Weekend Tribune Volume 2 Issue 24

Dhaka Tribune | vo l 2 I ssu e 24 | F R I D AY, OCTOB ER 31, 2014

Bang!

4

Dhaka phobias

7

Art and class

12

Rohingya stories

CONTENTS

1

Volume 2 | Issue 24 | October 31, 2014 Editor Zafar Sobhan

News

Executive Editor Shahriar Karim

2 News 3 Meanwhile

Managing Editor Jahangir Hyder

Features

Features Editor Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

4 Top 10 City frights

Assistant Magazine Editor Rumana Habib Weekend Tribune Team Tasnuva Amin Nova Mark S Baidya Farhana Urmee Ishrat Jahan Farina Noireet Faisal Mahmud Tausif Sanzum Sabrina Toppa Art Direction/Photography Syed Latif Hossain

6 Interview Subrata Das 7 Feature Art and class

5 Photo story

8 Feature Card sharp 12 Feature Rohingya stories

Snake charmers market

Regulars

Contributors Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi Shudeepto Ariquzzaman Shadman Hasan Rifat Islam Esha Imrul Islam Yamin Khan

Production Masum Billah Advertising Shahidan Khurshed Circulation Masud Kabir Pavel Website dhakatribune.com/weekend facebook.com/WeekendTrib Email your letters to: weekend@dhakatribune.com

the cover

This man became the unwitting assassin of a cartoon tiger when he walked by this graffiti at Chhobir Haat, in Charukala, Dhaka. This photo was selected for the TTL: Out of the Box exhibition earlier this week.

Photo: Md Enamul Kabir Rony

17 Listology Chill in the air 20 Funny bone Yamin Khan

Cartoons Syed Rashad Imam Tonmoy Rio Shuvo

Graphics Md Mahbub Alam

15 Interview Kazi Rozy: Survivor

16 Legalese 18 Stay In 19 Go Out

9 Photo story Dark rooms

H

alloween is not really a Bangladeshi holiday, but there are plenty of tricks and treats to go around.

Does Dhaka life ever strike fear in your heart? You’re bound to relate to one of our top 10 Dhaka phobias (pg 4).

How about snakes? We travel to Savar for the scoop on the annual snake festival, and the Bede’s behind it (pg 5).

Remember those hairy horror stories from childhood? We can enjoy them again as grownups in all their absurd glory (pg 20).

We’ve got one more trick up our sleeve: 29, the local card game loved by university students across Dhaka (pg 8). Wanna play?

Our photo story continues the nostalgia in the dark rooms of grandma’s decaying home – for a simultaneously spooky and poignant effect (pg 9-11).

Art is a highly personal expression

Editor’s note

and experience – but can everyone access it? We delve into the class issues surrounding both makers and appreciators of art (pg 7). And we meet Chittagong-based painter Subrata Das and his macabre world (pg 6).

On a far more serious note, we hear the harrowing personal tales of Rohingya refugees (pg 12-14). In this post monsoon season, when many cross into Bangladesh on the calmer seas – it is crucial to remember the humanity behind the numbers.

To close breast cancer awareness month, meet the incredible survivor Kazi Rozy, poet, writer, and member of parliament (pg 15) Looking forward, November reigns.

The upcoming is chock-full of cultural delights, and we’re here to help you plan accordingly (pg 19).

The night time chill is first on our list of unmistakable signs that winter is coming (pg 17).

- Rumana Habib

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

2 News | This week

The world at a glance Bangladesh remarkably narrows gender gap

workers, which drew criticism from BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

The two other deals signed are: “Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners,” and “Handing over of a piece of land for the UAE embassy in Dhaka.”

The agreements were signed following a meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE vice-president, prime minister, and ruler of Dubai, at Zabeel Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Bangladesh has substantially narrowed the gender gap, scoring 11% higher over just eight years, according to a report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday.

The results were achieved by ensuring wider female participation in the economic sphere and creating access to better health and education service, the WEF report said.

Bangladesh has achieved its highest ever overall score, according to the report.

The country jumped 23 notches, from 91 to 68, in the eight years since 2006. Of these the last eight ranks were overcome in just the past one year with the county’s score standing at 0.697 in 2014, the WEF said.

Iceland tops the list for the sixth year running, with Yemen placed last.

Hawaiian village Pahoa evacuates as Kilauea lava threatens

Residents of a Hawaiian village threatened by lava have begun evacuating as the flow reaches 68 metres from the first house in its path.

Two roads to Pahoa have been closed and a cemetery has already been overtaken by the flow from the Kilauea volcano.

Kilauea on the Big Island in the US has been erupting since 1983, but lava has recently burst forth from a new vent.

The town’s residents will be allowed to watch the destruction of their homes, Hawaiian officials say.

Bangladesh-UAE: 3 deals, but labour market still closed

Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates on Monday signed three agreements, including a deal on cooperation to fight crime, during the prime minister’s visit to the Gulf state.

But the UAE remained closed to further recruitment of Bangladeshi

Weekend Tribune Desk Ebola outbreak: WB chief appeals for volunteers

The president of the World Bank has made an emotional appeal for thousands of medical workers to volunteer and help contain the growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Jim Yong Kim said at least 5,000 medics and support staff were needed to beat the disease.

Many potential recruits were too scared to travel to West Africa, he added.

The current Ebola outbreak has infected more than 10,000 people and killed nearly 5,000.

World Bank chief Kim was speaking during a visit to Ethiopia, where he accompanied UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African Union chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Woman hanged in Iran for killing alleged rapist

An Iranian woman who was executed on Saturday despite international pleas for clemency.

Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was hanged on Saturday morning in Tehran’s Evin prison after spending five years on death row for the 2007 murder of a man she said had tried to rape her.

Jabbari confessed to stabbing

Nizami gets death penalty and Ghulam Azam dies

O

n Wednesday, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami was sentenced to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. Justice M Enayetur Rahim, chairman of the three-member International Crimes Tribunal 1, delivered the much-delayed verdict at 12:20pm, reading out the summary of a 204-page verdict.

Eight charges out of a total of 16, which include conspiracy, planning, complicity, incitement and active participation were proved, the ICT-1 pronounced.

This is the 10th verdict by the two war crimes tribunals.

Last Thursday, war criminal and former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam died at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.

Azam was convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal last year, identifying him as a conspirator and a key strategist in crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War as the leader of the anti-liberation force Jamaat-e-Islami.

Although he deserved highest punishment for the crimes he committed, the judge said while

Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi in the back in the apartment where he allegedly tried to sexually abuse her.

She claimed that another man in the apartment was the one who killed Sarbandi, though she refused to identify him.

According to Amnesty International, Jabbari’s claims were never properly investigated.

Canada shooting: Thousands pack streets

Corporal Nathan Cirillo, 24, was one of two soldiers killed in a pair of attacks last week that police said were carried out independently by radical recent converts to Islam.

The assaults took place as Canada’s military was stepping up its involvement in air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

Cirillo was standing guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill when he was shot dead by Michael Zehaf Bibeau.

Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper told mourners at the church that Cirillo had inspired and united Canadians. He choked back tears in a rare public display of emotion when addressing Cirillo’s five-year-old son.

Pineapples poisoned for quick sales

U

pronouncing the verdict, out of consideration for his age and physical state he was sentenced to 90 years in prison.

