Weekend Tribune Vol 2 Issue 48

Dhaka Tribune | vo l 2 I ssu e 48 | F R I D AY, A pril 17, 2015

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The titanic phenomenon

17

Re-using rainwater

20

Funny bone

CONTENTS

1

Volume 2 | Issue 48 | April 17, 2015 News 2 News 3 Meanwhile

Features

Editor Zafar Sobhan Features Editor Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Asst Magazine Editor Farina Noireet Weekend Tribune Team Farhana Urmee Faisal Mahmud Tausif Sanzum Sakib Mridha Lameya Alma Amin

6 Feature Sink or swim

4 Tea with WT

8 Musings The Titanic phenomenon 12 Feature Elder Care 15 Rant Facebook and privacy 17 Feature Re-using rainwater

Jewel Aich

20 Funnybone Yamin Khan

Regulars 14 Legalese

Contributors Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi Sakib Sarker Yamin Khan Dina Sobhan

16 Tough Love 18 Stay In

9 Photo story

Cartoons Priyo Graphics Md Mahbub Alam Alamgir Hossain Advertisement Zia Ur Rahman Production Masum Billah Circulation Masud Kabir Pavel Website dhakatribune.com/weekend facebook.com/WeekendTrib Email your letters to: weekend@dhakatribune.com

I am Dhaka exhibition

19 Go Out

About the cover

Editor’s note Dear Readers, We hope your Pohela Boishakh celebrations were festive and colourful. This seems to be an eventful month for us, seeing as how each week is packed with events and remembrances.

On April 15, we observed the Titanic Memorial day, which brings us to mind the status of sinking vessels in our own country.

And vessels aren’t the only things sinking here, as evidenced by the dwindling water levels in the city.

You can add that to the plethora of complaints about life in the city, voiced most eloquently through the lenses of th #IamDhaka exhibition.

But it’s not all gloom and doom

this week. We have an uplifting story about a small, but significant step in the improvement of elder care in the city. Dina Sobhan and Yamin Khan are both in fine form with their hilarious comments and observations. And what’s life without a little magic? We bring you some in the form of a tete-a-tete with magical maestro Jewel Aich.

Here’s wishing you a relaxing weekend

-Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

Boishakh celebrations at Charukala Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

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2 News | This week

The world at a glance

Obama offers Iraq $200M in humanitarian aid

Weekend Tribune Desk

N Korea first lady appears in public for first time this year North Korea's first lady has appeared in public for the first time this year as part of celebrations marking the birthday of the country's founding leader Kim Il-Sung, state media said Tuesday.

A grinning Ri Sol-Ju, wearing what appeared to be a wedding ring on her left hand, was pictured clapping next to her smiling husband Kim JongUn during a men's football match at Kim Il Sung Stadium on Monday, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The images of the couple at a podium flanked by top party officials were published in state media.

The match was being held as part

of a lavish series of events celebrating the 103rd birthday of Kim Il-Sung, the young leader's grandfather, which falls on Wednesday.

North Korea designates the "Day of the Sun" as a rare two-day national holiday, with art performances, exhibitions and sporting events, and pilgrimages to the late leader's birthplace in Pyongyang.

A former member of the North's Unhasu Orchestra, Ri was last seen in public in December 2014, when she and her husband attended a ceremony to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of Kim JongUn's father, Kim Jong-Il.

India builds first 'smart' city as urban population swells

India's push to accommodate a booming urban population and attract investment rests in large part with dozens of "smart" cities like the one being built on the dusty banks of the Sabarmati river in western India.

So far, it boasts modern underground infrastructure, two office blocks and not much else.

The plan, however, is for a meticulously planned metropolis

complete with gleaming towers, drinking water on tap, automated waste collection and a dedicated power supply - luxuries to many Indians.

With an urban population set to rise by more than 400 million people to 814 million by 2050, India faces the kind of mass urbanization only seen before in China, and many of its biggest cities are already bursting at the seams.

Ahead of his election last May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised 100 so-called smart cities by 2022 to help meet the rush.

