The week in re(ar)view

It's a country of contradictions. On the cover you may have something good going on but look deeper and you will see that all that glitters is actually tin foil. Or worse, the tin foil will turn out to be fake. That's us. We find ever more creative easy to self destruct. If James Bond was Bangladeshi by origin he would have constantly pressed the self destruct button on his gadget laden car without ever needing to.

Water, water nowhere
Take for example a place called Barapukuria. It is a coal mine town and for power generation there is a Chinese plant that pumps up underground water to create electric juice. Apparently the water is pumped out at 1100 tonnes an hour. Well, all that nice clean groundwater in Barapukuria is being pumped out and wasted. As a result people there cannot use most of the tube wells because of the water level depletion. No one really bothers because it is not Dhaka where water is scarce to say the least. While the power generator may have been a bit of a good idea initially it turns out to be the proverbial hitting-foot-with-axe syndrome.

NO-BELL
Similarly Professor Mohammad Yunus finally put Bangladesh on the map. Yes, it is no longer known as the country of poverty and corruption. It is now known as the country of poverty and corruption where one guy got a Nobel Prize for peace. Now as usual we bring you the flip side. Unfortunately we don't have any.

Winning the prize is a great honour for the country. But along this line we thought maybe some other illustrious people should be getting prizes NO-BELL prizes at that. Under this category people who get little or no 'bell' ('patta' a.k.a. recognition) will be nominated. This includes all our politicians, cops and politicians. But then again they get so much recognition unfortunately it is all for the wrong reasons.

Poor to get poorer
Yet another news with a flip side is that apparently the country has seen a reduction in poverty by 8.9 percent. Of course, the gap between the rich and poor is no wider than ever. It seems the rich keep getting richer and the poor get poorer but somehow the poor appear less poor by comparison to the rich. Confused? So are we.

By Gokhra and Mood Dude

RS Mailbx

Regarding article 'Grown Up Child' written by Tasnia published 28-9-06

Dear Tasnia,
Your article 'grown up child' was a very touching one. While I was reading it a tear trickled down my cheeks and I realized that there was something very wrong with your article, something that made me, just look at it for, quite a long moment.
If I say now that you are doing something very wrong to even allow this girl to work at your house, as a reply you are going to say that 'if we didn't hire her she would have either died out of poverty or would have resorted to something even worse'…..but guess what those are not only the two options we have, you can actually take her in as a member of your family treat her like a 10 year old and really care for her. I know she is just one girl out of millions, but you too are only one girl out of millions who can do something about them. Mother Teresa once said 'help people out of your necessity not your abundance', but then again you don't really have to do that you just have to redefine what your necessity is and what your abundance is…..
Trina

Dear Trina,
Making Shurma a member of our family is not an option I've got at the moment- that's not in my hands. What I can do is treat her like a kid and love her a lot myself, not make her do any work for me and teach her reading and writing. But I don't even do all of them always…that's why I feel guilty. I know merely feeling guilty's not gonna help…and I do try to be good to her…
A year back I used to be completely against hiring such small children as servants. But after talking to them I learnt that if you are kind to them even that's better than letting them live the lives they live at home…slightly lesser of the two evils. Thanks for your reply btw. What you said there is right and if we all hold such views and follow them then maybe someday Bangladesh would change.
Tasnia

Football has evolved as a game through out the years. Today, it is one popular game we hardly want to miss out. Month's back we went through the kicks and jigs of football. Even though World Cup's over, the excitement never does. The premier league, with so many great teams all rule over the sports channel. The main thing over here is even though we love football, how many of us really play?

Medical world claims football to be a very good exercise. And, sports world says it is the best game ever! But, why don't women benefit from this great game? We only get to see man playing, why? In a society like ours, girls don't play football where they should. The football club in America gives professional leagues where international players play. If David beck ham and Ronaldo get all the opportunities, why not Kelly smith? Women are thought to be of the weaker sex where they are equally fit and can play football as well as men can.

Many girls who are interested drop their plan because of the disdainful comments from men, but, it should be clear to ladies who want to be a part of football that these comments are from men who have no idea or have never seen a professional women's game. These comments should not really bother. Remember, that time changes things so if women start playing without regrets they can change everyone's opinion. it is said that one bird can bring spring so I say one decision can change women's fate…

By Fatema akbar

UG:
1. Scarecrow- Oparthib,
2. Disciples-Harano podochchhap,
3.Arbovirus- 64min 53sec,
4. Cryptic fate- Danob,
5. Poizon green (self titled)

Overall:
1. Ore shampanwala (mixed album)- Featuring songs from closeup1 stars Beauty, Sonia & Rajib. Bangla movies have finally started finding some audience!

2. Vibration-25 by Fuad- Rocking the chart with some awsome songs.

3. JibonerAhobaan by Milon Mahmud- Featurinf slow melodious tracks composed by our leading young musicians. Amar bhalobasha, Falguner agub & Kemon badhone are the tracks to watch out!!

4. Ojosro kobita by Swani Jubayer- The bohemian style & soft soothing voice of this young man has been able to create some apeal among listeners. The title track is very well composed!!

5. Ajob- Fusion has found new dimensions with this band. Pretty good mood music with a sufi feel!!!

6. Light years ahead by Stoic Bliss- These peoples are making monopolistic business. Kids just can't get over "Abar Jigay"

7. Hridoyer kotha (mixed album)- By the looks of it, Habib will rule the charts for a long time. Tracvks Bhalobashbo & Hridoyer kotha are major hitz of the year!!

8. Faissa gechhi by Hyder Husyn- This eccentric genius makes music from the soul & it has reached some souls to be frank!!!

9. Kotodin dekhina tomae by Shafin Ahmed- Shafin on a different genre with tribute to the late great Komol Dashgupta has pulled off a good album.

10. Aniket prantor by Artcell- Rock has always had its market here & this one has been no exception!!!

Source- Piano, Hollywood.
Courtesy of www.tunesbd.com

Double storied apartments in New York City are plentiful and affordable, even if the tenants are unemployed.
One of a pair of identical twins is evil.

If you are blonde and pretty, it is possible to be a world-famous expert on nuclear fission, dinosaurs, hieroglyphics, kung-fu, or anything else, at the age of 22.

Honest and hard-working policemen are usually gunned down a day or two before retirement.
You're very likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.

A man will show no pain while taking the most horrific beating, but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

If someone says "I'll be right back soon", you might as well expect that they won't.
Even when driving down a perfectly straight road, it is necessary to turn the steering wheel from time to time.

A detective can only solve a case after he has been suspended from duty.
If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone around you will be able to mirror all the steps you come up with, and hear the music in your head, without even practicing the steps for once.

If you are single and in a party, you are almost always likely to come across a lovely girl(who also happens to be single)!
When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other

By Shamma M. Raghib