“Justice has been served. He did

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

not die a free man and political leader,” Sajeeb Wazed Joy commented on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

News: Desk. Photo: Dhaka Tribune

nscrupulous farmers in Mymensingh’s Fulbari upazila are treating Ashwini pineapples with chemicals, particularly ethopen, which are harmful for human health.

Farmers said they could not make profits by selling the fruit during winter, so they were using the chemical for quick ripening and marketing before the cold season.

Ethopen is used to ripen the fruits three days before they are picked from the field. Plant growth regulatory chemicals are also being extensively used to increase the size of the fruits.

Farmers Rafiqul Islam, Fazlul Haq, Ayub Ali said they knew such chemicals are very harmful to health, but they could do nothing. Small sized fruits would not fetch them a fair price.

Upazila Sanitary Inspector Mahbub Hossain said: “Eating chemicaltreated food is risky and can give rise to cancer and dysfunction of the kidneys and liver.”

News: Dhaka Tribune

meanwhile ... | News

3

You’re welcome

Photo of the week

This photograph is one of the finalists, in the portfolio category, from last week’s Out of the Box 5 contest, organised by Through the Lens: Bangladesh.

Photo: Anamika Chowdhury

Say Mother wins legal what? right to euthanasia

A

for daughter

mother has made legal history after she won a high court case in the UK to end the life of her severely disabled 12-year-old daughter.

Nancy Fitzmaurice was born blind and suffering from hydrocphalus, meningitis and septicaemia, which left her unable to talk, walk, eat or drink.

Her quality of life was so poor she depended on round the clock hospital care and was fed, watered and medicated through a tube at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital.

But when a routine operation left her screaming in agony, her devoted mother Charlotte Fitzmaurice, who

had given up work to look after her daughter, made the heartbreaking decision to end Nancy’s life.

Charlotte with Nancy at the hospital when she was born in 2002 In a statement given to a judge explaining why her daughter withdrew food and fluids.

The ruling sets a precedent as it is should no longer suffer, Charlotte said the first time a child breathing on his her daughter longed for peace. own, not on life support or suffering After reading the heartbreaking from a terminal illness, has been words, Justice Eleanor King granted allowed to die. the request, and Nancy died in News: Desk. Photo: SWNS. hospital on August 21 after doctors

Instant amplifier If you're a heavy sleeper and have trouble waking up in the morning to your phone's alarm, here is how you can boost its volume: stick it in a drinking glass.

This works because the sound will reverberate inside the glass. It may not be the world's most pleasant amplification technique, but it works great for an alarm. On top of that, to turn the alarm off you have to actually pull the phone out of the drinking glass. This makes it a bit tougher and a little more likely that you'll have to get out of bed.

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

4 top 10 | city frights

Dhaka phobias

Living in Dhaka, we often develop funny fears to justify the irrational and superstitious things we do Rifat Islam Esha

10

Running out of change phobia (fear of shopkeepers)

Even if you carrying a lot of cash, if it’s not in the form of small change, you might as well be broke. Many salesmen won’t let you buy anything unless you pay close to exact change. If they are having a particularly bad day, they’ll snidely accuse you of coming to their shop to make change – a high crime.

9

Bhoot-petni phobia (fear of ghosts)

We are rather superstitious people. We grow up listening to ghost stories, “ekdom shotti kahini” (completely true stories), which leaves us freaked out by the dark and nighttime noises when we’re children – and sometimes even as adults.

A “tal-er gach” (palm tree) is bound to look spooky, more so at night, so you ought to carry garlic with you if you don’t want to be possessed. There are many such quirky prescriptions, formulated to avoid encountering bhoot-petni: Not going out with untied hair in the evenings (for girls), and not responding when an unknown female voice addresses you (for boys).

8

Bhashon phobia (fear of speechifying)

7

Trash landing phobia (fear of odours)

6

"Ekta gaan gao toh" phobia (fear of being made to sing)

There is no denying that our parents are really proud of us. They love digging out our hidden talents – which may or may not exist – and making us exhibit those in front of guests – who may or may not be polite about it.

5

Bugs in jhalmuri phobia (fear of crunchy condiments)

Almost all of us check our jhalmuri before we eat it because, let's face it, we've inevitably chewed a crunchy member of the insect group, camouflaged in the mix of many other inconspicuous ingredients of the roadside jhalmuri at least once in our lives.

4

Whack-thoo phobia (fear of flying spit)

As if the cringe-worthy sound wasn't bad enough, you can at any time step on human spit, or it can come directly at you. This phobia is unlike the trash phobia because we know that it can strike without warning. It can land on you from moving buses, cars, rickshaws, CNGs or people.

3

Kak phobia (fear of crazy crows)

Our country is bestowed with the gift of beautiful birds – mostly crows that have no sense of pity for the vermin on streets, or for you. They will gladly shower you with their droppings.

2

Gawsia-New Market phobia (fear of manhandling)

1

Traffic phobia (fear of Dhaka streets)

These places are really crowded, and what happens in crowded places, ladies? You get molested and groped, of course.

Some days you can't muster the courage to leave your house one reason – traffic. It can drain the life right out of you, so you end up just hiding in bed.

almost everyone, not just me, is scared of being stuck in a traffic jam next to a garbage depot or truck

We’re not talking here about everyday lecturing from family, which is secondary. The primary fear is of bhashon, or lectures from people who are into politics, ie almost everyone. The only way to avoid it is by playing dumb, and not expressing any opinions about the political state of the country. The slightest utterance about sociopolitical or religious issues will trigger these “experts” to give you the bhashon of your life.

This is a legitimate phobia.

I have asked around and almost everyone, not just me, is scared of being stuck in a traffic jam next to a garbage depot or truck. The smell seeps into our clothes and we then have to walk around for the rest of the day wearing “exotic” perfume.

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

Photo: Mahmud Hasan Opu

Snake charmers market | FEATURE

5

Pick your poison

Poratola Bazar, home to the Bede community, attracts almost a million people every year for its week-long fair of snake charmers Faisal Mahmud

I

n Savar, some 30km away from the heart of the capital, nearly 12,000 Bede people live, leaving their nomadic lives to establish a permanent residence at Poratola bazar.

Perhaps their floating lives have been anchored, but their livelihoods have not changed a bit. Evidence is in the fact that a few hundred snakes are kept in wooden boxes.

If you visit, don’t be surprised if you find the place a bit unusual, with its outlandish ambience. People with gaudy appearances and a number of odd looking wooden boxes, it is a strange place indeed. Particularly in mid-September during the snake festival, it is a spectacular sight.

Welcome to one of the biggest snake markets in the country.

Photo: Courtesy

A hard day’s work

Mohammad Tuku Mia, 42, is the sardar (leader) of the Savar Bede community.

“After three days of hard work I couldn’t catch that snake,” a vexed Tuku Mia said after returning from the remote forest of Khagrachhori, where he went to catch a raj gokhra.

Tuku Mia’s failure reflected the uncertainty of this Bede community’s livelihood.

“It’s not that you can catch a snake everyday. They are not just lying around here and there. You have to go through a lot of hard work, dedication and patience to make a good catch, not to mention the life-risk one has to take,” Tuku Mia said.

The modus operandi of the Bede community is very simple. After mobile phones became ubiquitous, the Bede community members began

getting calls from various parts of the country to catch snakes on demand.

After catching the snakes, the creatures are sold to pharmaceutical companies, zoos, research laboratories, universities and even to some restaurants.

demand and sell for Tk1,000-1,500,” Tuku Mia said.

