Weekend Tribune Vol. 2 Issue.9

| vo l 2 I ssu e 9 | F R I D AY, J Uly 4, 2014

Monsoon madness 8

Submerged streets

12

Summer reading

15

Football Jadukar

CONTENTS

1

A W e ekly Productio n of

DhakaTribune

Volume 2 | Issue 9 | July 4, 2014 Editor Zafar Sobhan

News

Executive Editor Shahriar Karim

2 This Week

Managing Editor Jahangir Hyder

3 Oddities

Features Editor Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

Features

Assistant Magazine Editor Rumana Habib Weekend Tribune Team Tasnuva Amin Nova Promiti Prova Chowdhury Farhana Urmee Rifat Islam Esha Faisal Mahmud Shah Nahian Syeda Samira Sadeque James Saville Art Direction/Photography Syed Latif Hossain Cartoons Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy Rio Shuvo

4 Feature Progress, interrupted 5 Sport World Cup final 8 8 City life Watery chaos 12 Literature Summer reading

6

15 Sport Football in Bengal

business

17 Origin story Bakarkhani

Flower power

20 Beyond Bangladesh Art Therapy

Contributors Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi Alex Durham Muhit Hasan Reema Islam Nupu Press Dina Sobhan

Regulars 14 Legalese MLM maestros 16 Tough Love Face fungus & lost love

Graphics Sabiha Mahmud Sumi Mohammad Mahbub Alam

18 Stay In World cup watch & listen

Colour Specialist Shekhar Mondal Kazi Syras Al Mahmood Production Masum Billah Advertising Shahidan Khurshed Circulation Wahid Murad

19 Go Out Eid volunteering

9

Photo story

Under my umbrella

Website dhakatribune.com/weekend facebook.com/WeekendTrib

Monsoon madness H

Email your letters to: weekend@dhakatribune.com

the cover This boat immersed in water, amid a reflection of the clouds, invokes a world of sentiments. Most of all, it’s a reminder of the beauty of our monsoon.

PHOTO: Saadul Islam

Monsoon madness

ave you danced in the rain yet?

The monsoon brought us sweet relief, but also left in its wake “Watery chaos” (pg 8) on the streets.

But don’t worry, if you flip to our photo story, you can stand “Under my umbrella” (pg 9-11).

Monsoon showers bring flower power. We arose at dawn to bring you this story (pg 6-7) on the wholesale flower market business.

Rainy Ramadan is an excellent time to catch up on your summer reading with some fantastic Bangladeshi writers (pg 12-13). But avoid reading about the origins of

Editor’s note bakarkhani while you’re fasting – it’ll leave you salivating (pg 17).

It’s also a good time to do good, whether making art with children in Sierra Leone (pg 20), or fighting political corruption facing Jaago (pg 4).

Of course we can’t forget football, even if we wanted to. And we remember a deshi hero who was one of the best footballers of his time (pg 15). Check out our guide to this weekend’s World Cup quarterfinals, which promise to be excellent matches (pg 4).

Don’t miss a moment.

- Rumana Habib

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2 News | This week

The world in 60 seconds Syeda Samira Sadeque

The week started off with Ramadan, and anticipation of happier times, but ended on a worrisome note. With jihadists in Iraq declaring an “Islamic caliphate,” and violence marring Nigeria, things only seem to be getting worse in a holy month that’s supposed to unite us all around the globe.

Most concerning, however, is the discovery of the corpses of three Israeli teenagers who had been abducted last month, which eventually led to the largest Israeli crackdown on Palestine in over a decade, according to Al Jazeera.

Bodies of the three abducted students were found in a shallow grave near Hebron, but Hamas denies involvement in the murders. According to Al Jazeera, 566 Palestinians were detained, more than 2,100

buildings raided, and eight Palestinians have died in the search process.

It is unfortunate that the stories of the three teens and the eight Palestinians have been lost, amid these statistics and Israeli Prime Minister Nethanyu’s blame game accusing Palestine to be behind the kidnapping. Israeli or Palestinian, being human is cause enough to not be brutally murdered and merely become collateral damage in a war of lands – a lesson which we have failed to learn, despite marking our 100th anniversary of World War I this year.

In other world news, Ukrainian President Poroshenko ended a 10-day ceasefire in the conflict with pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, saying he

Sectarian unrest shakes major Myanmar city

Myanmar police fired warning shots after an angry mob attacked Muslim property in the central city of Mandalay, authorities said Wednesday, in the latest eruption of religious unrest to shake the Buddhistmajority nation.

Around five people were injured as rioters hurled stones at a Muslim teashop and surrounding buildings on Tuesday night, said Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Min Oo of Mandalay region police.

Myanmar has been convulsed by several waves of sectarian conflict in recent years that have cast a shadow over its emergence from military rule.

In this photo, an angry mob take to the streets of Mandalay

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, J U LY 4 , 201 4

in central Myanmar early on Wednesday. One Muslim resident in Mandalay said the mob swelled into the hundreds as police struggled to contain the unrest late Tuesday.

News and photo: AFP

Israelis mourn and light candles in Rabin Square in for the teenagers

would send military forces back on the offensive after talks with Russia and European leaders failed to start a broader peace process. (AFP) At least 30 people have been found dead in a fishing boat packed with hundreds of would-be migrants, according to the Italian navy. Rescuers found the bodies after boarding the vessel between Sicily and North Africa to attend to several people said to be in distress; among them two pregnant women. (AFP) Former French President Sarkozy was detained on Tuesday for questioning in a

AFP

widening corruption probe. Anticorruption investigators can hold Sarkozy for questioning for up to 24 hours, with a possible extension of another day. (AFP) An Indian lawmaker apologised Tuesday after he was captured on video threatening the rape of his political rivals’ relatives, in what he said was “a gross error of judgement.” Tapas Pal of the All India Trinamool Congress Party admitted his remarks had caused “dismay and consternation,” after initially denying he had made the rape comment.

Dawn of the ‘caliph’ in Iraq Ruthless jihadists spearheading a Sunni militant offensive in Iraq have declared an “Islamic caliphate” and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief, in a move the US dismissed as meaningless.

Iraqi forces meanwhile pressed a counter-offensive Monday against executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, one of a string of towns and cities overrun by jihadist-led fighters in a swift advance that left nearly 2,000 people dead this month, and displaced hundreds of thousands.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant renamed itself simply the Islamic State (IS) and declared its shadowy frontman the leader of the world’s Muslims, in a clear challenge to al-Qaeda for control of the global jihadist movement.

IS announced on Sunday that it was establishing a “caliphate” -- an Islamic form of government last seen under the Ottoman Empire – extending now from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq, the regions where it has fought against the regimes in power.

News: AFP

Scores dead in attacks in Nigeria More than 50 people were killed in the latest attack blamed on Boko Haram Islamists. which targeted churches in Nigeria’s embattled northeast, a Borno state government official said Monday.

So far, 54 people have died, said an official on condition of anonymity, of the raid on four

villages just outside Chibok, where Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in April.

Gunmen hurled explosives into churches during Sunday services and fired on worshippers as they tried to flee, witnesses reported.

Furthermore, a truck

exploded in a huge fireball killing at least 15 people on Tuesday in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri.

Chibok’s leader challenged the government claim of military and air force support, saying the military “did not attempt go” to the scene of the attack.

News: AFP

oddities | News

Rapist zapperS

3

Say what?

If you can’t shame ‘em, shock ‘em!

C

ollege students in India have come up with brilliant defence mechanisms to avoid rape in a country struggling with increasing violence against women.

The devices include antirape jeans, sandals, and bras.

They were unveiled by college students in Uttar Pradesh, India Today has reported.

Jeans: • These have a small electronic button that can raise the alarm and alert designated contacts on their phones.

It can also be connected to local police lines.

