TODAY'S TITBITS* The Da Vinci Code won the British Book Awards but not many are impressed about the quality of the literature. The Catholics are trying to establish that its a fiction, not fact as claimed by Dan Brown, the author. If you have read the book and then go through the history of the characters and plots in the wikipedia, you will find that it is based on a hoax which fits so perfectly in the conspiracy theory. I have given my 2-cents on the book here.* Is G-mail evil?* The Telegraph Kolkata publishes an article of Ashok Mitra on Bangladeshi...
April 30, 2005
NOT DOING BADLY, THANK YOUPhilip Browning has written an excellent article in the International Herald Tribune about Bangladesh. Few excerpts: Is Bangladesh a successful low-income democracy or a failing state? A secular Muslim exemplar or a fundamentalist seedbed? A liberal society, or one beset by corruption and political violence? A crucial component of South Asian geopolitics, or a weak and irrelevant adjunct to India?All these descriptions contain elements of truth - except irrelevance. Bangladesh matters not just because it has 130 million...
April 27, 2005
TODAY'S JOTTINGS* "Bangladesh: Beyond The Headlines" is a 15 minute long documentary made by a group of Penn State students, with the Schreyer Honors College, who traveled to Bangladesh recently. I couldn't download the 77MB quicktime (.mov) file with my dialup internet connection so am unable to watch it. If anybody can download and watch it I would request to send me a review (or a link).* The Friday Time's US correspondent Khalid suggests to the fellow Pakistanis: "instead of lecturing the world on human rights because of Abu Gharib, we should...
April 26, 2005
BANGLADESH CRICKET TEAM'S ENGLAND TOURBangladesh cricket team's England Tour May -June 2005 is overshadowed by the coming Ashes Tour of Australia this summer. They are still the minnows and looked down upon despite their recent performance against Zimbabwe. Many are amused by the thoughts of its unequal rivalry against teams like Australia & England who have a cricket legacy of more than a century. Surely many world records are bound top be broken playing against Bangladesh, they think. And that is why there is no fuss in the international...
WHEN BEAUTY COMBINES WITH BRAINAishwarya Rai, usually dubbed as "The most beautiful woman in the world" appeared on a recent Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah, known to many as "the most powerful women in the world" was well handled by Aish. When asked why people do not see sex in her movies; not even a kiss, Aishwarya replied:"I come from the land of the Kama Sutra. So we obviously do have a normal, healthy sex life. [Kissing] is a more private expression...
April 24, 2005
TENSED BORDERS - HATRED GROWSIn my last post about the border incident I questioned Indian media's jaundiced-eyed views about the incident. Here is a first- hand account of how Indian media portrays Bangladesh:On a recent debate on NDTV looking at India's relations with Bangladesh there was predictably no talk of any of the larger questions concerning our relations with this neighbour, already so ignored by virtue of our obsession with the Western counterpart. TV shows invariably feature diplomats and ministers, and treat Bangladesh like an evil...
April 23, 2005
RIANNA UPDATE -IVHello everyone. I am going to be 7 months old tomorrow. I have learnt a lot of things by now. I can sit, I can flip and grab things on my own. I am amazed by all the new things I am touching and tasting everyday. Anything which has some lace is of my particular interest. And of course tasting and biting things are part of my examination methods. What particularly amazes me is to see other family members eating. They eat a lot of...
THE CASE OF SALAHUDDIN SHOAIB CHOWDHURYSharif left a comment in my blog asking for my thoughts on Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury who is detained by Bangladesh government without proper evidence on espionage charges. Some excerpts of his comment:This is a very sensitive topic amongst us, even educated so called liberal Bangladeshis living abroad act in a very reactionary way. I feel that the idea Free speech was threatened by this arrest in Bangladesh. And also I am concerned about apparent anti-semitic attitude in Bengali culture.The Israeli-Palestine...
April 21, 2005
TODAY'S JOTTINGS* The war against terror meme spreads in the games world also. SOCOM 3, an action-based video game designed for Sony PlayStation II, includes a mission in Bangladesh naming it as a militant country. This version is not yet released and expected to be on the selves in August 2005. Bangladesh has lodged an official complaint to Sony to remove its name. Ishtiaque has details. It seems it is not only a game after all.* After all the fuss that Dave Whatmore is going to be the next Indian coach, he extends his contract with Bangladesh...
April 17, 2005
SEARCHING THE TRUTHAlmost three corners of Bangladesh is surrounded by India. There have been many border clashes between Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) & Indian Border Security Force (BSF) in the recent years. A human rights report says one Bangladeshi was killed in every five days on an average. BSF members often killed and kidnapped Bangladeshi farmers without any reason. A total of 466 people were injured, 467 arrested, 491 kidnapped, 39, including eight children, missing and five women raped by BSF, the report also claims.Now what is the reason...
TODAY'S LINKS* "A living contradiction" in his own words, Salahuddin Shoaib Chowdhury's new column in the Jerusalem Post.* 22 persons gets death sentence and 6 persons life imprisonment as the court gives the verdict of Awami League MP Ahsanullah Master's assasination case. Asif thinks it is an eyewash as the main accused ruling BNP activists will eventually be freed.* Bridge Blog is a great list of worldwide blogs.* The statesmen and the cricketers on a peace mission. It seems Pakistan is winning the one-day series. And India is winning because...