“Sutanali, a very small and thin non-venomous snake, also has good demand since many prefer it as a pet,” Tuku Mia added.

Pricey poison

Bede people are normally not seen in public spaces, preferring to confine themselves to the private sphere.

Without knowledge of Thet or Ther, the Bede language, it is hard to break into their insular group.

Tuku Mia said the language overlaps with Arakanese. The origin of most of its vocabulary is rooted in Prakrit.

“Every Bede family – if not entirely destitute – has its own boat. Families with boats join together to form fleets.

The fleet is headed by a sardar,” said Tuku Mia. “I am the sardar of our fleet.”

At various times of the year, they float their fleets on the river and travel to different parts of the country.

“The frequency with which we move around on our fleets have reduced in the last couple of years. We have now settled in Poratola Bazar.”

Tuku Mia also said their previous livelihood consisted largely of treating snake-bitten people through the Bede community’s traditional methods of shamanism. But many of that has changed, and today they even go to regular doctors for injections when bitten by snakes – a frequent occurrence.

But some traditions remain. They still arrange for snake dances, the snake circus and other snake related sports every “haatbar” (weekday) to entertain people. They also go to various functions, including marriage ceremonies in the countrysides, where snake-mongoose fights are a big attraction and considered highly entertaining.

The ‘settled’ nomads

According to Tuku Mia, nonvenomous snakes are not in much demand, and hence not very expensive – except special snakes like the long dharash, which can sell for Tk250-300 each.

But it is the venomous snakes that bring in real money.

“A chondrobora can be sold for up to Tk4,500 without venom, which can be sold separately.”

“Moreover, venomous snakes like whankhachura, shankhini, dudhraz, keute, and zinglapora are all in high

Photo: Ghuddee.com

.

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

6 interview | subrata das You must have done something right.

Not all artists get such a platform.

There are a lot of extraordinary talents doing exceptional work in our country. However, we lack patrons who can help them bloom.

I humbly request artists not to be disheartened and continue doing their brilliant work.

Still, the government and private art organisations should come forward to help these artists display and exhibit their work to the widest audiences.

Are there challenges, being based in Chittagong?

A roadblock for aspiring artists is that most exhibitions are held in the capital. Even the government-hosted programmes for young artists are held in Dhaka. If we could decentralise it and have exhibitions in various parts of the country, it would highlight a lot of artists who fail to bring their work all the way to Dhaka.

How do you feel about art critics?

Only a good art critic can help an artist improve his work and understand where he stands in the international art scene. I feel sad that we do not have many genuine art critics in Bangladesh.

Photos: Courtesy

The macabre

art world Subrata Das is a Chittagong-based painter in his 30s, who recently unveiled his surreal paintings at an exhibition at the EMK Center earlier this month Tausif Sanzum How did you get your start in the arts?

I was accepted at the University of Chittagong in science subjects, but I had kept a little secret from everyone – I had also applied to the fine arts department.

I did a lot of soul-searching, as I had conflicting thoughts about the right path.

Then someone’s words struck me: “You cannot achieve greatness by following the herd. You should follow what you desire.” That’s when I gave up physics.

From Chittagong to a big exhibition at EMK Center, how did you make this happen?

After graduating, I kept pondering how I could balance my need for earnings with a desire to do what I love. So after finishing my masters, I somehow managed to put together my first solo exhibition in Alliance Francaise Chittagong in 2007.

Fortunately for me, my work was well received. In the capital, I managed a second solo exhibition at Alliance Francaise de Dhaka, which was also warmly received.

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

Should an artist focus on creating art he believes in, or should he concentrate on selling his works?

Young artists in Bangladesh crave exposure in a very short timespan, which compels them to do mediocre work that they might not themselves believe in.

Some are so inspired by other people’s work that they lose their own originality.

By being more independent, you can distinguish your work from that of others, locally and internationally.

As far as creating art, I believe in a balance between the art that sells and art that makes yourself proud. The

key is honing your skills to achieve an excellence where you connect with the audience.

What is the inspiration behind your work?

Every object has a material form and a usage characteristic. I try to observe my surroundings, pick objects and play around with their forms and give them various characteristics.

What do you think will help nurture art and artists in Bangladesh?

Audience, critics and patrons. In foreign countries, people buy tickets, stand in line to see an art exhibition.

However, in the case of Bangladesh, even after sending formal invites, Facebook invites, phone calls, we can hardly get people to come.

Talking about patrons, I wouldn’t say that there are no art collectors in Bangladesh, but most of them prefer to import works of foreign artists over local ones. If these patrons gave local artists a chance by investing money in us, it would be a big boost.

Is art only for the elite?

No, absolutely not. As artists it is our duty to make sure that we create pieces that a non-artist can relate to on some level. More people should be made aware of art so that they are able to develop an eye for it.

What irritates you the most when it comes to people’s reaction to your work?

When someone wants me to explain a work of mine in one sentence.

I spend months and years behind every series of my work, and it actually hurts me when they want me to sum it up in one sentence. Instead of asking for direct interpretation, a person can try to observe a painting more carefully, use his imagination and have his own interpretation.

.

Art and class | feature

7

Art: Elite or democratic?

Art flourishes among Bangladesh’s middle class, but can everyone afford to participate in it?

Sabrina Toppa

A

s the wiry rickshaw-puller pedals down the street, he hums familiar Bangla tunes that catch the attention of men like Arfun Ahmed.

“The tunes of a rickshawallah are art to me,” says Arfun, a photography lecturer at Pathshala South Asian Media Institute.

Ahmed says the art world is “culturally elite” rather than economically elite.

Rickshaw-pullers, divested of institutional recognition, can still count as producers of art. This is echoed among national fine arts faculties, where students like Emran Sohel come from humble standings and succeed nonetheless. “My parents used to say: ‘Art is not for us. It’s for someone else – someone rich,” Emran remembers. “But I can do art. We all create art within our means.”

“I was born and raised middle-class,” Arfun echoes. “I didn’t have access to so many things, but I managed to enter these circles,” Arfun says, sledgehammering the perception that art is only for the rich.

Drawing class lines

Yet for producers of art, it’s not about high class or low class. Arfun notes that it is largely the ranks of the middle class who populate Pathshala, one of Bangladesh’s premier photography institutes.

The middle class has always functioned as the primary driver of upward consumption patterns, and many of the shopping malls, electronic goods, and luxury cars in Bangladesh owe their presence to these aspirants.

Arfun notes that the middle class is the largestgrowing group of art producers and consumers.

According to the World Bank, Bangladesh is on target to become a middle income country by 2021, with the country’s growth accelerating at 6% annually.

One third of Bangladesh, or 47 million people, belongs to the middle class economic bracket.

But the middle class’s energy for goods and luxury can also compromise quality.

For example, Arfun decries the naivete of his students who expect to produce high-quality photos with entry-level DSLR cameras, the prices of which have been slashed to inspire the hope that anyone can become a photographer.

“They come with consumer class cameras that don’t allow them to learn the logic of a camera.

‘Cinderella’s Slippers’ by Bishwajit Goswami. Slippers were bought from garment workers and coated with newspaper mache, then pierced with nails Source: bishwajitgoswami.com

the art world perennially occupies a culturally elite space that economically disadvantaged groups cannot comfortably access.