• Designed by: Diksha Pathak and Anjali Srivastava, students from Varanasi.

Sandals: • Sends out an electric shock and an SOS signal to all the victim’s phone contacts.

• Designed by: Rijul Pandey and Shalini Yadav, computer science students from Varanasi.

“Wonder” bra aka SHE (Society Harnessing Equipment): • Transmits the wearer’s GPS data and sends out a powerful shock that can result in burns. The bra is calibrated in a special way to avoid firing accidentally.

• Designed by: Manisha Mohan, a budding engineer.

News: Desk

Cooling in the dhaka fridge

A

s temperatures rise during one of the most humid months of the year, avoiding the sweltering heat in Dhaka is getting nearly impossible. While some of us turn down the temperature on our air conditioners in an attempt to freeze ourselves, many people do not have the means to do so.

Innovative minds have found different solutions for coping with the weather. In this picture, a man kicks back and takes a quick nap inside a cool and refreshing area – his fridge.

The lengths that people go to in order to avoid the torturous

A

F

ootball is, after all, the sphere where mankind unites. So do aquatic creatures, evidently.

In spirit of the World Cup, the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama has displayed, as part of an attraction, a footballthemed tank. In this photo, Stripey and Blue Palett Surgeon fish take food from a fishbait packed ball

in the tank at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium. The attraction was displayed until June 29 in celebration of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Japan (blue jersey colour) played against Colombia (yellow and black stripe jersey) on June 24 in their final group C match at the World Cup, which Japan lost.

News and photo: AFP

Interpreting beauty: Esther around the world temperatures of Dhaka city can be a little farfetched, but one can imagine this technique is effective.

News: Desk; photo: Twitter

Fired nanny won’t leave home California family is exasperated – and fearful – after a 64-year-old woman they hired as a live-in nanny stopped working and has refused to move out of their home after being fired.

Marcella Bracamonte says she and her husband, Ralph, hired Diane Stretton in early March to do chores and watch over their children; aged 11, 4 and 1; in exchange for a room in their house in Upland, Los Angeles.

Football aquarium photo

About three weeks later however, Stretton stopped working, saying she had a chronic pulmonary disease.

Stretton ignored repeated requests to leave the house, and, according to Bracamonte, threatened to sue the family for wrongful termination and elder abuse.

Police have declined to intervene in a civil matter, Bracamonte said, so the family has started a formal eviction process, which they fear could take months.

News: Reuters

I

Original photo

n a story that went viral last week, Esther Honig, a Kansas-based journalist, took a self-portrait and sent the unretouched version to 40 different designers around the world – from Argentina, to Vietnam and Bangladesh – with the message: “Make me beautiful.”

The photo, shot from the shoulders up in simple lighting conditions, was then phtoshopped in accordance with the 40 countries' local conception of beauty. The results were shockingly different images, each conveying an idea of beauty according to local

Bangladeshi version

tastes, which Esther compiled for her project: “Before and After.” In the Bangladeshi image pictured above, Esther was given lightened glowing skin, dark eyes, full lips, with an oblong face and sharp nose.

Other countries included Australia, USA, UK, Bulgaria, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine. Esther said Morocco's interpretation was the most surprising, while the blonde hair in the US version made her shriek. You can view the images at: http://www.estherhonig.com

News: Desk, Photo: Esther Honig

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, J U LY 4 , 2 0 1 4

4 Sport | World Cup final 8

Your guide to the quarterfinals Everything you need to know about this weekend’s matches Weekend Desk Friday night

SATURDAY night

10pm

2am

France vs Germany

Brazil vs Colombia

Quarterfinals:

10pm

Argentina vs Belgium

Muslim players during Ramadan

The best stage The fight for a place in the semis is always epic Faisal Mahmud

T

he quarterfinals are always the best matches of the World Cup, as they are where the principle drama occurs between the big names.

Why? Football experts have said the number eight has something to do with it.

Only eight teams have won the competition in the last 20 tournaments. This suggests that even though 32 teams compete in the group stages, only handful of teams are capable of winning, and those teams go head-to-head in the quarterfinals. It is here that the teams unleash their best skills.

By the time teams reach the semifinals and finals, there is too much at stake. There then teams play with defensive intent.

But quarterfinals are the perfect forum to play the game as it should naturally be played.

For example, Germany beat Argentina by 4-0 in 2010, or when France’s Zidane singlehandedly defeated Brazil in 2006.

And what about the infamous “hand of god,” where the great football legend Maradona scored two goals – one considered the best ever World Cup goal, and the other the most controversial goal ever. That was in the 1986 game between England and Argentina, in the quarterfinal round.

From today, the four matches

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, J U LY 4 , 201 4

we are going to see have the possibility of producing the best matches of the World Cup. Look at the lineup. The host and favourite side Brazil will face the best team of the tournament so far – Colombia.

Two European giants France and Germany will compete for a semifinal place, and the underachieving Netherlands will face the tournament surprise stars Costa Rica. The much-beloved Argentina will play against the tournament’s dark horse Belgium.

So don’t blink. You won’t want to miss a moment of these games.

2am

Netherlands

vs

Costa Rica

A shower of goals So far, 154 goals have been scored in the tournament. That’s 9 goals more than the total scored 2010 in the entire tournament. The record is 171 goals from 1998. There are still 8 games left, and with an average of 2.8 goals scored per game, we just might see a new record by the end of this competition.

Netherlands bring total football

This is the first time in 28 years a World Cup has overlapped with Ramadan. Speculation is raging over whether players are observing the Ramadan fast, though they have stayed mum on the subject. Many of the biggest names in the tournament are devout Muslims, including France’s Karim Benzema, and Paul Pogba, Germany’s Mesut Ozil, and Belgium’s Marouane Fellaini, Adnan Januzaj and Eden Hazard.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi is the most expensive player Lionel Messi has a “market value” of $190.8m, according to Pluri Consultoria. Brazil’s Neymar ranks third at $92.1m, after already-eliminated Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo at $142.4m.

The Dutch invented a tactical theory called total football, in which every player can play every position in the field: defender, midfielder or attacker. This creates great confusion for the opponent, as a defender can suddenly be an attacker. The Netherlands has reached the World Cup final three times, but never won.

Germany’s Klose might topple Ronaldo’s record

Miroslav Klose has tied Ronaldo’s all-time World Cup record of 15 goals, when he grabbed the crucial equaliser against Ghana this year. If Klose is able to score at least 1 more goal in Brazil, he will become the new World Cup top goalscorer. Like Ronaldo, these were accumulated over several tournaments.

Brazil have the most expensive team According to the same report, Brazil have the most expensive team, with a “market value” of $693.9m. This time, Argentina

ranks third at $649.38m, after already-eliminated Spain’s value of $688.7m.

Progress, interrupted | feature

5

school politics

As Jaago’s work takes it two steps forward, local political strong-arming pulls it one step back Alex Durham

A

s a writer from the UK and having travelled for the past year, I wanted to be involved in something meaningful during my visit to Bangladesh.

Weeks spent working at Jaago’s head office in Dhaka has cemented my understanding of the work they do, and its magnitude for Bangladesh. I have become familiar with Jaago’s phenomenal growth from a group of 17 to 1400 children attending their schools today – children who, without this organisation, would have travelled down the single path set out for them: without career prospects or aspirations for the future, without open minds full of knowledge and purpose.

There were the daily triumphs and successes of the students, which made what Jaago do all the more tangible: reporting on the outstanding results achieved by a reception class, giving ten grinning kids high fives as I walked past their classrooms, hearing the younger children laughing and proudly chanting the alphabet in unison.

Despite the cosmic rate of Jaago’s growth since 2007, there had been little political charge to be found here. It was simply a group of motivated young people united by their shared desire to educate tomorrow’s generation, and break the cruel poverty cycle which holds so many of the country’s children in its grasp.