At a cost of about $1 trillion, according to estimates from consultants KPMG, the plan is also crucial to Modi's ambition of attracting investment while providing jobs for the million or more Indians who join the workforce every month.

Photo: AP

Celebrity Greek minister challenged over 'Obama meeting' Greece's media-star Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will visit Washington later this week, but already he is courting controversy, with US officials challenging claims he will hold a meeting with President Barack Obama.

Varoufakis's ministry claimed that he and Obama will meet on Thursday afternoon, as part of a White House commemoration of Greece's 19th century independence struggle.

The leftist economist -- who wrote a book that dubbed the United States a "Global Minotaur" that was to blame for the 2008 financial crisis -- is in Washington for meetings at the

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International Monetary Fund.

The Greek government is locked in tense negotiations with its EU and IMF creditors on a list of reforms it must carry out to unblock 7.2 billion euros ($7.7 billion) of bailout loans.

But US officials played down any suggestion of a private meeting with President Obama, which would be a major political coup following Obama's tacit criticism of austerity measures imposed on Athens.

"You cannot keep on squeezing countries that are in the midst of depression," Obama said shortly after Greek elections that brought Varoufakis in to government.

President Barack Obama pledged $200 million in U.S. humanitarian aid to Iraq Tuesday to help those displaced by Islamic State militants, an offer of assistance that appeared to fall short of the Iraqi prime minister's request for greater military support.

Obama made the financial commitment during an Oval Office meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the meeting, Obama said Iraqi forces are getting better equipped and

trained since al-Abadi's election seven months ago. He also noted Iraq and a U.S.-led coalition have recovered about one-fourth of the territory the Islamic State had captured in the country.

However, Obama said the process of pushing back the militant group will be long and it was crucial for the U.S. to help support families who have been displaced by the militants.

Al-Abadi told reporters Monday that an increase in U.S. airstrikes, weapons deliveries and training has helped roll back Islamic State forces, but he needed greater support from the international coalition to "finish" them. "We want to see more," he said.

The Iraqi leader made a similar appeal in the Oval Office, saying he hoped for more international cooperation to minimize the crisis in the region.

Photo: AFP

Kenya warned over closing world's biggest refugee camp The United Nations warned Kenyan authorities Tuesday that closing the world's biggest refugee camp complex would have "extreme humanitarian and practical consequences" and would violate international law.

On Sunday, the Kenyan government said it had asked the UN refugee agency to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees from the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp by July in the wake of the Garissa University massacre claimed by Shebab insurgents from Somalia.

"We recognise the obligation of the government to ensure the security of its citizens and other people living in

Kenya, including refugees," UNHCR spokeswoman Karin de Gruijl told reporters in Geneva, expressing shock at the April 2 attack that left nearly 150 people dead.

However, she said the UNHCR was deeply concerned that abruptly closing Dadaab, which houses 350,000 refugees and is considered the world's biggest camp, and forcing refugees to return to Somalia could have dire consequences.

Such a move "would have extreme humanitarian and practical consequences, and would be a breach of Kenya's international obligations," de Gruijl said.

Boishakh celebrations: Women harassed near TSC Several women, who joined the Bengali New Year celebrations on Tuesday, have been sexually harassed by a group of miscreants at Dhaka University’s TSC and Suhrawardy Udyan gate areas.

Witnesses said a group of at least 30 unruly youths swooped on a number of women and assaulted them in the TSC and Suhrawardy Udyan gate areas on Tuesday evening while a string of festivities was being held, celebrating the first day of the Bengali year, Pahela Boishakh.

Bangladesh’s Students’ Union’s DU chapter President Liton Nandi, who received severe injuries while trying to rescue a woman, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I saw the miscreants assaulting a women.

She fell down on the ground but the youths were trying to take off her clothes in public.”

“I came forward to rescue her.

They started beating me when I tried to save her. I also fell down and broke my right arm.”He blamed the police for the brutal assault on women on the campus.

