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hi5… keeping the spirit of flirting in check!
The hand goes up, all five finger spread out, and baam

I am sure you have heard of hi5… well, haven't you? If you haven't, be grateful that you have not yet succumbed to its idiotic addictiveness. www.hi5.com, being one of the top 50 most-trafficked sites on the web, as ranked by Alexa, and with over 50 million users, is one of the hundreds of social networking websites available, but one that has managed to grasp the BD community with honey soaked hands.

As addictive and stupid as it is, it is currently one of the major flirting 'spots' where youngsters get to try out their self-acclaimed mastery of flirting and poetry, bringing joy and happiness to the minds and hearts of guys and girls alike.

“Is duniya main dost kam milenge, Is duniya main gham hi gham milenge, Jaha dhuniya tumse nazar fer legi, Us mor pe dost tumhe hum milenge” is just one of the prime examples of poetry that gets thrown around in hi5 as guys struggle to impress other girls with their born talent in various languages. Of course it's hard to distinguish plagiarism but I am sure the girls getting the lines do not care about that issue much.

It is also amazing as to how much a guy can deduce about a girl from just a picture. For example, a guy named Tanvir had posted in a photo comment of a girl as follows (exactly quoted), “I want to say something few words in your beauty… beneficent, celestial, cherubic, devout, divine, entrancing, ethereal, godly, heavenly, holy, humble, innocent, lovely, otherworldly, pure, radial, rapturous, righteous, saintly, self-sacrificing…” and they go on for exactly 356 words. My comment to the guy is that he must have an excellent supply of Thesauruses. On the bright side, thanks to his extreme desire to earn some attention he has ended up learning a lot of new words, I am sure. My question is, how on earth can a guy understand whether a girl is beneficent or innocent or righteous, let alone self-sacrificing, just simply by looking at her picture, where you can see barely half of her face! The guy also apparently had posted the same comment on the comment board of all the other girls he knows. No offenses to you mate, but is every single girl out there the same to you?

Then again, how can I blame the guys? It is a proven fact that guys have a tough time when it comes to controlling their hormones. A portion of the girls in hi5 seem to have a liking in wearing the least amount of clothing possible and posting their almost nogno pictures in their profiles. Only God knows how many hours they spend to hide that portion of fat and get that perfectly seductive look and angle in the picture.

Their intention with the pictures is perfectly clear; and know what, it works like magic. They have guys drooling pure and active bubbling saliva all over them! Say out of 99 friends, a typical girl's account consists of at least 81 guys and the rest 18 maybe girls or relatives. This tradition is of course not only followed by the girls as then it would become gender biased you know. So to bring equality among the gender many guys have also posted profile pictures while tearing off their T-shirt and showing off their perfectly 'seductive' body. People who regularly do weight lifting and stuff mostly follow this tradition. How much their method works… I am not too sure about that. We need a girl's comment on that.

I personally know several cases of e-dating starting from hi5; those who have done so, congratulations, and those haven't yet, there is always hope. Opening groups is also another big issue in hi5 where guys and gals can talk about similar issues of interest, and there are groups to their liking like 'hot guys and gals' and 'hi5 cuties' which have overload of members. You can also create your own fan club group, which has been reported to exist, making hi5 another route to becoming famous in this country.

The equation is pretty simple. Girls like to get praised, and guys like to praise, and as long as the girl replies to his appraisal, he will continue to praise. Girls like being impressed, and guys like to impress. And this is from where hi5 comes in. Of course hi5 is not all like this. It is also an amazing medium to keep in touch with your friends. Unfortunately or fortunately, I do not have an account in hi5; I like to spend my time in my cozy little bed snoring instead. However, if you would like your eyes to be mentioned as 'mesmerizing' and as such, which the person saying it doesn't really mean, please do join hi5. I am sure you will have the time of your life!

By Adnan M. S. Fakir


Amar Bondhu Rashed Muhammad Zafar Iqbal

For me, a good writer is somebody who can make the readers 'grow up' with the characters in the story. Feel, understand and imagine themselves as parts of it. In my particular case, I have rarely 'felt' myself as an integral substance of the book I'm reading, but one book that has genuinely touched my heart is Amar Bondhu Rashed. One of the most praiseworthy and heart-warming works of Muhammad Zafar Iqbal.

The story is a lively and emotional narrative of the Liberation War 1971 through the eyes of a teenager. It carefully portrays the thoughts, ideas, miseries, wonders and feelings of a young boy, who survived under the strain and fear of the war surrounding and disrupting his daily life. What makes this narrative particularly beautiful is how the boy learns to mature and understand the different complexes of life through the hardships of a war.