Do you know who I am?

In May 2014, Shobuj, the nephew of Rehana Parveen Lipa, Secretary of Women’s Affairs for the local Awami League party, applied for the role of project officer at the Jaago Madaripur school. Not having met the criteria, his application had been rejected in favour of another local candidate.

Dismissing his rejection, Shobuj had been entering the school daily since Sunday with five other men, forcing the newly recruited officer to leave the premises. Emboldened by threats to Jaago from his politician aunt, they asserted that if Shobuj could not work there, no project officer could.

Lipa claims that the community is enraged by the recruitment decision, and if the situation continues to escalate, the school will be forced to close.

Volunteers teaching children in a Jaago classroom

The situation here is slipping through the hands of those at the Jaago office. Its dedicated team and founder Korvi Rakshand were visibly stressed by the escalating aggression.

On June 18, Korvi said: “Now the matter is not only about the recruitment. Now they are asking about the existence of the school and why was it built and running without their permission. It seems like now, it’s a power play. Whoever has more power will take over the school.”

These delusions of entitlement have been occurring for some time.

Korvi alleged that the previous Project Officer left the job after receiving continual threats from the same people.

Where does the corruption stop?

The circumstances have a selfdefeating irony: A man seeking to achieve a role through political nepotism, while accusing Jaago of fixing the position in approval of their “favourite” candidate.

If Shobuj did manage to inherit the role through his political affiliations, or if Jaago were

to accept his recruitment as a safety net for the children whose education would be lost, where would the corruption stop? The role of Project Officer would be responsible for school resources and organisational structure, people and plans. The lines of morality would become marred and the school’s achievements and future projections tainted.

The irony, though is beside the point. As Korvi Rakshand asks: “Are we fighting against the system, or are we going to help build a better Bangladesh?”

What will the future look like?

These recent threats issued to Jaago only serve as a catalyst for a broader and more disquieting question: What would happen if organisations such as this ceased to exist?

If Jaago Madaripur is forced to close, 30 children would no longer have access to the education they deserve, and would most likely be forced to face the ongoing tide of destitution which confronts so many. With the Jaago Foundation currently educating 1,400 children

Courtesy

across Bangladesh, the answer is a troubling one.

Bangladesh’s incidence of poverty is not unique, but a reality for most of the planet. To me, what has marked Bangladesh as different from countries who have similar issues with destitution is the sense of community and youth empowerment that have encouraged the development of determined local charities, who are steadily filling the social gaps left by struggling governments.

The Jaago Foundation is at the very forefront of this movement.

That one transparent act of desperation could cause such upheaval, that local communities could play a role in destroying something they had helped to build, perpetuates a stagnant attitude – one which will stunt change, stop education in its tracks and stain the fabric of the future for Bangladesh.

.

Alex Durham is a freelance writer and travel enthusiast from the UK

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6 feature | flower market

FLOWER POWER Fresh red roses sourced directly from farmers in Savar, sold at the early morning flower ‘haat’ in Shahbag

A closer look into the booming milliondollar flower industry of Bangladesh

Tasnuva Amin Nova

B

y 2021, Bangladesh will become a middle-income country, but many will agree that signs of prosperity are already showing in our society.

Compare the magnitude of celebrations for cultural festivals like Pahela Baishakh this year to those from ten years ago.

Flowers and festivals have a symbiotic relationship in our culture, indeed across many cultures of the world. Floriculture, the cultivation of flowers, is a rapidly growing sector in Bangladesh. The export of cut flowers and foliage to foreign countries exceeded expectations by more than 15% last year.

Lured by greater profitability, more and more farmers in the country, especially in the north, are being drawn towards cultivating flowers instead of the traditional rice and vegetables.

Shahbag market

Flower market at Shahbag

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, J U LY 4 , 201 4

Photos: Muhit Hasan

Much more goes into bringing the blooming flowers in the hands of consumers than meets the eye. The work for flower vendors and traders starts at the break of the dawn.

At five in the morning, Mohammad Kalu, a flower trader in the Shahbag area, can be found selling flowers. He does not sell you a bouquet or a stick. He sells flowers in bulk at wholesale prices.

When I arrived sleepy-eyed for our interview, he tells me I am late, the market gets ready by 4am every morning. If it was a Thursday, he said, I would not even be able to stand in front of his shop, for the market gets very busy before the weekend.

But that day was quiet. On the clean, empty streets of Shahbagh, thousands of red and white roses lay as though paying respect to the beauty of the morning. There are other homegrown flowers too.

These flowers have come from different corners of the country.

The 10,000 hectares of land in

which flowers are grown in our country are in places like Jibon Nagar, Chuadanga and Kaliganj.

Marigolds come from Moheshpur. Tuberose, red rose, gerbera and gladidi come from Jessore. Gypsy flowers are from Paturia. Roses, especially white ones, come mainly from Savar although they grow well in other parts of the country too.

Among the flowers in Kalu’s stock are gorom pinia, sunflowers, rongon, gajra (ornamental flower garlands) and marigolds. Flowers are sold in chains. They sell them in “jhopa” (1 jhopa = 20 chains). Cut flowers like rose are sold in bundles of hundred each. They even sell durva grass, mainly for decorative purposes. Many women are seen sitting by the footpaths early in the morning, where the trade takes place, sewing leaves into chains so they can be sold faster. These flowers are brought directly from the farmers spread around the country.

He warns me about the price volatility in the flower market.

Prices vary greatly depending on the freshness of the flowers.

Loose flowers of different varieties, some plucked from gardens, kept in baskets to be sewn into garlands in the morning market

7

Purple orchids imported from Malaysia, the bestsellers at this flower shop in Banani

Beauty is king

Humayan mostly sells foreign flowers in his Banani shop. He has been in the business for 15 years.

Though he sources homegrown flowers from Farmgate and Shahbag, he also sells lilies, carnations, chrysanthemums, orchids, and roses imported from China, Malaysia, Thailand, and India.

“People buy foreign flowers in this region more. Despite the high cost, people want these flowers more because they look more beautiful, stay fresh for longer and have bigger blooms,” says Humayun.

Vendors like Humayun

are aplenty in more affluent neighbourhoods of the capital, where people prefer imported flowers. They sell a stick of imported flowers, depending on the species, from anywhere between Tk50-500 per stick.

Another vendor in the same street, Bacchu says: “The value of flowers varies greatly during a day.

The heavier the flowers, the fresher they are. The problem with our deshi flowers is that they perish too quickly. They develop a black shade near the edges of the petals and look ugly, unlike the foreign ones, which stay fresher much longer.”

He blames this on our humidity and the lack of farmers’ knowledge about the preservation of flowers.

It is nearing dusk when Humayun throws away a bunch of roses that have gone stale. “When it comes to flowers, looks are all that matters,” he says.

In this hot summer, with high humidity, flower vendors are struggling to keep their flowers fresh throughout the day. At the end of the day, if the flowers don’t look good, they won’t sell, resulting in losses.

Humayun is not worried. There are many more weekends ahead.

“This is the rule of the business,” he says, “Some days you make profits, and some days losses.”

.

Women sewing loose flowers and leaves into strings for convenient trading at the wholesale flower market in Shahbag

These white lilies from China, yet to reach full bloom, rest in a pot of water in Humayun’s Banani store to keep them fresh

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8 feature | Submerged Streets

watery chaos

The city grinds to a halt for the long-awaited monsoon rains Farhana Urmee

N

either the hue of the overcast sky nor the soothing winds could generate a poetic mood

in him.

Despite searching for half an hour for a rickshaw to carry him from Sobhanbagh to Indira Road, Mujaheed could not find one.

Either the rickshaw pullers refused to take him, or wanted an exorbitant fare.