Questioning the role of police in preventing such incidents, he said: “The on-duty police members did not act during the assault on women. They visited the spot almost one hour later when all the stalkers left the place smoothly.”

Denying the allegations, Shahbagh police station OC Sirajul Islam said: “The on-duty police charged batons on the youths. But, they failed to stop them harassing the women sexually in public.”

“We are trying to identify the miscreants by checking the CCTV footage and legal action will be taken once they are identified.”

Source: Dhaka Tribune

meanwhile ... | News

Say

Photo of the week

Chess what? grandmaster accused of using iPhone to cheat during international tournament

A student of Charukala busy with Boishakhi preperations Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

You’re welcome

Five Ways to Resolve Conflict Whether you’re involved in or mediating a disagreement among friends, relatives, co-workers or clients, employ an assortment of practical tactics to negotiate an end to the argument. Choose a method of conflict resolution that best suits the nature of the argument and the mood of the parties involved to devise a satisfactory solution.

Express Emotion

Talk Face to Face

Follow a suggestion from the Ohio State University website and resolve differences by getting both sides to work for the same end result. If you’re arguing over a way to complete a task, for example, scrap both ideas and work together to devise a third solution.

Avoid additional misunderstandings by discussing the situation in person. The University of Colorado at Boulder website notes that trying to hash out a disagreement via email, letters and phone calls can increase miscommunication. Email, for example, does not let the other party see facial expressions that convey sympathy or understanding.

Seek Privacy

Instead of discussing the situation in a place that might attract additional drama, the Management Help website suggests hashing your differences out in private. Comments from co-workers or friends who aren’t actually involved in the disagreement can escalate negative feelings.

3

Give both sides time to express feelings calmly. If you’re too emotional to speak clearly, write down two or three key points for your combatant to read in an attempt to help her understand your point of view.

Find a Common Goal

Gaioz Nigalidze’s rise through the ranks of professional chess began in 2007, the year the first iPhone was released. In hindsight, the timing might not be coincidental.

On Saturday, Nigalidze, the 25-year-old reigning Georgian champion, was competing in the 17th annual Dubai Open Chess Tournament when his opponent spotted something strange.

“Nigalidze would promptly reply to my moves and then literally run to the toilet,” Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian said. “I noticed that he would always visit the same toilet partition, which was strange, since two other partitions weren’t occupied.”

Petrosian complained to the officials. After Nigalidze left the bathroom once more, officials inspected the interior and say they found an iPhone wrapped in toilet paper and hidden behind the toilet.

“When confronted, Nigalidze denied he owned the device,” according to the tournament's website. “But officials opened the smart device and found it was logged into a social networking site under Nigalidze’s account. They also found his game being analyzed in one of the chess applications.”

Nigalidze was expelled from the tournament, which is still ongoing and features more than 70 grandmasters from 43 countries competing for a first-place prize of $12,000. The Georgian’s career is now under a microscope. His two national titles are under suspicion. And under recently tightened rules against cheating, he could be banned for up to 15 years.

News: The Washington Post

Compromise

Take the high road and let go of something you want to help resolve the conflict. Realize that you may need to abandon your original plan or desires just to reach a peaceful resolution.

News: Distractify

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4 Tea with WT | Jewel Aich

The illusionist A meeting with the godfather of magic in Bangladesh

Farhana Urmee

Timeline: • • • •

He was born in 1950 in Barisal.

In 1971 he joined liberation war.

In 1978 he came to Dhaka as a magician.

1981 he performed at Society of American Magicians in the US which brought him an international fame.

Photo: Shadman Hasan

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5

T

he house is called Magic Castle.

The chilled out room, with its ornate wooden furniture, multi-layered window treatments, and intricately patterned mosaic floors, sets the stage for something dramatic. The anticipation builds when you're let in by a deceptively youthful-looking 53-year old man who smiles as if he knows you from forever.

This yet-unnamed ushered me in, switched on the lights and fans, and got me comfortable, without the smile slipping from its designated place.

