies out of the fridge along with a few eggs. Dons an apron, flares up the stove, and sets cooking.

(An hour later)
“ Gag…barf…puke…man vomiting is tiring…Oh shit bathroom! BATHROOM!”
Almost feel sorry don't you? The hunger, the desperation, then the subsequent brave trials with the frying pan, then the tortures of puking and indigestion. Yeah, harsh, makes you want to enter cooking lessons (under the obvious but irritating supervision of your mom). But there is a less complicated way where you don't have to learn the names and uses of a hundred different 'mosholas'. Yeah, you guessed right, it's this article.

First up, this is an impromptu article, thus the things mentioned here may sound a bit weird. On the flipside, you need not have any special skills to accomplish the culinary masterpieces that are going to be mentioned.

1. Boiling an egg I believe is one of the easier tasks connected with cooking. All you have to do is take an egg in a water-filled saucepan and put it on boil.

Then when the egg's boiled (be it hard or soft, it doesn't matter and anyway, you probably don't know the difference) take a cucumber and start slicing it in little small pieces (the best tactic to do this is to concentrate more on not slicing up your fingers and when your done you'll find you've done a pretty good job). When that's done, slice the egg too. Then mix egg and cucumber together. Add ketchup; mix 'em again. And there you go, something to eat, that didn't take that long preparing and hopefully won't give you indigestion.

2. If you're of the health freak types i.e. you prefer anorexia to look slim than being a bit plump and healthy, than this recipe will probably help you. Take the lettuce out of the fridge along with a few carrots. Proceed to slice them up (again concentrate more on not slicing up your fingers). Then put them in a bowl and take some mayonnaise. Add it to the lettuce and carrots, but not too much, and then add sugar. Mix. You have just made coleslaw that you can eat with a spoon or fork or whatever.

3. I've always said that ketchup is man's greatest creation, even greater than the computer (which is ironic since I'm using a computer to type this up). If you have ketchup in the house, your job is half done. All you have to do now is find something to lay it on. You might find this so-called recipe a bit weird, but trust me. Get some 'chanachur', and put ketchup on it. If you like things spicy; slice some onions and chili to add to it. Then mix real well. You can put in some 'muri' if you want. Once you're done, you'll find that you've made better 'jhal-muri' than the vendors out on the streets.

4. Be inventive. Display your creativity. There are so many things you can do with fruits. You can eat 'em with ice cream, or you could just slice them up; mix 'em with mayonnaise to make salad. Or you could them and make sandwiches. Slice your choice of fruits up and put them in between slices of bread and eat 'em. Or you could just eat them.

5. When it comes to sandwiches, don't just make the usual jelly ones. Try something different. Like spreading mayonnaise (yeah, I am a fan of mayonnaise) on the bread and then adding sugar. Or spreading cheese on, then iron the whole thing. Eat.

See, you don't have to starve, or suffer from indigestion. All you have to do is follow the recipes above. Later…

By Tareq Adnan

After a lot of internal debate about whether to go for it or not, I've finally decided to bite the bullet and introduce you to the guy I've been in love with for the past seven years. Say hello to Vanyel Ashkevron, the protagonist of Mercedes Lackey's The Last Herald Mage trilogy.

I first met him in 1997, when I started reading “Magic's Pawn”, the first book of the trilogy. Heir to the vast properties and responsibilities of the Ashkevron clan, young Van, with his penchant for books and music and aversion to 'manly' sports like arms training, is a disappointment to his father, Withen Ashkevron. After trying to get him beaten (brutally) into shape by the Forst Reach armsmaster Jervis, Withen packs his firstborn son off to the Queen's Court to be trained under his Aunt, the Herald-Mage Savil Ashkevron.

For those unacquainted with fantasy-fiction lingo, a 'mage' has special psychic, telekinetic and pyro-kinetic powers, which vary from mage to mage, and also varies with each book. In this story, a Herald is pure of heart, works to protect the kingdom of Valdemar, and is Chosen by a Companion, which is a highly intelligent magical creature that looks like a blue-eyed white horse, but has the mind of a human, and communicates telepathically with its Chosen Herald.