The dialogue with broader, economically diverse public is limited, save for a few public venues.

“The people attending art events are us and our uncles,” Arfun admits. “It’s a small ghetto, the same few people appear in every exhibition.”

As a counterweight to institutional galleries, the open-air gallery of Chhobir Hat subverts the private gallery concept by exhibiting art on the streets. Chhobir Hat is open to all, from lungi-attired coconut hawkers to iPhone-holding university students.

The democratisation of art in this form may be a model to emulate, spawning a necessary dialectic among the classes.

Viewed in abstraction

And this may be necessary, since the subject of art often invokes the rural classes. Famous examples include SM Sultan’s paintings of peasants involved in hard labour to Hamiduzzaman Khan’s portraits of tribal and indigenous faces.

Art also capitalises on the images of Artist Bishwasit Goswami Photos: Courtesy the working class. Nowadays, young Beginning Canon or Nikon cameras don’t have the artists frequently commodify national identities large sensor sizes (36mm x 24mm) that allow more to market works across borders and secure grants light to enter an image, thereby reducing noise and and fellowships. When perceptions of Bangladesh amplifying details. This is offered by a full frame are wound up with poverty, garment factories, and digital camera, which typically costs Tk1 lakh or migration, the self-exiled artists may rely on these more – pricing it out of most students' budgets.” tropes to market objects.

Bishwajit Goswami, a University of Dhaka lecturer, knows this intimately. He created an art Exclusive and inclusive piece on garment workers using threadbare slippers Student artist Syed Tareq Rahman believes worn by employees, which he purchased from each Bangladesh's art world is unknown in most garment worker. economic circles. “It's usually the upper middle “I didn’t have much, but I thought I should class or higher here,” he says, waving his hand pay for their shoes.” Each slipper was covered towards his exhibition in Dhanmondi's Bengal Art in newspaper clippings referring to the garment Gallery. factory collapses. For him, it was critical to connect Audience demographics are likely the clearest his art to the people, even if none of the factory measure of whether art remains the province of women would ever appear at exhibitions.

Bangladesh’s elite. Any gallery visit confirms that

.

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

8 Feature | card sharp Kings of the game

In June, students of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) actually organised an inter-university 29 tournament with prize money.

As 29 is not often played in an offical way, so there were no rules and regulations for the tournament.

The students of AUST developed some and wrote them down.

The rules say students cannot take advice from others. If the game is not finished within one hour and thirty minutes, then the leading team will get two points and the lagging team will get one point. After the round robin league (each team playing the other once), the two teams with the highest points will sit for the final. The final will be a game of three sets.

Saberid, a student of AUST’s textile engineering department, said the tournament was a major hit.

Four people can play the game in two pairs.

“It was even more popular The jack of any suits has than the cricket tournament,” three points, nine has two, ace he said.

How to play 29

Campus card play

Examining the most popular indoor card game around Dhaka’s universities Faisal Mahmud

T

he tension grips you. You can hear the buzz of an insect amid the suspenseful silence.

Or at least the burly guy with the curly hair can certainly feel that, since he is the one among the four playing. He holds the jack of the colour (the chosen suit). Only one call is left. He needs just one more point from somebody to kill the game.

The crowd is on the edge of their seats: The first hand played a seven, the second hand played the queen of the colour, and the “burly and curly” hand rolled the jack.

As the last hand played an eight,

he jumped up from his seat with a victory whoop. At the same time, the curly-haired guy shrieked out in anger at the loss of his winning hand – suddenly and simultaneously breaking the tense silence of the last half hour by bringing the game to an abrupt and totally unforeseen end.

This may sound like a script for a Norman Jewsion poker movie or something out of Huck Seed’s autobiography.

But it’s just another day at the BUET central cafeteria. Take a left turn after the back hallway, and you will find two tables, several scattered

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

and ten have one, while king, queen, eight and seven have no values. The rest of the cards are left out. So the total number of cards is 32 and carry a total of 29 points.

A group can take a call. For example, if they call 21, that means the pair has to score 21 points. If they can do so then they will have a red point.

On the other hand if the other pair scores 9, then they will get a black point. A 6 red point means a win or 6 black points means a loss.

chairs and a crowd of 30-odd people.

Those people are intensely playing 29.

If you Google 29, you will be bombarded with about 4 billion results that do not match what these students are playing. This version of 29 is the name of one of the most popular indoor card games in all universities across the country, especially in Dhaka.

Sajib, a student of the chemical engineering department of BUET told me 29 is one of the most addictive card games he has ever played.

“It makes me want to bunk class,” said Sajib.

Ratul, another BUET student, said everyday after 4pm, playing 29 in the cafeteria has become his regular hobby. “The game has everything.

You need to calculate, read other

people and make a predictive guess.

It’s exciting,” he said.

In University of Dhaka, there are more than three such venues – behind the Kola Bhaban, the canteen of Jahurul Haq hall and at the cafeteria of the biochemistry building – where regular gatherings of 29 occur.

Ataur, a student of applied physics at University of Dhaka said: “Playing 29 is sheer fun, especially, when we play the game on a bet. This is not serous gambling that involves a great deal of money. It’s just a friendly game and we spice it up with betting.”

Meanwhile, students at private universities around Dhaka have found that playing 29 is the best possible way for spending recreational time during a difficult academic schedule.

Bashar, a student of Dhaka’s Daffodil University said: “It’s hard to find an empty seat to play 29 in the university cafeteria during the break, as almost all the tables are occupied with players.”

Samiul, a Stamford University student, said the university authority prohibited the playing of 29 inside the campus premises because students began skipping classes to play.

“A brawl broke out among students during a game. So the university authority took action,” he said. n

dark rooms | Photo story

9

Slow decay Turn for more photographs

Dusty Switchboard

Photos and text: Imrul Islam

I

have spent countless summers at my grandmother’s house in Kulaura, Sylhet – and it’s a place I hold close to my heart. Almost everyone who made those summers memorable are now scattered across the globe, and the house itself is decaying. All that remains now are memories of swimming, playing cricket in the courtyard and having late night movie marathons.

This series contains photos of the significant yet forgotten: Nanu’s prayer beads, Nana’s bicycle, roots of trees we’d etched all of our names onto before it got chopped down. But it also contains the mundane: flower vases, alarm clocks and dusty switchboards.

By virtue of being situated in a remote area, “Nanu’r basha” always had a load-shedding problem. Those were

the days before generators and back-up power systems.

I’m talking about whole nights without electricity.

For us, this meant perfect conditions for stargazing and long games of hide and seek.

While shooting this series, I made a point to take pictures only when the electricity was cut off, with torches and LED lights for illumination. Each photo attempts to capture those dark tones, grainy and embedded with nostalgia.

Imrul Islam is a young Bangladeshi photographer, born and raised in Dhaka and currently attending Vassar College in New York. He is currently studying neuroscience, but is also deeply interested in documentary photography.

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

10 PHoto story | dark rooms

Nana’s old bicycle

Nanu’s prayer beads

Nanu’s room

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

11

The last of the guards

Stump of a tree we etched initials into

Memorabilia

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

12 FEATURE | Rohingya stories

Arakan accounts

Tears are a luxury Rohingyas cannot afford Shudeepto Ariquzzaman

O

ne dark night seven years ago, the household of Noor Mohammed received a knock from one of the world’s most dreaded security agency, the Nasaka. Along with his four sons, Noor was taken to the nearby camp where he was beaten and then shot in the leg. But his ordeal had just begun.