The walls are adorned with photos of musicians like Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pandit Ravi Shankar hanging on one side, and on the other side, a lonely painting, a glimpse into the magician's devotion to music and aesthetics. Every time the giant doors opened up, the suspense kicks up a notch until it becomes almost unbearable. Rabin Mandal, the welcoming stranger keeps me in polite company while we wait for the man himself.

Almost half an hour passes by until finally the maestro enters the room. With an all-engaging smile and sparkling eyes, Jewel Aich, walks up to the nearest couch and sits with grace and introduces Rabin. Rabin has been his assistant for the past 35 years. He assists Jewel Aich not only

on the stage but also at the back stage, and behind the scenes throughout – from conceptualising a magic act, developing props for it, performing it on the stage, and accomplishing all the logistics needed for his shows.

Now that one mystery is solved, we know Jewel Aich has got a very smart hand who can keep up with him.

Aich’s love for art and culture came through, as he started to tell the story of how he found Rabin.

“Rabin used to work for painter and architect Nitun Kundu, who was a friend of mine. We used to sit for addas on a regular basis at his Otobi office earlier where the theatre activists, painters and other creative friends of ours joined in. Rabin used to make models for Nitun as per his design. And I love to see Nitun’s ideas executed into models. Understanding an artist’s idea and giving it a shape, Rabin did his job very well which made me interested in developing a few magic props with him,” says Aich.

“Magic is an artful performance based on science,” says Aich. “While I am on stage, it is not just a mere magic act. The entire performance involves detailed sound and light effects, exact calculation of time, appropriate and timely use of props, improvisation of predesigned acts, impromptu use of script and humour and of course, a constant reminder of what is coming up next. For me Rabin

does it all,” says Aich.

Speaking about conceptualising an act, Aich reveals his wellspring of inspiration. “I always feel like I have something to say. As I practised magic since childhood and have pursued it as my professional career, I think I am better at expressing my feelings through my magic,” says Aich. But Jewel Aich has taken his talent beyond simple entertainment and amusement. His magic tricks have always been accompanied by his commentary derived from his sociopolitical concerns. He continuously tries to send social messages through his performances.

A common and easy magic trick of changing colours of feathers can be turned into a metaphor that protests against racism and wars in the world.

Or another trick of the never-ending stream of milk from one small glass to bigger jars accompanies Aich’s narrations, in which he expresses his desire to see such abundance of food and drinking water for the poor people of the country.

Thoughtful, charming and witty Jewel Aich has a strong political background of being a freedom fighter during the Liberation War. He has also survived arson attacks during and after the war where he had lost all his magic props and equipments, which also has a contribution behind his strong political opinions

against poverty, war, violence and communalism.

Aich believes in a complete performance on stage whether it is magic, theatre or music. “On stage, synchronisation of each and every act, assistant artists, music and other embellishments are crucial to making the whole act worthy of remembrance,” says the always jolly Aich. “Thus, the whole package of a magic act cannot stand separately without the knowledge, technique which is the sync of props and people and art,” adds Aich.

Jewel Aich’s fastidious attitude over having things perfect and ensuring an appropriate ambiance on stage probably has a connection to his love towards listening to instruments in music rather than the vocal. “The sound of instruments gives the song an attitude, appeal above all, an identity,” thinks Aich who is a flautist and also loves to play other instruments too.

A reader, instrumentalist, a powerful performer and also a grateful magician to his assistant, Aich says, "It is hard for me to define magic in a single word.

“When one can make people amused, amazed, laugh and love just like a little kid despite all the hurdles of life, that is where the actual magic is done" n

More about Aich

• His first ever performance on stage was not magic, rather he played flute.

• Jewel Aich used to be a teacher before he became a professional magician.

• When he came to Dhaka he lived in Beauty Boarding in old Dhaka for three years.

• He studied Bangla in University of Dhaka.

• Throughout his career he wanted to be a filmmaker.

• The bent plastic flute developed by Aich is named as “Jewel Bashi” by Pandit Chaurasia.