Mujahid shared a rickshaw with one of his acquaintances who had showed up, coincidentally looking for a ride to the same place.

Little did he know that the drizzle he had earlier enjoyed from inside his house would result in waterlogged streets - and disaster for the city’s transport system.

Finally on the rickshaw, Mujahid observed that the streets were submerged and it was getting almost impossible for motor vehicles to travel. The rickshaw puller, braving the rain, was struggling hard pedal his rickshaw through the water.

To avoid the dirty water that rose above the level of 12in on the rickshaw, and also to avoid falling into a manhole, Mujahid held tightly on to the hood of the rickshaw.

“It’s that horrible moment when a CNG or microbus passes by and splashes dirty water

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, J U LY 4 , 201 4

Photo: Syed Latif Hossain

I found the children of my neighbourhood playing in the filthy water, and also a tiny snake inside my house all over you,” he says, adding that human waste floats in the rainwater. With no other option, some people have to walk through these puddles.

Current street scene

In Dhaka, at least 40mm of rainfall was recorded as of June 1 of this year.

A number of areas in Dhaka are submerged by average rainfall during the monsoon including: Shantinagar, Motijheel, Fakirapool, Nilkhet, Bailey Road and Chankharpool.

When it pours, the rainwater gets stuck on the low lying streets as the water runs down from the raised houses and footpaths, says Iqbal Habib, an architect and environmental activist who works for Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA).

The surface drain (the drain on both sides of the road) and the saucer drain (the connector drain between road and surface drain) usually remain blocked with dirt.

Thus the rain water cannot pass through the drain, resulting into an overflow on the streets.

Habib attributes the waterlogging that occurs after a downpour to the lack of a proper drainage/sewerage system.

He says the drains are blocked inside due to poor management of waste, and lack the proper connections with the canals and rivers, causing the water to reverse its course and come back out of the drains.

Deadly waves

Mujahid said he was lucky to have at least found a rickshaw that saved him from coming into contact with the highly infectious mix of rain water and sewage.

“I found the children of my neighbourhood playing in the filthy water, and also a tiny snake inside my house,” says a horrified Mujahid.

The situation in capital’s Indira Road and Tollabag areas is the worst; lanes are submerged by

8-10 inches, and water also enter the houses situated on the main lanes.

The streets of Mohammadpur, Shahbagh, Bijoy Sarani, Adabor, Monipuri Para, and Dhanmondi also become waterlogged in the wake of a rainfall, even one lasting for only half an hour.

People stand still at the roadside searching for a vehicle.

The traffic becomes crazy.

Motor vehicles usually become dysfunctional when there is waist-deep water, as the engines stop functioning. Uneven streets and open manholes pose a risk to the passersby.

Nazma Nahar, a university lecturer, was found wading through knee-deep water on Dhanmondi Road 27, searching for a rickshaw to take him to Asad Gate.

“When a bus passes by, a huge wave of dirty water splashes us, the people who are walking through the flooded road,” says Nazma.

The suffering of commuters is intensified by the endless traffic as the regular movement of traffic gets disrupted by the rain.

Habib says it’s all because of unplanned urban development and overpopulation. With all the so-called development work going on around the town, the city’s open water bodies are disappearing.

Blame the drain

The network of drainage and sewers carrying water to the canals and rivers is insufficient and poorly maintained. The total sewer and drainage system is maintained by Dhaka City Corporation, Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) and the District Administration.

According to Habib, a lack of inter-body cooperation makes the entire system a failure.

According to the WASA, this gross failure of the drainage system in Dhaka is because of the filling in of wetlands around the city. The free flow of water into the canals is also being impeded, resulting in water on the streets.

Habib observes that any instant solution is unrealistic. However, if six months were spent planning a sewer management system, things might improve.

.

monsoon showers | Photo story

9

Mahmud Hossain Opu

Under my umbrella The monsoon: Clouds gather and rain pours down, soaking the city along with everyone and everything in it. In the vain attempt to stay dry, anything can become an umbrella.

Turn for more photographs

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10 PHoto story | monsoon showers

Polythene shelter A van driver takes shelter and covers himself up in a polythene sheet amid the heavy downpour

Rajib Dhar

Location: near Supreme Court

rain

activities Football sellers shelter themselves beneath their wares Location: Nazimuddin Road, Old Dhaka

Mahmud Hossain Opu

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, J U LY 4 , 201 4

11

sharing shelter Sharing one umbrella, two roadside cobblers huddle together Location: Rd 32, Dhanmondi

Joy of rain Three friends sharing one umbrella and enjoying the ecstacy of rain Location: Panthapath Syed Latif Hossain

Syed Latif Hossain

Rain Check Braving the downpour, this traffic sergeant was having a hard time to control traffic Location: Farmgate

Syed Latif Hossain

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, J U LY 4 , 2 0 1 4

12 literature | Summer reading

Falling in love with Bangladeshi writers I

have such love for books, for all they promise and deliver, that my agonising decisions come down to whether to re-read a favourite or start a new one. My toread pile predictably never shrinks, but only grows.

Reading a great book is like falling in love. I want to spend as much time with the object of my affection as possible. I’ve left parties early to return home to my reading.

My favourite places in the world are secondhand bookshops, where finding a half-hidden paperback can result in a transformative experience. What I miss most about living in London are the libraries where I would spend hours browsing, borrowing and chatting to the librarians about what we’d recently read.

Given my rather complicated relationship with Bangladesh – where I’ve never been sure about the ground beneath my feet – I’m a little embarrassed that it took me so long to realise that connecting to the place required devouring its stories – something I otherwise do naturally wherever I am. Perhaps I feared that reading Bangladeshbased narratives would alienate me further, in case I was then able to measure the chasm between my culture and me. Gloriously, this was not the case.

Oh, Bangladesh!

Soon after I moved back to Dhaka last year, I went to the TEDxDhaka talks and fell madly in love with all that Bangladeshis are accomplishing (climbing Everest, starting a cycling movement, saving animals). The stories were some of the most inspiring I have ever heard.

Then I attended Hay Festival Dhaka in November, and my Nupu is a freelance writer. This originally appeared on her blog nupupress.com

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Photo: Courtesy

Nupu Press

immense pride for Bangladeshi writers and thinkers grew hundredfold. Browsing the book stalls at Hay, I discovered a wealth of local storytellers writing in English.

This was good news for me because – and let me not be coy about this – my facility for reading Bangla is entirely appalling and I’m grateful to have access to these accounts in English.

In May at the first Bengal Lights Literary Conclave, how stories are told – in translation, in what context, how the global literary world is shifting – was also discussed.

While the writer in me needs distance between these intellectual analyses and the process of sitting down to write, the reader in me was hungry to hear the panellists debate the bigger ideas, as well as be captivated by the readings from writers based in Bangladesh, Britain, India, Hong Kong and others.

A recurring theme from the Conclave as well as the Hay Festival was how books coming from our part of the world can pander or not to the expectations of publishers elsewhere. There was little-disguised disdain from the panel members for any sort of exoticisation of the East.

I too am allergic to this often quaint, manipulative method of writing that relies on sentimentality while offering little new insight into who we are.

A book that became a film some years ago was one I couldn’t even read past the first chapter, so filled as it was with lazy clichés and even lazier lapses into Bangla words (perhaps to lend it some flavour of Other-ness) when English ones – and this was a book written in English after all – would do just as well.

Historically, many of our powerful stories in literature, art and music were set in rural landscapes, but to continue to pedal these stories now as being the only “authentic” theme is to discount our dramatically changing,

rapidly urbanised world. I’m always eager to read about anyone living anywhere, as long as it feels true.

Who’s writing

I didn’t know most of these writers when I started reading their books, but as Dhaka is spectacular this way, I’ve since been fortunate to meet most of them. It is really rather remarkable to buy a book because it looks intriguing, and then be able to ask the author questions after finishing it.