A few hours after midnight, a

physically battered Noor was dragged to nearby fields. The world collapsed around him when he saw his two sons lying dead on the ground.

“I could not believe that their lives had ended so easily,” says Noor.

Nasaka officials said his two sons were terrorists and he was ordered to sign some documents confessing that his sons had been involved in a gunfight with security forces.

Kutupalong camp

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

Once he had recovered sufficiently, Noor and his family decided to flee the Rakhine province (Arakan) once and for all. A few days later, along with five other households, they made the crossing over the River Naf into Bangladesh in a convoy of five small boats. Noor thought that upon leaving the shores of Myanmar, they would be safe. He was wrong.

As the boats left the shores, Nasaka chased them. “They kept firing shots, and one of the boats carrying my brother Ali Hossain and his three little kids capsized,” says Noor. “The three kids drowned, and as Ali tried to save them, he too drowned,” he says. Ali’s wife survived, as Noor managed to pull her into their boat.

13

The common policy

The inhabitants of this stunningly beautiful coastal village hail from an ethnic group described by the United Nations as one of the “world’s most persecuted communities.” They are also probably the world’s most forgotten persecuted community.

The persecution of Rohingyas has been a common policy of the Myanmar security forces, in cohort with Rakhine groups since the birth of the country. The persecution has however been ingeniously crafted – employing a process of “slow burning genocide” that has been carefully designed to escape international attention.

Their horrific plight was largely overlooked by the international community and the media until the deadly riots of 2012 made ignorance of the ground realities impossible.

The bloody riots of June 2012

In 2012, the Rakhine province saw the worst violence in decades, as riots flared up between Rakhine Buddhists backed by local authorities and Rohingya Muslims. A report published by Human Rights Watch on April 22, 2013 said that the authorities and Rakhine groups were guilty of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

“It was Friday [June 8, 2012] after Jumma prayers, when they came,” said Ayesha Begum, a former inhabitant of Walishpara, Sittwe.

“Their first target was the mosque and those praying the Sunnat (extra) prayers after Jumma were burned to death,” said Ayesha’s husband Noor Mohammed.

The attack on the mosque was a relatively timid prelude to the real horrors that were about to take place now.

Ayesha, Noor, and other residents of Walishpara now residing in Bangladesh say the Rakhine mobs set alight house after house with inhabitants still inside them.

Ironically, many of those killed in their houses had gone indoors to escape the vicious mob.

In some cases, when kids escaped the burning houses, carrying their smaller siblings, the mob intercepted them and threw them back into the fire where they burned to death.

“One was as young as six months,” said Ayesha, who also added that she saw one Rakhine man kick a pregnant

The persecution has however been ingeniously crafted … a ‘slow burning genocide’ carefully designed to escape international attention

Ayesha Begum

woman in the stomach. “Then he cut her stomach open with a large knife.”

The route to safety

Another escapee from Walishpara to Bangladesh is Mubarak Khatun, 16, whose husband was killed that day by gunfire. She also says she witnessed a man cutting the stomach of a pregnant woman. According to former Walishpara residents who are now scattered in different areas of Cox’s Bazar, there were similar scenes all over their former neighbourhood that day.

As Walishpara residents saw the atrocities taking place, anger replaced terror and they tried to organise a hasty defence.

However, the defence was short lived. Rohingyas were forbidden to keep knives and sticks by the authorities. Moreover, the armed

police quickly came to back up the assailants. Many fell to the gun fire of security forces.

Ayesha, along with her husband Noor managed to escape, finally ending up in Dabang – a Muslim stronghold where villagers were kind enough to provide them with food and refuge.

Later many crossed into the safer abode of Bangladesh.

During their escape from Walishpara to Dabang, the escapees passed the village of Najirapara.

Here Ayesha provided a chilling description of piles of unrecognisable and mutilated dead bodies lying on the roads of the village, some missing their heads, others with their intestines, reproductive organs and different body parts ripped off and/or cut open. Women, children and men, none seemed to have been spared.

Photos: Courtesy

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

14 FEATURE | Rohingya stories put the figure many times higher.

The exact casualties are impossible to fathom but they are likely to be in the low thousands.

Contemporary horrors

Currently, in the provincial capital of Sittwe and surrounding areas – a region where Rakhines had only a slim majority – there are only a few Rohingyas left.

They have been pushed to the countryside bordering Bangladesh.

Other Rohingyas, a hundred

In desperation, said Fatema, Rohingyas hid their daughters in holes in the ground in remote spots, with a tarpaulin covered over the hole, to provide breathing space.

Riots erupted once again in October 2012, leading to more deaths, torture, arbitrary detention and rape.

Reports say the deadliest attack took place on October 23, in Mrauk-U township where 70 people including 28 children were massacred. This time, not only Rohingyas but other Muslim communities such as the

Fatema Khatun

Whom to trust?

A report by Human Rights Watch published on August 1, 2012 accused security forces of perpetrating crimes against the Rohingyas that included murder, rape and mass detention.

The Myanmar government however has refuted such allegations, and maintains that the authorities were neutral in the violence and took sufficient measures to tackle the situation.

But the narratives of eyewitnesses suggest that wherever the Rakhine mobs could not accomplish a mission by themselves, the security forces quickly came to back them up.

“They had the full support of the government,” said madrasa teacher Zafar Ahmed.

He also said many Rohingyas in his village had decided to resist and were prepared to fight with whatever little they had. Facing resistance in the village centre, the Rakhines retreated to the outskirts and began burning isolated abodes.

“We rushed to drive them away but as we got closer, we began to face continuous fire from heavy weapons,” said Zafar. Suddenly the defenders saw that the armed police, and possibly the army, had joined the looters and were firing automatic weapons at them.

The out-gunned Rohingyas fled in different directions pursued by the Rakhines and the security forces.

“We scattered in different directions

and retreated,” said Zafar regretfully, “sticks and stones can never stop machine guns.”

According to Zafar, the worst treatment was reserved for the women. “In one village, the women were stripped naked and forced to parade in public while the Rakhines whistled and taunted them.

Afterwards, I suppose that many or all of them were raped.”

Those apprehended by the security forces end up in the notorious prisons of Arakan. At present, nearly a thousand Rohingyas – including women and children as young as 10 – perish in the Arakan prisons, where they are subjected to inhumane treatments including torture and rape.

According to the Norway based media organisation, Democratic Voice of Burma, at least 68 people have died following torture.

Some Rohingyas claim the authorities dug up recently buried corpses and threw them into the Bay of Bengal.

“We buried many of our friends and relatives, but later we found the soil was uprooted and there were no signs of the corpses,” said another refugee Noor Mohammed. They say that this is done so that international monitors could not apprehend the extent of casualties that took place in June 2012.

Official estimates claim 88 casualties, but independent estimates

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

Survivors at Kutupalong camp

thousand of them, are housed in squalid refugee camps, described by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, as “open air prisons.”

Almost every newly arrived refugee in Bangladesh has harrowing accounts of rape by Rakhine mobs and the security forces. “When the riots erupted I was at my in-laws in Bolibazar,” said Fatema Khatun.

Fatema said after the riots erupted, Nasaka called the elders to their camp and demanded that they hand over ten good looking girls from every neighbourhood to service the officers and soldiers. “Many like my uncle Zahed Hossain refused.” They were tortured and killed.