Magic's Pawn tells the story of the teenaged Vanyel, who is banished from his loveless home into the unknown, and has to find his niche anew in unfamiliar settings. As is expected of any fantasy story worth its salt, there's romance, there's magic, there are the bad guys and the good guys, and there's an epic battle somewhere.

Magic's Promise picks up the thread about fourteen years later, as an older, wiser and more influential Vanyel finds himself neck-deep in the politics of Valdemar. Now a powerful Herald-Mage himself, he commands respect amongst his peers at the King's Court (Queen Elspeth of Vanyel's youth is long dead, and the new monarch is Randale, a good friend of Van's), but at Forst Reach, he is still an outcast. Where its predecessor was basically about Vanyel's journey of self-discovery, this book is a bittersweet novel about love, loss and changing relationships. Filled with twists and turns and happy surprises to counter the chilling suspense, this was my favourite book in the series.

The story ends with Magic's Price, a further seven years later, and Van has become all that he will ever be the most powerful Herald Mage in Valdemar, and probably the last. With the king dying, and the kingdom under threat from an ancient evil, Vanyel must struggle on alone to protect those he loves. An epic tale of courage and sacrifice, this is also a compelling read, although, perhaps a little more depressing than Magic's Promise.

These stories are fantasy after all, and thus not meant for deep life lessons. What makes this series so readable and memorable is the author's treatment of her lead character. She really gets into Van's shoes, and captures his loneliness and sadness and makes her readers experience the emotions with him. The wealth of detail, coupled with a vocabulary and even a strange language tailored for the story, gives it the credibility of the Potter books. Definitely worth a read!

To my knowledge, these books aren't available in Dhaka, (I had mine brought in from the UK by a friend), so interested readers could place an order with Amazon.com through Omni books or Words n' Pages.

By Sabrina F Ahmad
Sabera.jade@gmail.com

The story is about Santiago, a Spanish shepherd boy who travels across the sea and desert in search of his one destiny; the treasure he was promised in a dream. He is aided in his quest by the positive forces, which comes first in the form of the King of Salem and then as the alchemist. His journey is threatened by barriers, as well as by temptations, and yet he moves on. The message is clear: A man should search for his destiny, as that is his only objective in life.

A small tale in terms of the number of pages, 'The Alchemist' is a literary masterpiece, both in terms of content and writing style. Coelho possesses a beautiful style of moulding a story in different layers, each pregnant with his words of wisdom. For example in the first part of the story, a shepherd ponders over his flock of sheep. “All they care about is food and water”, he thinks. Although the flock of sheep plays no important role in the main storyline, the writer, here, is transmitting a significant message. The flock of sheep symbolizes the majority of humans, who leave and forget their dreams and spend their lives living only for the sake of it.

Santiago is not free from the miseries and difficulties of life. In fact, as soon as he sets off in search of his destiny, he is faced with more difficult tests at each and every turn. The hurdles teach him many lessons, and he realises that everything in life must be earned, and nothing can be taken for granted. And every time he passes such a test, he is rewarded. He becomes rich and feels he has enough to live his life happily with Fatima, the woman he loves. But this is where the alchemist teaches him the most important lessons: True love never stops someone from searching for his destiny, and a man can never be happy if he had given up on his only objective in life.

Santiago's last test is the most terrible, one that threatens to end his life, and then he finally accomplishes his objective. The tale echoes with the timeless messages of universal wisdom, and finally, the journey to find the treasure becomes more significant
than the treasure itself.

'The Alchemist', is more than just a novel. It speaks of religions, of faiths, and above of all of a belief, that if a man follows his dreams, the whole universe helps him to get there.

He warns the readers though, that everything comes at a cost, and realising the dream requires patience, perseverance, and character. The story speaks of life, through a magical tale, and in the end proves that life is actually what one makes of it. The lessons it communicates are learnt from life itself, which makes it so truly inspirational. In the end it is fair to agree with the publisher, that 'The Alchemist', indeed, has the power to change the lives of its countless readers.

By Tausif Salim