I group these Bangladeshi English writers together here, though they are otherwise a wide-ranging bunch.

Toni Morrison once said: “I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.” And that’s really what these writers have in common: They’re telling our stories. Without them, rich moments would disappear into the white noise of the world.

How moving it is to read tales told from an insider’s perspective. How fascinating to still discover new worlds within my own.

In no particular order, here are the books I’ve read recently and recommend highly. There are still plenty more to open, of course, and I can’t wait to dive into them. The to-read pile continues to grow.

.

I hail from zamindar family.

Very honorable and nicely.

Trust me, my friends are also.

Why you make no friendship with me?

I belongs to A1 elites of Dhaka city!

I celebrating Valentines, also Halloween, Of course New Years Party, so nice the countdown to midnight, “Taquila in Sonargaon pool and many sexy ladies in eyesight!”

Thank you please the PM and past leaders, Who built many monuments, roads and flyovers, And named them after their father, husband, lover We are today golden Bengal and also sober!

And I busy establishing textile spinning, dyeing, also printing With my CIP passport, I always business class flying!

I participating in show tenders for Boeings and F28 planes, Constantly giving speed money for contracts – DC10s, AK47s, Don’t be thundered to hear MiG29s, frigates, But first I must make please the minister with various baits — Excerpt from “A1 Elites,” The Devil’s Thumbprint by Ahsan Akbar

13

nupu’s picks

1

4

Good Night, Mr Kissinger and Other Stories

2 Beloved strangers

by Maria Chaudhuri (Bloomsbury India, New Delhi/London, 2014) This memoir is the only non-fiction work on the list. I found it heartbreaking and at times devastating – its wry style notwithstanding – though it’s written with such exquisite prose and deftness that it’s a page turner: growing up in a strict family, moving abroad, finding love, leaving love, seeking herself and the ties that bind her. As with all the best writing, it educated me about the human condition.

3 Sari Reams

by Sadaf Saaz (University Press Limited, Dhaka, 2013) Saaz is a multi-layered talent, especially when you see where she takes this seemingly simple exchange. She excels in her territory of the political (general, gender and socio-economic), using these poems to explore everything from Rana Plaza to women’s rights. A powerful, moving collection that comes with a CD of Saaz’s reading over music.

9

The Devil’s Thumbprint

by Ahsan Akbar (Bengal Lights Books, Dhaka, 2013)

by K Anis Ahmed (University Press Limited, Dhaka, 2012) With a patient, skilful look at characters that may seem familiar, Ahmed tells us their stories with sensitive detail so they feel new. My favourite of the nine shorts are about two brothers, and their changing dynamics and dreams as they come of age, with an impeccable scene where a learned great-uncle comes to assess poetry. A beautifully curated collection, all the stories push past the point where a writer of lesser imagination would stop.

6

The Ocean of Mrs Nagai

by Sharbari Z Ahmed (Daily Star Books, Dhaka, 2013)

These short stories appear light with their razor-sharp wit, skipping effortlessly in her stylish prose, but they are grounded in haunting history and political backdrops.

The settings range from the US, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Japan.

Just as you align yourself with each of the protagonists you realise his or her hold is becoming slippery – and you slide with them. It’s a powerful trick Ahmed pulls off seamlessly, especially in her title story.

5

Akbar’s incisive wit finds a perfect home in this collection of 34 lively and well-honed poems, which are at times dark, often delightful, and always impeccable. Those about work should be read on the way to the office. Those about longing and desire should be read as the sun dips down and the shadows grow tall. And the irreverent ones should be read over and again at every opportunity.

7

Like a Diamond in the Sky

by Shazia Omar (Zubaan & Penguin, New Delhi, 2009)

From the tense and exciting opening chapter of a mugging through the maze of Dhaka’s underbelly of drug lords, arms smugglers, dancing girls and corrupt detectives to the slums on the city’s outskirts, Omar writes with unrelenting speed and lyrical prose about love, desire and redemption. It’s an astonishing, impressive ride with no false or forced note.

A Golden Age

by Tahmima Anam (John Murray, London, 2007)

This is the most internationally recognised and applauded on this list (this title won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book), and justifiably so.

From the mesmerising first line, Anam – on the lists of Granta and the Guardian of best young writers – draws you into a story about a family during Bangladesh’s liberation war.

The Good Muslim (Canongate, Edinburgh, 2011) follows this novel, with the third in the trilogy expected soon.

10

8 The Merman’s Prayer and Other Stories

by Syed Manzoorul Islam (Daily Star Books, Dhaka, 2013) The only contemporary writer skilled enough to translate his own Bangla stories into English. One of my favourites is the daughter and mother-in-law who set off on a trip to visit the husband/son, each plotting to first get rid of and then save the other. Islam (incidentally my gracious mentor from nearly two decades ago) writes about those not grand enough to make headlines, nor those so downtrodden as to be highlighted for other purposes, but the often overlooked segments of our society.

Voices

by Munize Manzur (Bengal Publications, Dhaka, 2013) These twenty-seven stories range in length, style and setting, displaying Manzur’s fine grasp of storytelling.

In one favourite, a young woman wishes men came with instructions, the way one can learn to wear a sari via Google. She excels in stories of the everyday, of longing and hope, wound around a centre of expectations, both internal and external.

Bengal Lights

edited by Khademul Islam (Bengal Lights Books, Dhaka, 2012–current) This biannual literary journal was birthed in Bangladesh but embraces writing and art from around the world. Despite its wide scope and range it feels uniquely cohesive as an anthology. Reading these journals introduced me to many of the writers I subsequently went on to read on this list.

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14 Legalese | Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi Got a problem?

Write to Jennifer at weekend@

MLM Maestros

Q

My friends and I have just graduated recently and we are looking to branch out and start a multi-level marketing business.

Each of us has excellent contacts in different professional areas, so we are expecting no problems in developing the business.

However, it appears that there are some legal implications and

A

Dear Reader, Congratulations to you and your friends on successfully graduating, and welcome to the professional phase of your lives!

It’s very tempting to start off a business, but I would suggest you all gain some professional experience first, prior to launching your business. Not only will it help you run your business more effectively, but the professional networking skills will be immensely valuable as well.

Having said that, if you have already decided on your business venture and are ready to form your company, let me not be the one to dampen your spirits. Forming a private limited company is relatively easy. Corporate lawyers are doing so all the time. Your lawyer should be able to help you form your company within a month or two max.

Once that’s done, the next step applicable to you will be applying for an MLM licence.

The MLM Act has recently come into play, making it mandatory for all multi-level marketing businesses to possess a valid MLM licence. Failure to comply with this condition, will result in a fine Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi is a barrister and solicitor of England and Wales. She is currently Senior Partner at Legacy Legal Corporate.

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dhakatribune.com

licences involved. We are at the very initial stage and haven’t even chosen an office location yet. In fact, we were initially thinking of using one of our home addresses for registration purposes and then moving later when we are more stable on our feet.

We have already started talking and informally selling some stuff (recruiting people) so it’s “all systems go” as soon as the company gets registered. How much time will it all take?

and/or imprisonment. This licence will need to be applied for in the appropriate manner with the prescribed form, with the required supporting documents and applicable fees. The government of Bangladesh will be the licence awarding body in this instance.

Remember, this licence will have to be renewed every year.

Additionally, the registered address of the company needs to be the true physical office of the company. This is crucial as the government will physically inspect and investigate the registered address, prior to issuing an MLM licence. The decision to grant the MLM licence will depend on the outcome of said investigation.

It is prohibited for an MLM business to market any product without complying to the proper packaging requirement.

Packaging of products must contain the name and country of manufacturing company; weight, quantity and instructions for use; maximum retail price; date of manufacturing, date of packaging; date of expiration, or period of the guarantee or warranty; and information regarding the product’s quality.