April 16, 2005
AGAINST ALL ODDSThe Bangla new year celebrations in Dhaka went extremely well this time. The news papers report of a record turnout. I could feel this as I had to wade through the crowd in Shahbag. I really missed not being in the Ramna Batmul concert in the early hours. After the 2001 bombing incident, my wife is a bit apprehensive about going in person, when there is live feed available in TV. So I stayed at home mainly except attending two get-togethers with lavish deshi delicacies (lunch & dinner) arranged by two of my fraternities. Sorry...
ANTI-BANGLADESH PROPAGANDA IN UKOur good friend Daniel Brett was banned from commenting in the blog Harry's Place while defending the British Bangladeshi community from the relentless attacks by the pro-war & pro-blair individuals. According to Daniel, these people see the country's problems as a problem with Islam, conveniantly unrelated to issues relating to extreme poverty, ecological problems and lack of good governance. And they have only started paying attention to Bangladesh when British Bangladeshis turned their backs on Blair.Daniel...
April 13, 2005
BENGALI NEW YEAR (1412) GREETINGSShuvo Nobobarsha!Nobo Barsha, Bangla for New Year, also known as "Pahela Baishakh", marks the beginning of Baisakh, the first month of Bengali calendar. It is usually marked by the tradition of "Halkhata", opening of books of accounts for the new year by the village traders. The celebration of Pahela Baishakh by broad masses in the Bangladesh context may be dated from the observance of the day by "Chhayanat", a cultural...
April 12, 2005
TODAY'S JOTTINGS* Greg Chappell or Dav Whatmore: who should be the next coach of Indian Cricket team?Chappell want's the job, Dav refuted media speculations that he has already talked with Indian board regarding this. Experts say Dav would be the right choice for India. Bangladesh cricket board is optimistic about extending Dav's contract which ends this month. * If they answer not to thy call walk alone: "Ekla Cholo re" is one of my favorite bengali song written by poet Rabindranath Tagore which is included in the soundtrack of the movie "Bose-the...
April 11, 2005
SALUTE TO BANGLADESH DEMOCRACYJane Novak of Armies of Liberation, an American political analyst and columnist has published many columns in international print media. In the past year she had been covering Bangladesh and she did one thing what the traditional media people do not bother to do. She had tracked Bangladeshi blogs and communicated with some of them in person to clear many thaughts and facts to better her understandings about Bangladesh. The end result can be seen in one of her latest columns in the Arab News. She does not label Bangladesh...
April 10, 2005
HATE CRIMEI have been reading bits and pieces about the story for a couple of days. "One 16 year old Bangladeshi girl detained in NY on suspicion of planning suicide bombing, who was drawn to Islam" - pretty eye-catching phrases. Surely sites like LGF were quick to flash this news everywhere. They said the girl was so brainwashed in bigoted Islam that she quit the school over a veil issue and she was reported by her own father. I couldn't read the original New York Times article, which requires registration. But thanks to the good folks Avi and...
April 09, 2005
DON'T LISTEN TO IMFIn a recent post I have argued how Bangladeshi government employees were dragged to corruption out of necessity. Many can brag about the prevailing corruption in Bangladesh, but nobody is eager to go at the root of the problem. The last government pay-increase was eight years ago. How can government employees match their living standard induced with inflation? A typical first class officer in Bangladesh get almost one-forth of an employee in India or Sri-Lanka of a similar position. We are telling them not to get corrupted. Are...
TRAFFIC CHAOS IN DHAKAAfter introducing the revamped electronic signals the streets of Dhaka city it was expected that the notorious Dhaka traffic would get a bit disciplined. But after half an year things are slowly going back to the same unruly state as before. The traffic police were keen to fine for signal breach initially. I remember paying fine of Tk. 500 for a marginal one. Now-a-days almost everybody is skipping traffic lights in many places and traffic police are just ignoring things. After 10PM at night or in empty roads, the drivers...
April 05, 2005
FAMOUS BANGLADESHI SHOWCASEDr. Fazlur Rahman Khan (1929-1982)He is famous for his efficient designs for Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center and 110-story Sears Tower (the tallest building in the United States since its completion in 1974).Related readings:* F.R. Khan - an architect with a difference* F. R. Khan entry in Bangladpe...
BANGLADESH'S LURKING TERRORNazli Kibria, who is an associate professor of sociology at Boston University and the daughter of the assassinated political leader SAMS Kibria writes an article in the LA Times. She asks the world:"Is it prudent to ignore a political crisis in a country of 141 million people, home to the fourth-largest concentration of Muslims in the world? Are we better off dealing immediately with a problem that can most likely be solved through firm international diplomacy or waiting for a later time when we may be contending with...
April 04, 2005
UPCOMING MAQSOOD O'DHAKA GIGHave you wondered what the advantage of a rock star cum blogger is? He can act as his own publicity manager. And its just great because he may be able to spread the news to the whole Bangladeshi community across the world via internet. Maqsood aka Mac is performing live in Dhaka in two events on the 14th of April on the day of Pahela Baishakh (Bengali new near). Check his blog for the details.You can also listen to him performing live on April 16th at Onirbaan via internet. This is an interactive Voice only show, and...
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