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6

Feature | sink or swim

On Poseidon’s B wrath A 103 years ago, on April 15, one of the biggest and the most talked about maritime accidents occurred when the Titanic sank.

Since then, this day has been remembered as a day for ensuring maritime safety.

Faisal Mahmud

angladesh is a land of rivers.

It took the mighty Mughals years before they finally defeated the landlords of Bengal, popularly known as Baro Bhuyians (twelve landlords).

Historians and war analysts have come to the consensus that it was the chain of unconquered rivers that protected Bengal from the Mughal army before the landlords started feuds against each other (which worked as an advantage for the Mughal), and finally fell to the conquest.

In the twenty first century, and like many other countries, Bangladesh has also been able to tame some of those rivers with embankments and dams. But the country still holds the world record for the highest maritime accidents. Passenger launch accidents in our inland waterways are a recurring phenomenon. Even before recovering from the news of one launch accident, we get to hear the news of another. News of launch accidents have become so common that it does not affect us anymore unless we lose someone close in these catastrophes.

It’s all in the numbers

To get a perspective of the magnitude of the riverine accidents in Bangladesh, let’s take a look at a few

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Photos: Mahmud Hossain Opu

numbers. At least 4,420 people died, 520 people were injured and 400 people remain missing in more than 550 passenger launch accidents that took place in last 38 years.

Out of those, around 1,960 persons died and 176 persons went missing in the last decade, according to the official statement of the Department of Shipping and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).

According to the statistics of the government, the number of deaths was only 29 in five accidents in 1977, after the Independence of Bangladesh.

The highest numbers of launch accidents occurred in 2004. A total of 127 lives were lost in 41 launch accidents in a single year.

Meanwhile, the highest numbers of lives were lost in 2003 and 1986. A total 464 people died in 31 accidents in 2003, while 426 people died in only 11 launch accidents. According to statistics of the Nirapod Noupath Bastabayon Andolon (Safe Waterway Implementation Movement), around 6,000 people died and more than 700 persons are missing in 535 major launch accidents in the country from 1976 to 2012.

Though there were no major incidents in 2013, some 22 people lost their lives in seven launch accidents.

7 Why these accidents?

According to the experts and officials concerned, gross negligence of by the authorities in ensuring safety measures, awarding licenses coupled with a lack of awareness among passengers and plying the launches with inefficient masters (drivers) caused most of these accidents.

Many of the accidents happened either because the launches were unfit or overloaded or due to collision with other vessels or structures. In most cases, the passenger launches carry insufficient lifebuoys and no life jackets at all, thus a higher death toll occurs following a mishap, experts said.

Under the terms of an ordinance of the shipping department, passenger vessels should keep as many life jackets as passengers on board and at least one lifebuoy for every four passengers. But this provision has never been implemented.

Experts in the field said that a flawless design based on stringent rules and regulations is the backbone of a safe vessel. The Department of Shipping (DOS) is responsible for inland water safety and the approval of designs and plans of inland ships.

The ideal practice is to construct the ship under the supervision of an enlisted panel supervisor, after receiving the approval of design and plan from DOS. However, in reality, there is a tendency among ship owners to go for design and plan approval after the construction of the vessel. In many cases, these vessels are not built properly under the supervision of a panel supervisor.

The near-futile action of the

Waterway Movement, an organisation working for the maritime safety, over the last four decades, more than 863 investigation committees have been formed to investigate over 500 inland waterway incidents, of which only a handful of the report have been made public.

The movement’s General Secretary Aminur Rasul Babul said that the reports of 863 probe committees, formed to investigate 535 accidents, were not made public. At the same time, the recommendations of the committees were never implemented by the government.

As a result, these accidents continue to recur in the waterways, he added.

“But the government has yet to implement most of them. In many cases, the investigations focused on wrong issues instead of the main reasons behind the accidents. Many probe bodies were more concerned about finding out a ‘culprit’ and paid no heed to identify measures to prevent such accidents,” Babul added.