Bear in mind that the government, subject to providing the licensee with a fair hearing, reserves the right to temporarily suspend or terminate the licence if the licensee company provides any false statements or conceals any material information while applying for the licence, breaches

Cartoon: Rio Shuvo

the Multi-Level Marketing Activities Control Act 2013 (or any conditions appurtenant to the licence), fails to start up the multilevel marketing operation within the time stipulated in the licence, or conducts any business beyond the scope of the licence.

In conclusion, while this business strategy is not widely adopted in Bangladesh, safeguards from a legal perspective have already been put into place.

Cease selling products to people immediately, even if they are just friends or relatives. Wait for your licence and then do it legitimately.

Professing ignorance of the law is never really a valid defence.

Additionally, you may consider appointing a lawyer on retainer, as MLMs are a broad area and I have only been able to skim the surface here.

.

Football in bengal | Sport

15

Jadukar Samad: Our football magician

The forgotten football legend of British Bengal Faisal Mahmud

F

or two decades, house TN-147 situated in the Shahebpara railway colony of Parbatipur railway junction in Dinajpur, was a major tourist attraction. During the fifties and sixties, people from all over the country would come to meet one man.

He was a sexagenarian by then, but still imposing with his six feet tall and lean, strong physique, complemented by an impressive moustache. People used to meet and hear his stories, and he became a hero of football folklore.

Pelé had just started playing.

Maradona and Baggio where children and Zidane wasn’t even born yet.

Beloved figure

Syed Abdus Samad, known as Jadukar Samad, might be unknown to the present generation, but to many, he was the first magician of the football world.

“Jadukar Samad was probably one of the best players the world has ever seen,” said renowned Bangladeshi footballer Kaiser Hamid. “He was the first Bangali footballer who achieved fame at an international level. It’s a tragedy that the young generation of this era knows almost nothing about him.”

Delwar Hossain Rony, a government auditor from Parbatipur, said: “I heard about Jadukar Samad from my father, an employee of the railway like Samad. My father told me astonishing stories about him, about his football skills and how he defeated the British and Europeans in football matches with his skills.”

“He was so revered that the East Pakistan Railway created the post of platform inspector for him, even though there was no provision for such a post in the railway. He was incumbent in that post until his death and stayed in house TN-147,” said Rony.

Birth of a football legend

Samad was born in 1895 in Purnea, Bihar, in British India. His football career spanned 23 years from 1915-1938. In the days of the Raj, football in Bengal was played mainly by the British.

Jadukar Samad was probably one of the best players the world has ever seen

But by the end of the 19th century, clubs such as Shobhabazar, National, Kumartuli, Chandannagar Sporting, Mohun Bagan, Aryans and Chinsura Sporting had started to form.

In his book “Indian Football,” Kolkata-based football historian Subranshu Roy wrote: “Since its inception in 1898, only one local team had been allowed in the IFA Shield. Mohun Bagan’s chance came in 1909 and after early exits in the first two years, they made history in 1911. It helped popularise the sport, and soon football became an integral part of the Bangali way of life.”

Samad who exhibited his talents in football from early boyhood, was excited about the popularisation of football. He played for the Purnea Junior Football Club. Because of his astounding skills, particularly in dribbling, tackling and in making measured shots, his name soon drew the attention of football club managers in Kolkata.

Glory in Bengal

Samad joined the Calcutta Main Town Club in 1912.

In 1913, he went to play matches in Kolkata for the Tajhat football club of Rangpur. The governor of Bengal, mesmerised by his skills, gave him his “magician” nickname.

Aryans, a second division club in Kolkata, enrolled him in their

team in 1915. Thanks to Samad’s craftsmanship, the Aryans Club soon became eligible to play in the first division league. In 1916, Samad played a match against the Somerset football team from England. He played for Calcutta Orients Club in 1918 and for the East Bengal Railway team in 19211930.

Samad scored the most memorable trophy-winning goal of his career in 1927 against the Sherwood Forestry team, patronised by the chief of the Indian army, Lieutenant General Sherwood Mall.

At the age of 38, Samad joined the Calcutta Mohammedan Sporting Club (founded in 1891) in 1933, and played for the next five years with skill, vigour and devotion. Thanks to his performance, his team clinched

both the First Division Football League Championship and the Indian Football Association Shield – for five consecutive years.

The world stage

Samad was selected for the Indian national team in 1924, and became its captain in 1926. He travelled to Myanmar, Sri lanka, Hong Kong, China, Java, Sumatra, Malaysia, Borneo, Singapore and Britain to play matches.

In a match played against China in Peking, Samad was injured and did not play in the first half. Soon his team was trailing by 0-3. He told his coach that, despite his injury, if he got on the field he could score “ek hali goal” (four goals).

The coach agreed and Samad went into the field in the second half. He scored four goals in a row to give his side a 4-3 victory.

.

Pitch perfect Here is a classic story about Jadugar Samad: In a match in Indonesia in 1934, Samad was evading the strong defense of four or five Indonesian footballers with sheer vitality and speed. He went close to the goal post and kicked, but the shot struck the goal bar.

The same thing happened five minutes later.

After that, Samad complained to the match supervising committee. He asserted that his shot measurement could not be wrong. They measured it and found that, in fact, the goal post was four inches shorter than the international standard.

All the shots that struck the goal bar were considered goals.

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16 TOUGH LOVE | DINA SOBHAN

Face fungus and lost love Q A

My previously cleanshaven husband of 15 years has recently grown a particularly odious little moustache. I shall not trouble you with an extensive description, but

suffice to say I cannot abide this furry aberration. The problem is he refuses to shave it off, saying it makes him look “ruggedly handsome.” How can I snap him out of this insane delusion and end my deep suffering?

Fight fire with fire, I say, and grow one of your very own. Just stay away from Nelo’s or whichever beauty establishment you frequent for about three weeks and you should have quite a prodigious growth above your comely lips to greet him with every morning.

If you are not blessed with an abundance of facial hair, you

could consider applying the same tactic to any of your four meaty appendages.

If he is a red-blooded chauvinist male and/or a typical South Asian male with a fear of fur, he will start quaking in his chappals and invite you to make an appointment for the RollsRoyce treatment at his expense forthwith. At that point you will announce that as long as his “furry aberration,” as you have

Dina Sobhan is a freelance writer, and cautions readers not to take her ‘advice’ here too seriously!

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so sweetly termed it, continues to reside on his plump little face, you shall be forced to call a beauty strike.

If that doesn’t work, just put up a few pictures of ugly/fat/ generally unpopular men with moustaches around the house – ie. Hitler, Stalin, Groucho Marx, Genghis Khan, etc. to fuel the realisation that he looks more like them than the latter-day Raj Kapoor he imagines himself to be.

Cartoon: Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy/Dhaka Tribune

Got a problem?

Write to Dina at weekend@ dhakatribune. com

Q

I lost my girlfriend some months ago to another guy, and it happened like magic.

Poof, one day she was just gone! Though it was my fault in some ways, I really want her back. In fact, I’ve decided I want to marry her. I have spent hours apologising for my mistakes and assucan’t let goring her that things will be better this time, but to no avail. What can I do to make her fall in love with me again?

A

Oh, honey, that ship has sailed.

Prem’er Nowka and is floating down the smooth waters of the Buriganga navigated by a brand new captain … and it doesn’t look like it’s coming back anytime soon.

Your ex has now had a taste of the good life, I hope, so it’s unlikely that any amount of apologising will rectify your past mistakes and bring her back to you.

Unless you’re Elizabeth Taylor, you usually get only one shot at a relationship, and you obviously blew it. Yet you expect her to come back for a second helping of misery because you’re waving the promise of a paltry ring in her face?

Pray tell, what has brought on this sudden realization that not only do you still love her, but you also want to marry her?