“Scores of women were abducted, some were killed, others were released,” said Fatema. All were raped.

Kamans, were also targeted.

At present, the cycle of violence have receded but Rohingya women are still being raped, men are being killed, arrests and torture continue.

In one such incident, a Rakhine mob killed at least 40 women and children in the remote village of Du Char Yar Tan after the police had cleared the settlement of men and boys in a security crackdown on January 14, 2014.

Rakhine province and the whole of Myanmar sits on an active volcano which might erupt at any time. The persecution of Rohingyas and other Burmese Muslims continue, cheered on by an alarmingly large section of the Myanmar Buddhist populace.

Such xenophobia and bigotry is rare in a 21st century society.

.

Kazi Rozy: Survivor | INTERVIEW

15

Fearless fighter

Kazi Rozi, poet, writer and member of parliament, tells the story of fighting and surviving breast cancer for 21 years Farhana Urmee for unaffected persons involved in awareness campaigns.

I did not go abroad for my treatment. I went to Bangladeshi doctors and depended on the hospitals here. I am talking about the mid-90s. The medical scenario is way better for cancer treatment now.

How old were you when you discovered you had breast cancer?

My breast cancer was diagnosed back in 1994, when I was 45, and working as a full-time government employee.

My first syndrome was excessive tiredness. I used to have a very disciplined, healthy life. But then, I could not wake up in the morning, could not work for long, and continued to feel unusually tired all through the day.

One day I found a little lump in my breast. At this time, our society was not vocal about breast cancer, and I too didn’t know much about it.

I talked to my younger brother, a doctor. He got me tested immediately.

When the cancer was detected, I started the treatment right away.

What is your suggestion for today’s woman?

Today’s woman must ensure that she is her own doctor. If you don’t feel anything wrong with your health, then you won’t go to the doctor.

Knowing your ailments and helping the doctors detect what is wrong with you is the first thing one can do.

In our culture, most women suppress any sort of illness. They have a tendency to overlook their health issues. Nobody knows what she suffers if she herself does not speak out about her problems.

Furthermore, this disease develops slowly in one’s body and slowly decays you—women need to be extra careful.

Regular self-examination is another way to prevent cancer. Early detection makes it possible for the doctors to help fight the cancer effectively and for the patient to survive.

What was your mental state then?

When I went for a biopsy test, my family became anxious, and had a meeting about it at my home. But the doctors had said a cure was possible. I was not scared at all.

I just told the monster (cancer): “Hey, stay away from my door. I am not going to let you in.”

Fighting the fear psychologically is very important to fight the real disease. Now, after 21 years, I am living a healthy life. I realise that because I fought the fear of the cancer successfully in the beginning, it was easy for my body to fight the difficult disease too.

How long was the medical care you underwent?

I am still undergoing a medical course now, which keeps me alive and okay.

Right after detection of malignancy from the biopsy report, I started chemotherapy.

I have taken a total of 12 rounds of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was really hard. I could not tolerate it, and asked my doctors to stop during the middle.

Counselling is also important for breast cancer patients in cases like this. First of all, well, it’s cancer.

Second, the ailment undermines feminine identity. Above all,

Photo: Shadman Hasan

undergoing cancer treatment requires immense courage. My doctors made me understand why I needed to undergo the pain of chemotherapy as an ultimate relief from the ailment.

How does societal awareness about breast cancer compare today versus 20 years ago?

Back then, society was not this advanced. Information is freely available now. Society is more aware than ever before. Above all, medical science has invented new ways to

Fighting the fear psychologically is as important as fighting the real disease cure cancer.

Awareness is critical to prevention.

I was aware and conscious of my health issues when cancer struck me.

Even with all the medical cures in the world, if people are not aware of the disease, nothing can help them.

People who have cancer also have the responsibility to make other people aware so that it cannot take away more lives. Breast cancer is not contagious, thus there is no risk

What lifestyle changes did you adopt after getting cancer?

I was a full-time employee when I got cancer. Cancer could never put me to bed. I always kept working. For me, a day with a handful of tasks makes me completely forget that I am struggling with breast cancer. This forgetfulness and productivity keeps me living and inspires me to live another day actively – with no fear.

.

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

16 Legalese | Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi

Nurture healthy relationships

Got a problem?

Write to Jennifer at weekend@ dhakatribune.com

What to do when your clients owe you money but you still need to keep their business

Q

I’m the company secretary of an established company, and we provide major technical services and support to numerous other companies on a regular basis. Unfortunately, even though we have always been consistent with our services, many of our clients have not returned the favour, and are quite irregular in their payments.

Word has spread and now 10 of

A

Dear Reader: This is indeed an excellent point that you have raised here. We’re often subjected to a lot of legal complications during business transactions, but many of us fear engaging in complex legal battles, primarily owing to the fact that there’s the possibility that the same client will be reverting with repeat business.

Add to this the complications and time consuming snags of a Bangladeshi court case, and you’re faced with a tricky hurdle.

Your choice to go with an alternative dispute resolution method is commendable, as well as practicable. This can save up to 90% of the time necessary to resolve disputes, as compared to traditional litigation. These days, businesses are becoming smarter, and special attention is now placed on the “dispute resolution” clause within contracts.

There are four methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution options available to you from a legal perspective: Conciliation, negotiation, mediation and arbitration.

Conciliation, negotiation and mediation are fully dependent on the parties and their willingness to cooperate.

Of the aforementioned four options, only two of them include the involvement of an external third party – mediation and arbitration. The third parties in cases of mediation

these companies owe us over Tk1 crore in service payments.

We want to make examples of these companies by taking strict legal action against them, but at the same time do not want to be embroiled in a legal battle spanning a decade or more.

Additionally, we also want to preserve the business relationship we have with our clients without totally alienating them. Are there any alternative dispute legal resolutions we can look into? and arbitration are referred to as mediators or arbitrators respectively.

Now, let us briefly look at each of these options in turn.

Mediation has several advantages as compared to litigation. It is a flexible process, provides speedier resolution, is cheaper and quick to arrange.

Negotiations involve a neutral third party, aiding communication, with the added benefit of being private and confidential. It avoids adverse precedent being set down by the court and avoids stress and trauma of giving evidence.

Mediation also preserves relationship between parties (less adversarial process, and settlement more agreeable to both parties – which would be quite helpful here) and often results in creative settlement agreements. Even if a settlement is not reached, it can help parties understand the issues and aid settlement through other means.

Arbitration is based on agreements between the parties. Arbitrators are appointed by the parties, or their method of being chosen is set by the parties. Parties control procedures to the extent they wish to and it can be flexible on formalities, depending on the parties wishes.

Most arbitrations are private and arbitration works best with two parties. Arbitration has no power against a third party, arbitrators have little powers to sanction parties who do not comply with timetables or procedures and also have no power to confer interim injunctions unless the

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

Cartoon: Rio Shuvo/Dhaka Tribune

parties give them this power.

Arbitration is of two types: • Institutional arbitration – arbitration is administered by an institution, using their rules.

They may: arrange facilities for arbitration, provide machinery for appointing arbitrators, etc.

• Ad hoc arbitration – parties arbitrate without using an institution and gives the parties full control, eg arbitrators and procedure, with no institution costs.

