HAPPY SLAPPING - SADIST OR NOT

People believe that comedies and spoofs are part of our lives. That is why television shows like Candid Camera & its localized derivatives like MTV Bakra are popular all around the world. The "Candid Camera" pranks usually don't hurt the victims physically.

The current most alarming craze in UK is "happy slapping" and here is how the prank goes: teenagers look out for unsuspecting targets – mostly people minding their own business on buses or streets – and slap them in the face as hard as they can whilst a friend films it with their mobile phone. In the worst cases it goes beyond slapping to punches and kicks, or even - in one case - setting a sleeping drunk alight.

I first came to know about it from Shapir last November. See the comments on his post where pragmatism collides with sadism. Yes I would prefer this word. Sadism is the practice of intentionally inflicting pain or sensation upon another human being. And I see no reason why some people should endorse these. A commenter said "I think its the funniest thing coming out of England in a long time". Blame the Mr. Hyde in us. Otherwise why do we love laughing at the sight of somebody falling or getting beaten?

David B. of Gene Expressions talks about the ethnical aspect of this phenomenon:

I suspect that this is another case (like crack, gangsta rap, and 'hoodies') where a fashion has started among young blacks and spread throughout the underclass of feral teenage scum.

Read More

TODAY'S JOTTINGS

* "Cookie Monster" turned into "Biskit Pagla": "Sesame Street", the long-running US public television children's series has successfully localized the educational series into "Sisimpur" for Bangladesh. Read details.

* Jail blogging in Bangladesh: This blog promises to publish personal accounts of bribery, injustice and torture in the Dhaka Central Jail.

* When will we be truly secular: an Indian perspective.

* UN declares United States "Failed State!": from unconfirmed sources.

* Health hazard looms in Bangladesh streets: The Daily Star reports that the drinks sold in the Dhaka streets to chill the people from summer heat (as high as 40 degree celsius) are prepared in unhygienic conditions.

* Festival of Humanity: The annual event in US will raise money for the construction of a Bangladeshi orphanage this year.

Read More

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

When rain falls in the earth,
it is turned into well-water;
When rain falls into the river,
it is river water;
Only the container
tells us
which is which.

-Lalon Shah

Read More

BOOK SALE IN DHAKA

The publishing industry of Bangladesh produces about 1500 titles every year and it seems not enough for a population of 140 million. But the circulation is meager by any standard and the readership is not building up as expected when the literacy rate hovers around 50%-60% of the population. To improve this, initiatives like encouraging "reading societies" and building libraries in every educational institutions are mandatory. Moreover the cost of books should be at par with peoples' purchasing power, improving quality of the publications and stopping piracy is a must.

The University Press Limited (UPL) , a leading publishing house of Bangladesh is offering a sale of its books. UPL publishes high quality books in English and Bengali and sells some imported ones too but unfortunately these are expensive in Bangladeshi standard. Me & my wife went rushing to their office in Motijheel after seeing their advertisement in newspaper that they are offering discounts up to 75%. They have amazing collections and we went to home with 17 English and Bengali books including:

* Living Silence (Burma under military rule) - Christina Fink

* Eating Out at Home -Mona Verma

* North and South -Elizabesth Gaskell

* The Life of Muhammad -A. Guillaume

* International Relations and Bangladesh - Harun ur Rashid

I was pretty sad when I had to put this book back to UPL shelf because both of our parses were exhausted.

The sale will go on up to tomorrow. Book lovers don't miss this opportunity.

Read More

FACE OF BANGLADESH



Gurudasi Mondol gave herself up to madness in 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, as she watched her entire family being killed by the Razakars, the collaborators of the occupying forces. Imprisoned and raped by the commander of the Razakars, she was freed months later by a unit of the Bangladesh Liberation army. Thirty years later, she continues to roam the streets of Kopilmoni, in small-town Bangladesh, in search of all she has lost; snatching at will from strangers and breaking into spaces normally reserved for men. She is unafraid and scornful of authorities. In her madness, she has found a strategy for survival. In Kopilmoni, Gurudasi has attained near legendary status. Through her indomitable presence, she has kept the spirit of the Liberation War.

Via Mustafa Jamil

Read More

SHORT TAKES

* Bangladesh Cricket team starts well in their first warm up match in England. Khaled Masud is eyeing for a county contract.

* Read how tough it is to be a maid in Mumbai. Not much difference from the maids in Dhaka only in the fact that the maids are usually brought from remote villages and the intelligent one's switch to a more lucrative job in a garments factory within a short period of time.

* Create your very own cyberfireworks show!

* Many in the GCC countries are flocking to Dubai for none other than a Destiny's Child concert.

* A commercial stunt to cash on Muslim sentiments. The company, which is alleged to instigate propaganda against the US soft drink giants also pledged to donate a portion of its profits for the welfare of oppressed Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. I wonder whether they are actually doing it or not. I would go for tastes, not the politics when it is a question of quenching thirst. Because you never know who cheats you more.

* Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh may publicly apologize for their roles in 1971 war of independence. Sources say that it may come before the next parliamentary election. This leaves people guessing that they are not doing it from heart but for more tactical reasons.

Read More

DEMOCRACY PREVAILS IN BANGLADESH

With the overwhelming win of the opposition party(Awami League) candidate Mr. Mohiuddin in the Chittagong city corporation mayor election, it has become clear that the voters in Bangladesh still have power to choose. There was a strong ruling party campaign lead by many government ministers and high profile political leaders sadly at government expense. But the defeat of their designated candidate Mr. Nasiruddin, the current minister for aviation suggests that their confidence of popularity was disillusioned.

But I must say the BNP government has done the right thing in not trying to rig the election to bring it to their favour. Election engineering was being predicted and protested by the Opposition. Ironically Mr. Mohiuddin and the supporters had to stay the whole night outside the election commission camp where the vote was being counted to make sure that peoples' verdicts are not manipulated.

Nearly 2000 poll observers from both home and abroad were active during the polling and everybody termed the election fair albeit some minor irregularities and incidents. A large number of voters had turned out.

Now my take on this Mohiuddin feat for the third time is that he is basically a good and hard working leader and has contributed much for development of the Chittagong City. He is not a hard core party politician of Awami League. Being a mayor, many of his decisions were apolitical. So people had more trust on him.

I think the time has come for the people to loath party politics to bring Bangladesh out of the political dichotomy. They should vote for the right candidate irrespective of which party he/she belongs. And the political parties should appoint deserving candidates as their representative, not some crooked businessmen who pays large amount of cash in party fund only to recover them later.

Let this be a learning lesson for both the ruling coalition and specially the opposition, who termed this election as an index of pendulum swaying on their side. Its still a long way till October 2006 election. If they do not make the right decisions, they might be disillusioned too.

Related reading: Lessons from the election

Read More