Is it simply because she’s with someone else?

The fruit is always juicier in somebody else’s orchard, innit?

Well, I’m sorry to tell you that you have to shop at the kacha bazaar from now on, cause that katthal is off limits.

And just for future reference, it’s not magic that lures women to the other guy, but more so qualities like charm, intelligence, loyalty, humour, generosity and so on.

Unless you cultivate a few of those qualities yourself, you’re going to experience very little magic in the romance department.

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Bakarkhani | origin story

17

Bakarkhani:

From Mughal courts to old Dhaka

The tale of the layered delicacy of the subcontinent, and the incomplete love story behind it Reema Islam A Delicious Discovery

The first time I tried bakarkhani, I was 10, and visiting my nani. The memory is so clear in my mind.

Never in my life had I eaten food that looked so inviting. I ate five.

Little did I know this layered bread is said to have travelled from beyond the western borders of the subcontinent to Bangladesh.

The old part of Dhaka still follows an age-old tradition of waking up to the smell of freshly baked bakarkhanis with sweetened milk tea. It is popularly eaten with sweet curd, rice pudding or some kind of a fruit conserve, guava being a popular choice.

Dhaka mainly sells three kinds of Bakarkhani: a plain variety with diagonal cuts across the top, ones sweetened with sugar, and a style stuffed with cheese (simply called cheese bakarkhani).

How bakarkhani got its name

Legend describes how Aga Bakar, a general in the army of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah in the 1800s, fell in love with a courtesan called Khani Begum, who was also the love interest of a rival general.

She was eventually murdered as a result of her two feuding suitors, and the distraught lover Bakar is said to have inspired breadmakers to name his favourite bakery item as an ode to his love.

The name thus morphed from “Bakar-Khani” into “bakarkhani.”

My Bakery Experience

I visited Becharam Deuri, an area in the older part of Dhaka city replete with Mughal architecture.

This was left as a remnant of the Mughals stationed in the then Bengal province, around the 17th century. Right behind the central jail – which is waiting to be soon turned into a museum – I dodged donkey carts, cycle rickshaws, motorbikes and delivery carts that led to a narrow alley, arriving at a decrepit looking shop that looked like a fire had gutted its walls leaving them charred.

Mostofa, the shop owner, was busy making his last batch of the sweetened bakarkhanis, hooking

Bakers hook them with their steel pointer and stick them to the sides of the clay oven

them with his steel pointer and sticking them to the sides of the clay oven.

He chatted with me, explaining how his father had set up this shop 40 years ago and had passed down the family trade. Most older shops in Dhaka have been reconstructed to something else, but Mostofa’s shop stands witness to a time when people lived a simpler life and this older part of the city was not so crowded.

I downed a few bakarkhanis without tea. I let the layers unwrap in my mouth.

The plain ones had a subtle biscuity taste, until I ate it with beef kebabs, which allowed the bakarkhani to absorb the flavours.

It is sometimes eaten with slices of cottage cheese as a wholesome snack. The sweet ones were definitely more palatable on their own, and the cheese bakarkhanis simply melted in the mouth, with blankets of cottage cheese enveloped within.

In earlier times, bakers would knead the dough with mawa – a dried, condensed milk similar to ricotta cheese – and stretch it before rolling it up into layers like a phyllo. But now to cut down on costs, molasses is used to add that touch of decadence that

ultimately gives the bakarkhani a reddish hue.

cultural differences

The bakarkhani is a staple snack eaten in many parts of the region, and it varies in appearance. When I first ate it that winter afternoon, it seemed like a deshaped sort of disc much like a puff pastry, but I later ate a heart-shaped one and even square ones.

The bakarkhanis of Dhaka have maintained their look and feel for centuries, and are still considered a popular part of the local food culture.

Kashmiris often eat bakarkhanis resembling a large bread or naan, whereas the Pakistani ones are more like phyllo pastries of different shapes.

In Lahore, the local baker offered me a steaming cup of a strange light pink tea with crisp biscuits, and I was transported to the Mad Hatter’s tea party.

Most bakers in Pakistan originate from Kashmir in the Indian subcontinent and are settled all over. They carry on with their tradition of making breads, while they drink a tea called noon chai or sheer chai, made with green tea, bicarbonate

Photo: Mumit M

soda, milk and salt, the collaboration resulting in a pinkcoloured tea. They add pistachios for more pronounced flavour.

As bonding over a plate of bakarkhanis and tea happens all over the subcontinent, this layered delicacy has helped the Hindus and Muslims of Patna, India come closer. Baked by Hindus during Ramadan, these large naan shaped bakarkhanis have helped build religious harmony.

Even today, bakarkhanis are dipped in a creamy milk and nuts mixture and sent to the bridegroom’s house by the bride’s family as part of a wedding ritual in some houses.

The bakarkhani biscuits have, over time, grown to fascinate me with their versatility. As I sit back and sip my chai with a crispy cheese bakarkhani, the layers transport me back to the Mughal era of the general Aga Bakar.

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Reema Islam is a freelance journalist, food lover, and researcher on heritage conservation. She also runs a catering line of healthy food called The Fearless Olive.

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18 Stay in

HD Up your world cup

W

ant to watch your football in high definition. How about 3D? With so many choices in the current market, and all the World Cup sales promotions, it can get a little difficult deciding what’s best for you. Here’s a guide.

LCDs

Deshi Shakira sings World Cup song

“L

a la la … parle dekhao.”

Tishma, the socalled Rock Princess of Bengal, has released a Bangla version of Shakira’s thumping World Cup 2014 song “La La La.” The video blends footage from fans and players in Bangladesh with international footage from the World Cup, bringing them together into one unified experience.

The lyrics may very well get stuck in your head: La la la... parle dekhao (If you can, show them) Dekho prithibi kemon kore eki chonde je mete roy (Look how the

Sudoku Use the numbers 1-9 to complete each of the 3x3 square grids such that each horizontal and vertical line also contains all of the digits from 1-9

whole world rejoices to the same rhythm) For those of you who don’t know Tishma, she made her debut with her album “Tara” as a child artist in 2002.

As she has made obvious in the last few years, Tishma is highly inspired by the Colombian singersongwriter and dancer Shakira.

She has “rocked” quite a few other Shakira numbers, including “Waka Waka,” the official anthem of the last World Cup. For a full dose of Tishma, check out her Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/tishmaonline.

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3D and smart TVs

3D and smart TVs have that “wow” factor going for them. But as seductive as they may be in the showrooms, the hype kind of dies out within the first couple of days of bringing it home.

The stereoscopic 3D is an

Mini cryptics Clues ACROSS 1 More than one friend has confused URL (6) 6 Amusements nitrogen oxide has me in (5) 7 Hide poncho (5) 8 Damned confused question (6) DOWN 2 Match kitchen, for example, to space (7) 3 Dish maker in resort (7) 4 Hear 51 songs first, then X more (6) 5 Serene comes first in tartan (6)

Last week’s sudoku solutions

Upgrading from a CRT television to LCD/LED or 3D TV is a huge step up. The difference between the LCD and LED screens aren’t as vast.

The LED has a brighter display, better depth of colour, thinner dimensions and is more energy efficient. Yet these differences aren’t really that noticeable unless you’re doing a side by side comparison. If you already have a decent LCD screen sitting at home, it’s probably not worth spending the extra money for a new LED TV. If the upgrade is from a CRT screen, on the other hand, it is a better a better option to go for the LED screen if you have the funds for it.

Shah Nahian

absolute treat for the eyes. However, just as happens in the theatres, once you get into the story, you end up forgetting that what you are watching is actually in 3D. The same applies for 3D gaming as well.

It’s looks amazing at the beginning, but without even realising, you stop noticing it. Fast paced competitive games such as Call of Duty might also cause disorientation after long hours of play.