The book opens with introducing the main character of the story, Rashed with an interesting spark of humour, which characterizes Zafar Iqbal's writings. His casual tone of writing is easily acceptable by readers of all age, which makes all of his writings far from being boring. The story eases initially with minor incidents from daily life that comfortably builds up the nature of each individual in the readers' eyes. Friendships, understandings and meaningful relationships are nurtured among them. Eventually, as war starts and tension builds up, it is painful for the readers to see these relationships fall apart. Or, grow stronger as fear and hopelessness dooms upon them. The pain of separation and death gives us a deeper and more realistic insight into each character, which makes this book such an amazing read.

What I personally love about Amar Bondhu Rashed is the simple way in which fierce bonds of friendship, realities of the war and patriotism of the young people are presented by the author. With a lighter touch of humour and stronger sense of practicality, readers realize how difficult our fight for freedom had been and how people suffered emotionally from it. I have to admit. I first read this book when I was about 12-13 years old and it was, without fail, the first piece of literature I cried over. I read it again when I was older and it has carefully secured a place in my heart and memory as one of the finest children's fiction written in Bangla by a contemporary writer.

Amar Bondhu Rashed is available at local bookstores for about Tk.80.

By Sabhanaz Rashid Diya


Out for Tune

New Releases
Jaatishshor
Album: Jaatishshor (self-titled)
Genre: Folk/Fusion
Ratings:
Live Now!
Featured Bands: Aurthohin, Artcell, Cryptic Fate, Nemesis, Black, The Watson Brothers, Coprophillia, Reborn, DNA, Arbovirus, Birodh, X Factor and '71.
Ratings:

Concert Review
MusiCause, organized by Saif Khondoker and Wasi Khan for 'Ashic Foundation', exclusively sponsored by RC Cola with radio partner Radio Foorti 98.4 FM rocked the house at Bashundhara Convention Centre on 2nd February '07. Featuring Artcell, Nemesis, The Watson Brothers, dNA, Delude, CnG, Synopsis, Deafened, Baahznought and Bonny Prince, the show was a blast! The concert kick-started with Bonny Prince's energetic performance, followed by Deafened's trademark Korn covers. Synopsis' 'Another Brick in the Wall' got the crowd on the floor, while CnG's cover of Arctic Monkeys brought a refreshing edge to the performance. Arbovirus played their originals, next to covers while dNA's Saif and Shishir blew the crowd with their covers of 'Fear of the Dark' and 'Hollow Years'. Delude covered Sweet Child of Mine, Smooth and a few others, while Nemesis put a smooth performance with their originals and cover from The Killers. The concert wrapped up with Artcell's ever-popular performance, giving head bangers a decent twist on their necks.

All opinions expressed are the reviewer's personal conclusions. Anyone who may feel otherwise has every right to do so and is none of the reviewer's concern.
Album Info: Sound Refine, Anam Rangs Plaze, Dhanmondi.

By RhythmOFblueS


A Numb Question


Father, I feel no pain
I'm blunt from stagnant wounds
Born from scars, strikes
And a cancer of remembrance
Oh the Blitz! The roaring blaze...
And now, this gangrene cripples me:
I shan't live long
O' Father - why is feeling, pain?
Why do love and joy
Flit to dig their graves
And bar me from your warmth?
O' Father, my cripple dies
He's bent like a beggar's child,
His scarred, sooty face -
I watch helpless
And I leave him to fate
Two rivers channel down my cheeks
One for him and one for me
Numb reflex, a lack of faith
Irony or your sheer distaste
In name of my heartlessness;
I can't decide
O' Father, if I'm a stony ghoul
Why will my blood spill and kill
If I lack the simple right to love, to feel?

It's dedicated to my grandfather who is currently in an ICU at hospital, his condition gradually deteorating.
By Alaka Halder

 

“For God's sake, hold your tongue, and let me love.”

- A Tribute to Amit Rai and Labonno of Shesher Kobita by Rabindronath Tagore

Dews coat the silent night
When my lady does appear
On stealth prints her footsteps abide
While the rain chants her near.
Barefoot she walks, tender as a leaf
Her feet soaked in red alta stains
And where she drops her feet, the moon shines
Drunk on the flows of water,
Her feet glowing like blood wherein.
Bonna, she comes
Her eyes black like onyx
Rippling like tears bathing in oil
Her skin like a sea of fine sand
And lips of petals of crimson rose.
She walks,
Her hair like black silk
While drops of rain luster,
And her forehead bestowed
With a bindu of red,
As she wears different sarees every night.

On the other bank of the river
Lay my small hut, Deepok
As her lips had spelled.
Here I light my red lamp
On the sands of the shore, and wait;
My mind mesmerized
By her footsteps amid the rain,
The drops dancing with her feet.
I look to the river as hours go by
Hearing her footsteps getting nearer;
The rain beats harder
But her achol in the wind,
I never again see.
Till days light breaks the clouds
I lay there with my lamp,
So forth I close my weary eyes
Till I feel her velvet touch
And hear her whisper, Mita,
Softly and lucidly to my ears;
'He bondhu, biday.'

By Adnan M. S. Fakir


 

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