Losing credibility through lacklustre inspection

Although as per Inland Shipping Ordinance (ISO), 1976, the government forms investigation committee to probe the reasons behind the inland waterways accidents, over the years they have been found to be inefficient and ineffective. Actually, probe committees in general have lost their credibility and the general perception about any probe committee is that they are simply an 'eye-wash' to hide the real picture.

Explaining the reason, Dr Mir Tareque Ali, professor of naval

committee of that particular vessel's incident.

“Due to this inherent weakness in the formation of the probe body, impartiality in the findings and in the recommendations of the report prepared by the probe committee, is seriously compromised. On the other hand, concealing the probe committee reports actually help the responsible persons escape punishment” He said that there are plenty of examples where multiple probe committees were formed right after the launch accident, which rather initiates the blame-game among DoS, BIWTA and the ministry of shipping.

In most of the instances the accused person or official escape punishment because of loop-holes in the ISO, 1976, which need to be updated and modernise.

Non-inclusion of experts

Another major drawback in the formation of probe bodies after an inland waterway disaster is the noninclusion of experts particularly in the field of naval architecture; as a result the engineering or, technical elements behind any launch accident always remain out of focus.

Dr Ali said that inclusion of preventive measures to avoid repeated accidents of passenger launches has become a must.

Moreover, it is important to have thorough insight into the processes and conditions behind every accident.

“Similar to the investigation procedures followed currently in advanced countries, our probe bodies can take assistance from technical experts to simulate or reconstruct the accident scenario using latest engineering software and advanced technologies.”

He said that, most of the world's major maritime nations have abandoned the board of inquiry approach for marine accident investigation, although it still remains in a number of countries in the developing world including Bangladesh.

“The accident investigation approach in the modern world has changed from 'who to blame' to 'how to stop accident'.”

Blame the shortage of manpower?

authority

After every launch accident, the government immediately exhibits promptness, forming multiple highlevel probe committees, promising punishment for the responsible persons behind the accident.

According to the statistics of Safe

architecture and marine engineering of BUET said, it is not unusual to find that an official from DoS or, BIWTA, involved in a vessel's registration or, survey and fitness checking or, inspecting the launch before the journey at the ghat, was included as a member in the investigation

The Department of Shipping, which regulates waterways transport, said that they have failed to check and monitor the plying of unfit and overloaded vessels due to a lack in manpower.

Acknowledging the shortage, Department of Shipping’s Ship Surveyor and Examiner SM Nazmul Huq said, the staff crisis was indeed crippling the department’s monitoring work.

At present, only four surveyors

were posted to verify the fitness of vessels registered by the department.

According to a statement of the department in December 2012, there were around 8,668 registered vessels, where 984 of them were passenger carriers.

Despite having a plan to increase the number of surveyors to 24 in 2012, the plan never saw light due to lack of interest of the government and high officials of the department.

Meanwhile, the diving unit of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, a very important unit for rescuing victims of waterways accidents, has remained ill-equipped over decades despite the fact that such accidents have increased in the country.

The unit has only 20 divers at present, who work in rescue operations across the country.

No governments have taken any major initiatives, since the inception of the FSCD in 1982, to develop the diving unit. The FSCD has rather focused all its efforts on the development of other wings.

Officials concerned said the unit’s manpower has not increased since its formation with just 25 divers in 1990.

If an accident occurs, these divers are always called in to conduct rescue operations. If a major accident takes place, the FSCD faces enormous problems as small accidents also happen across the country and resources are stretched thin.

Where lies the solution?

It is a fact that there is an acute shortage of launches in the country.

This is why people are sometimes forced to travel in unsafe conditions in over-crowded launches, unwittingly putting them in harm's way.

Dr Tareque Ali said that the shipbuilding industry in our country has flourished in the past few years.

Some European countries have already bought ships manufactured in Bangladesh. “With support from the government agencies, the shipbuilding industry may help to solve the crisis of river vessels in the country by manufacturing high-capacity, modern, high-tech and energy efficient launches. This will hopefully put an end to the launch disasters which have become epidemic.”