I usually require more details of the disputes in question before being able to recommend which option would be practical and feasible for your company. However, based upon the facts you have provided, I would hereby recommend arbitration here as the preferred means of dispute resolution – purely owing to the fact that in arbitration the arbitrator’s

judgement is binding, while in mediation the mediator cannot pass any such binding judgements and will have to rely on the parties to resolve their differences.

Regardless of whether you finally decide to go for mediation or arbitration, kudos on thinking out of the box and exploring the available commercial dispute resolution methods from a legal perspective.

.

Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi is a barrister and solicitor of England and Wales. She is currently Senior Partner at Legacy Legal Corporate.

Chill in the air | listology

17

These ten signs that tell us that the cold season is just around the corner Farina Noireet 1. Nighttime chill Step outside or onto your balcony after 8pm and you’re bound to feel the slight but noticeable drop in temperature common for this time of year. What makes it extra special is the stark difference in day to night temperatures. While the days remain as hot as they are all year, the nights are pleasantly cool.

5. Manic mosquito Speaking of mosquitoes, the approaching winter season is also the season of the impending attack of mosquitoes, which seem to especially thrive when there’s no rain.

8. Streetside pitha

2. Itchy and scratchy Your skin feels dry and scratchy, particularly after showering. If you haven’t moisturised, you’ll end up with one, if not all, of the following: chapped lips, cracked heels, and white scratchy elbows.

Of course, a key aspect of a Bangladeshi winter is pitha season.

We have quite the sweet tooth, and look forward all year to enjoying pithas in all shapes, sizes and textures – both sweet and savoury.

6. Wedding invites

3. TV ads

9. Winter wardrobe Winter cosmetics ads for products like Tibet Snow and Meril Petroleum Jelly are already in full swing on BTV and other local TV channels.

4. Badminton

We are part of a society that’s quite fond of gossip – particularly revolving around who is marrying whom. Naturally, weddings are a year-round business, but winter is the ideal season for weddings, just in case the bride was worried about her makeup melting off in Dhaka’s heat.

Don’t be surprised if you’ve already got a couple dozen invites in your mailbox.

Opposite Dhaka College, a visit to Dhaka’s famous Bongo Bazar and Badruddoza Market will provide ample evidence that winter is coming indeed. Shop owners are already preparing and stocking up with the latest, not to mention the cheapest, in winter wear.

7. Cat cuddling

10. Leaf burning Preparations for the badminton season are in full throttle mode all over the city, as well outside of it.

Open spaces everywhere, including rooftops, are being modified: draped with lights, nets and courts.

If you are the proud owner of a cat, you will definitely begin to notice some changes in his demeanour. Expect some extra adorable activity, particularly during the night or early morning, when he will try to snuggle up to you and get under your duvet, purring away furiously.

If the already heavily congested city air wasn’t bad enough, let’s add the billowing smoke from many piles of accumulated dried leaves, which are “supposed to drive the mosquitoes away.”

.

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

18 stay in

Mini cryptics Clues

ACROSS

1 Kind of animal that uses ink pen first in bed (5) 5 Anger about me first (3) 6 Groan about gas (5) 8 Cap in South East for kids plaything (5) 10 The french return before a thousand deer (3) 11 Gold country over there outside Britain (5)

These three TV shows are a sure way to sate your appetite for blood, gore, and violence Baby Batman: Gotham

DOWN 1 2 3 4 7 8 9

Cover alien under nothing (7) Fixing politics first, for example (3) Racket in hiding (3) Celt confused queen with North stand (7) Headless chicken is wise bird (3) Half a whisky where you see stars (3) Squid produce it in middle of lakes (3)

Zombie apocalypse: The Walking Dead (Season 5)

Solved it? Email answers to weekend@dhakatribune.com and win one free month of the Dhaka Tribune.

Last week’s solutions

AMC’s hit zombie series is underway in its fifth season. The show revolves around officer Rick Grimes, who woke up in a hospital months after being shot – only to discover he was alone.

When he walked outside, all he could see was dead people. But if they were dead, why were they still walking? The zombie apocalypse soon dawns on Rick, and he leads a group of survivors to fight off the catastrophic creatures.

Join Rick and his fellow fighters as they battle zombies and cope with losing the ones they love. Whet your appetite by watching this trailer: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=tvPRDQr1hKQ

S

u

d

An explosive new show hit TV launched this fall. Set in the infamous city of Gotham, the spotlight is taken away from Batman and the show instead focuses on Commissioner Gordon, and his rise to making his name in the profession of fighting crime years before Batman was around. We see some famous faces like Ben McKenzie and Jada PinkettSmith, and a handful of rising stars.

The show already won a Critic’s Choice Award for “Most Exciting New Series.” See for yourself if it lives up to that title, here: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=0d1zpt6k5OI

Truly halloweeny: American Horror Story: Freak Show

o

k

u

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

ACROSS 1 Baby kangaroo holds jar for trip (7) 4 Mixed up coach holds it back in turmoil (7) 6 Gift posted in advance (7) 7 Mountain dweller finds letter in tin (7) DOWN 1 Shuffle pack a little bit outside for payoff (7) 2 American long term employment (5) 3 Chinese money keeps pet in Mexican state (7) 5 Robin says this, make use of social media (5)

Last week’s crib sheet 1 Across: Baby kangaroo = joey.

Jar = urn. Joey holding urn = jo-urney = journey or trip.

Leads us to 1 Down, beginning with J. A little bit = jot. Shuffled with a pack = jackpot or payoff.

4 Across begins with C: Another anagram, this time of coach (mixed up) holding it backwards or ti = chaotic or in turmoil.

6 Across: Gift = present, posted in advance = pre sent.

7 Across: Letter = beta. Letter in tin = t-beta-in = Tibetan, a mountain dweller.

2 Down, American = US. Long term = age. Employment = usage.

3 Down, Chinese money = yuan.

Pet = cat. Chinese money holding pet = yu-cat-an = Yucatan, a Mexican state.

And finally, 5 Down: Robin (the bird, one presumes) says tweet = make use of social media.

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

Last week’s sudoku solutions

Over the first four seasons of American Horror Story, we saw the protagonists face numerous horrors in three thrilling settings: a haunted house, a mental asylum and a witch coven. Season 4 is called “freak show” – set in a brooding period where circuses were not only cheerful fun and games. With the unveiling of so many freaks, the masked Twisty the Clown is intent on making life hell for all, hoping to kick this freak show straight out of town. Recurring and renowned cast members such as Jessica Lange, Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson return in this spooky, special season. It’s perfect for the chilling Halloween monthCheck it out: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=hh_GMiR6YVQ n

Go out

NOVEMBER 2014 SAT

SUN

Nov 1-5 Art | Urban Calligraphy (10am-7pm, EMK Center, House 5, Road 27, Dhanmondi)

01

02

Nov 2 Film | A Sense of Wonder (7-8pm, EMK Center)

08

09

15

16

TUE

04

10

11

17

18

Nov 10 Music | Sound Reasons (6pm, German Club, House 104, Road 24, Gulshan)

23

24

29

30

31

ARTS | Humayun Ahmed Utshab When Nov 12-14, 10am-8pm Where Public Library

Auditorium, Shahbagh

arking the 66th birthday of one Bangladesh’s most beloved novelist, playwright and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed, a three-day festival has been arranged by the online children’s television station Channel Agami.

There will be screenings of his films (Aguner Poroshmoni, Dui Duyari and Ghetu Putro Komola), a fair of his books, an exhibition of artifacts from his life, and a stage drama.