The smart TV is, on the other hand, future proof. The ability to stream content from your other devices and off the internet is a great feature to have. Its a game changer for your home entertainment system. However, apart from these features, the app market has very little to offer as of yet. You can make video calls using Skype, browse your Facebook account and play a few simple games, but there are just too many other devices out there that allow you to do this. The only enhanced feature it adds to these apps is nothing but a bigger screen.

Though the app market doesn’t have all that much to offer, there is a lot of room for growth. Just like other smart devices on the market, we’re likely to see complex applications in the near future, taking the home entertainment system to a completely new level.

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Last week’s Mini Cryptics solutions:

Go out

19

Weekly Planner July 4

July 6-17

Education | Ethical Hacking and Info Security Adda

Fair | Drik Eid Mela

When 12:30pm-2:30pm Where Sher-e-Bangla

Check it out and check-in at World Cup Goal-E, Kolta Bazar, Johnson Road. Volunteers painted the walls of this goli (alleyway) and hung flags to portray true World Cup spirit. Organisers 1 Degree Initiative and Zanala Bangladesh want to make this the most “checked-in” place on Facebook.

Volunteer workshop for 100 Smiles 2014 When July 10 until Eid day Where House 67/C, Road 9/A,

Dhanmondi What One Degree Initiative is recruiting volunteers for 100 Smiles, their annual Eid event.

100 Smiles operates on the belief that street children shouldn’t be deprived of an unforgettable Eid. Armed with smiles, face paint and a tremendously upbeat attitude, volunteers have gathered in different areas of Dhaka for the past four years.

100 Smiles feels less like community service and more like a day of endless fun. They frolic in the streets with excited,

lovable street children, painting faces and hands to reflect the joy apparent on their faces.

With activities such as puppet shows, henna painting, different sports like cricket and football, and just general goofing off.

Volunteers are involved in putting together the goodie bags (containing toys, masks and other trinkets), organising the activities, and playing with the children.

Register online on the Facebook page by July 9.

Workshop sessions will start from July 10.

For any queries and questions, please email activecitizens@1di.org.

When 11am-9pm Where Drik Gallery,

Agricultural University, Sher-eBangla Nagar What An open platform where all participants can share and discuss ethical hacking and the security of computers and the internet.

Participation is free of cost.

July 5-6 Education | SAT Workshop When 11am-3pm Where EMK Center,

House 5, Road 27 (old), Midas Center, Dhanmondi What A speaker will guide participants through the SAT process, including practice questions, study skills, and tips on how to crack the exam.

Participants will be given worksheets to solve during the session to reveal their problem areas. Register online.

July 6 Biking | Rhythm Road 5th Night Ride (Iftar Party at Star Kabab, Banani) When 5:30pm Where Banani

post office, Banani Star Kabab What A 20km ride through Banani and the surrounding areas before iftar. Report at the Banani post office at 5:30pm sharp for the ride. Bring your own money for the iftar.

House 58, Road 15A (New), Dhanmondi What An Eid Fair hosted by T&S Events. Many companies will be taking part and putting up stalls. Many Facebook stores will also be showcasing their wares, including RuNaL’s Fascinating Fashion Zone and Ahiyan Collections, specializing in accessories.

July 9 Science Contest | Robomania v1.0 When 10am Where Islamic

University of Technology (IUT), Board Bazar, Gazipur What It is a robot competition for the robotic enthusiasts of IUT. The competition will centre on a robot which will follow a path to a specified finish line. This is the first intra-IUT Robotics Contest organized by IEEE’s IUT Student Branch. All are welcome to attend.

July 10-12 Fair | Grand Eid Meenabazar

When 11am-11pm Where Gulshan Club,

House NWJ 2/A Road 50, Gulshan 2 What An Eid fair showcasing a wide range of products, such as accessories by Bejewel’d. It provides a chance to explore the different Eid collections and get a head start on the necessary Eid shopping.

Send your events to weekend@dhakatribune.com

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20 Beyond bangladesh | art therapy

Peace through art A Bangladeshi student talks about his own contribution to peace in Sierra Leone Syeda Samira Sadeque

communication, social interaction and art.

“There are many people who are artists inside, but never get a chance. Activities like these enhance them both intellectually and mentally,” says Onik.

Arts for Peace brought the children together, and eventually they made friends and had an opportunity to meet people they would otherwise not see; it was an amalgamation of different tribal communities and religions.

“We are talking about a postwar nation where lots of things are very fragmented. So it was very refreshing for us and even more refreshing for them,” says Onik.

Arts for Peace then introduced the young artists to film societies and other networking opportunities, exhibited their artworks, and even brought some of their work back to the US after the summer.

Experience of a lifetime

I

n the summer of 2008, Syed Mafiz Kamal Onik was an undergraduate at Earlham College in the US. What set him apart was his decision to simultaneously launch Arts for Peace, a project that aimed to use art therapy to reintegrate children of war in Sierra Leone.

Following a decade-long civil war, with 70,000 casualties and 2.6m people displaced, Sierra Leone emerged from war in 2002, with assistance from Britain, the former colonial power, and a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission comprising Bangladeshi soliders.

The war witnessed widespread atrocities, including the abduction of children and systematic rape, as well as giving rise to 6,845

Did you know?

Bangla was made an official language in Sierra Leone in 2002, to honour of the role of Bangladeshi UN peacekeeping troops during their civil war.

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, J U LY 4 , 201 4

child soldiers (including 506 girls) according to UN statistics.

“We were doing something very close to what many practitioners would call ‘art therapy’ or ‘leadership enhancement.’ It was very youth-led and youth oriented, that’s what we were there for,” says Onik.

“I had a course named ‘Culture and Complex’ for which I did a research project on child soldiers. I learned about blood diamonds, and realised it was a relevant problem,” he added.

He approached a friend, Ishmail who was a local, and decided to do something about it. “I saw the Davis grant flying around, and applied for it and luckily got it, and we got more involved.”

The Davis Projects for Peace is a yearly grant provided to youths to allow them an opportunity to create and test their own ideas for building peace.

Although the project began as a Davis project, it eventually became bigger and Onik’s team grew to 10 members. He was the only foreigner on that team.

Photo: Courtesy

“They (people in Sierra Leone) used to call me Lebanese,” he joked.

Why art?

As wars ravage countries across the globe, art is often not the first solution people think of.

“For me, it's a personal bias,” says Onik. “At the same time, when I spoke to Ishmail who is an engineer and is on a very different track, he agreed. Art is just a tool.

Since our project, we've never considered art to be a problemsolving phenomenon. We just think it's a tool that's not used enough.”

The two imagined using art as a catalyst to change children's lives, and decided to search for children who were actually interested in art.

“We were just showing them a[nother] side to themselves.”

Uniting

Onik and Ishmail focused on keeping it as simple as possible.

They gathered war-affected youths of differing economic statuses from different tribes and different areas, putting them into workshops, teaching leadership,

For Onik, it was a very rewarding experience.

“It was a growing opportunity for me, not just personally but also professionally. We went into it rather naively. We wanted to be part of a solution and we kept exploring. Having grown up in Bangladesh, many of the things I encountered in Sierra Leone weren't strange or new to me.”

His interaction with the child soldiers also had an impact on him.

“Many of them were interested, many were alarmed. We opened some knots – me trying to share, them trying to learn. We played soccer by the beach. You learn so much from people through human touch.”

It has been six years since Onik stepped into an unknown world, a world of strangers and soldiers, to explore his individual contribution to peace. The project ended two years ago, but Onik has not lost hope.

“Any kind of development project should start in order to end,” he says.

Onik believes the effects of the Arts for Peace initiative continue to touch him and many others in Sierra Leone; one of the children he had worked with recently got in touch to tell Onik that he had become a professional artist.

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