The more interactive activities include: a short filmmaking contest, a photography contest, a story writing contest, and painting competition.

Contestants should be below age 18. For details, contact: contest@ channelagami.com

WED

03

Nov 3 Theatre | Can’t Scare Me: The Story of Mother Jones (7pm, EMK Center)

22

Nov 22 Talks | TEDx Dhaka: Breaking Barriers (9am-7pm, Krishibid Institution Bangladesh, Khamar Bari, Farmgate)

M

MON

Literature | Hay Festival When Nov 20-22 , 9am-8pm Where Bangla Academy

25

N

12

Nov 12-14 Arts | Humayun Ahmed Utshab (10am8pm, Public Library Auditorium, Shahbagh)

19

26

Nov 26 Conference | National Young Intellectual Conference (9am-8pm, University of Dhaka)

FRI

06

07

13

14

20

21

Nov 6-8 Food | Food Festival 2014 (11am-9:30pm, Rabindra Sarobar, Dhanmondi)

Nov 13-15 Cartoon | Unmad JCC Comic Con 2014 (2pm-10pm, Gulshan Shooting Club) Nov 20-22 Literature | Hay Festival (9am-8pm, Bangla Academy, University of Dhaka)

27

Nov 27- Dec 1 Music | Bengal Classical Music Festival 2014 (4pm4am, Bangladesh Army Stadium)

Nov 21-22 Dance | Badi Bandar Rupkatha (7-9:30pm, Shilpakala Academy)

28

Talks | Music | Bengal Classical TEDx Dhaka: Breaking Barriers Music Festival 2014 When Nov 22, 9am-7pm Where Krishibid Institution,

When Nov 27- Dec 1, 4pm-4am Where Bangladesh Army

Khamar Bari Road, Farmgate

T

ow in its fourth year, Hay Festival Dhaka has grown to span three full days. This Dhaka chapter of the UK-based international literary festival was founded in 2011, and is a fixture on the calendar of English language book lovers.

The programme draws local and international luminaries, including writers, graphic artists and activists. Taking inspiration from Bangladesh’s great literary tradition while broadening its scope, writers from the region and further afield engage with the vibrant, argumentative and politically savvy audience.

05

THU

19

Stadium

EDx is a daylong programme bringing people together to “share ideas worth spreading.” It is an independently organised event affiliated with TED, the international organisation that regularly brings together thought-provoking speakers doing innovative work in their fields.

This year they are showcasing those who are breaking barriers in Bangladesh. Nine-year old Abrar Jawad and 11-year old Safwan Rahman will be speaking on coding electronics and hardware development.

Speakers include: Arild Klokkerhaug and Syeda Gulshan Ferdous Jana, founders of Bangladesh’s first blog; Kazi Anis Ahmed, writer and co-founder of ULAB and the Dhaka Tribune; Monira Rahman, women rights activist and first employee of the Acid Survivors Foundation; Farzana Wahid, eclectic musician, lyricist and composer; Iftekher Enayetullah and Maqsud Sinha, co-founders of the urban waste management social venture Wasteconcern.

Registration is required (at tedxdhaka.com.bd/attending) and tickets are Tk2,000.

T

his five-day music extravaganza will feature the major proponents of classical music from both Bangladesh and India. Organised by Bengal Foundation and supported

by ITC Sangeet Research Academy, it is emerging as perhaps the mostattended Indian classical music festival in the world.

In the 55 hours of programming, the festival will feature nearly 50 prominent Bangladeshi and Indian artists including: vocalists Kishori Amonkar, Ulhas Kashalkar and Girija Devi, flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia, sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan and santoor player Shivkumar Sharma.

Registration for the festival is mandatory, and will be open from November 3. Log in at www. bengalfoundation.org, or to register via mobile, write ‘bengal’ and send to 6969.

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, O CTOB E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

20 FUNNY BONE | YAMIN KHAN

Hairy horror stories The stories that haunted us in childhood nights look hilarious in grownup daylight Yamin Khan their proceedings.

And then there’s the second option: he was just calling in sick.

I mean we have all had those days when everything seems gloomy and dull. You don’t feel like talking to anyone. Or you just simply want to break the monotony in life. This guy is no different. Perhaps the only way out for him was to resort to the mighty hand.

It would be great to know if this hand was hairy as well.

Zee Horror Show

I

am a 27-year-old rational male who refuses to believe in the existence of any kind of supernatural being. However, every time I am walking down a dark alley, the irrational part of my mind forces me to turn around and check if someone is standing behind me.

I attribute this to my childhood horror story antics, summed up below.

The fish thief

Tell me if this story rings a bell in your mind: Your grandmother was innocently frying a fish when a hairy arm came in through the window and snatched away the fish directly out of the sizzling pan.

Coincidentally, it happened not only with my own grandmother, but my friend’s grandmother, her friend’s grandmother and I’ll bet with many other grandmothers from all over Bangladesh.

If this happened to yours too, please forgive me for doing this to you, but your grandmother – the icon of benevolence in your life, the person who taught you right from wrong – was lying.

For all those of you who are now severely heartbroken and planning to binge on chocolates, please wait.

There’s an explanation. Back in the day, it was a norm for the ladies to wait for their menfolk to finish their meals before they would start their own.

That might seem cute, but it doesn’t mean the ladies never got

hungry.

So, imagine you know hunger awaits you, and a freshly cooked fish is staring right at you. Do you wait for everyone to finish eating the best parts, or finish it yourself and accuse the hairy armed monster for your misdeeds?

Nana: Where is the freakin’ fish?

Nani: The hairy arm took it.

Nana: Which hairy arm?

Nani: I don’t know. It could be your uncle Jamal, or anyone else … All that I know is that it was a hairy arm.

Thanks to one of my uncles, who happens to be hairy armed as well, I got introduced in the early 90s to the world of visual horror. I remember it was the early 90s, and there used to be a programme on TV called The Zee Horror Show.

Since they didn’t have much of a budget, the only difference between a regular person and a ghost was the

excessive use of face powder.

This also happens to be the same technique used in many low budget movies to give desi people an authentic Caucasian look. Could there be any connection between this and the 200 years of British rule? Who knows?

One thing I know for sure: these ghosts were definitely smoking some powerful herb. Otherwise it’s impossible to chase after someone and not give a damn at the same time.

They were so casual in their approach that it didn’t matter how fast you were running away. Absolutely zero urgency was their unique selling proposition. And then finally when you think you have outrun them, you turn around and they are standing there right behind you.

Which, my friend, is only made possible thanks to the ghosts sharing some of their powerful herb with the show’s screenwriters. n

The jinn in the mosque

Let me tell you another story. One morning, the local imam woke up earlier than his usual Fazr time.

The moment he stepped inside the mosque, a huge hand appeared out of nowhere and slapped him so hard that he fell down and lost consciousness. When he regained his senses, he could not remember anything, and suffered from high fever the next few days.

As you may have guessed, this also happened with my grandmother’s local imam, my friend’s grandmother’s local imam, her friend’s grandmother’s local imam and the local imams of many Bangladeshi villages.

Now I am not totally dismissing the possibility that it could be a lie, but what if it wasn’t?

In which case, we are forced to believe in the possibility that the guy was slapped by jinn for disrupting

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, O CTO B E R 31 , 201 4

Cartoon: Rio Shuvo/Dhaka Tribune