He also recommended for strengthening the capacity and enhancing coordination among the authorities in charge of monitoring the launches, penalising launch operators that are carrying more passengers than its capacity, and operating launches that have been assessed as unfit, and organising awareness programs to warn people about the dangers of riding in overcrowded launches. n

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8 Musings | The Titanic phenomenon

Unsinkable fandom

The movie that started a cult following

Saqib Sarkar

One of my closest school friends, Salman, was my source for all that was happening in the entertainment world because he had the satellite channels at home and I didn’t.

“So, what’s up with this Titanic thing? What is it?” I asked.

Salman was pleased to relay all the information he had gathered from watching a promo documentary about the film. “They actually filmed the real Titanic”, he said. I wasn’t sure why that is so impressive so I said, “Oh! No way! The real one? Wow! That must be….something!”

Some of the movie scenes elicited giggles, guffaws and whispering in the following weeks in all gatherings of teenagers. This made the parents community suspicious. For many people, this was the first time some of the elements of the western culture were laid bare before them. Satellite TV had started to become very widespread not very long ago.

And the floodgate to a global culture (euphemism for mass produced Hollywood and Bollywood entertainment) was about to burst open.

The central tragedy of the film moved people but what they really talked about was the theatrics of it. Perhaps the intended effect was somewhat diminished by the immense spectacle of James Cameron’s creation. There was much speculation about the film’s ending (and the sequences leading up to it).

“I would never sacrifice my life like that,” one of my classmates said after we exhausted the discussion about what happened in the car. We all agreed but I secretly sympathized with Jack’s decision, as did most others I believe. It just wasn’t cool to appear “soft” in front of your friends.

And then there was the song. We played the Titanic song to its death. It certainly did kill my walkman battery. Celine Dion was the best singer as far as we all were concerned.

Bangladeshi singer Abida Sultana did a Bengali version of the song. And a lot of Bengali TV drama also used the instrumental of the song as soundtrack.

Titanic made a big splash in our lives. n

Fun facts that you probably don’t know about the movie ‘Titanic’

W

hen the Hollywood film Titanic was released in 1997 it had a noticeable cultural impact worldwide. This was before the Internet was prevalent; in Bangladesh it was almost nonexistent. That means Facebook wasn’t there to provide photographic evidence of how deeply this influenced people. However, people will testify from memory that every young male member of the urban society briefly believed that they looked at least a little bit like Leonardo DiCaprio. The domain of Shahrukh Khan was threatened.

People were seen posing on boats or ships like Rose and Jack. Sometimes, it didn’t even have to be on a boat, it just had to be near water. It is difficult now to imagine how news spread and people learned about things without the Internet. But we were unaware of the inconvenience at that time.

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• -The studio wanted Tom Cruise to play the role of Jack Dawson.

• -If all of the present day scenes were deleted, leaving only the scenes that take place in 1912, the film would run 2 hours and 40 minutes, the exact time it took for the Titanic to sink.

• -After writing the fictitious character of Jack Dawson, James Cameron learned that there was a real J. Dawson who died on the Titanic.

• -The elderly couple who lie in bed as water floods the room is a tribute to Ida and Isidor Strauss, the owners of the Macy’s departmental store, who died on the Titanic.

• -Kate Winslet was one of the only people who didn’t wear a wetsuit while filming.

• -It’s actually James Cameron’s hands that are seen sketching Rose, not Leo Dicaprio’s.

• -It cost more money to make the movie Titanic than it did to actually construct the original ship.

I am Dhaka exhibition | Photo story

9

Encroachment on River Bank Photo: Ekramul Hassan

The dirty end As part of a campaign called #IamDhaka, an exhibition titled “Oprottashito Dhaka� started yesterday in the city's capital at Drik gallery in Dhanmondi. The event has been arranged by Volunteer for Bangladesh, the youth wing of JAAGO Foundation, in association with Dhaka Tribune and The Daily Ittefaq and Dot 3 as the AV partner.

This week's photo story features exhibits from #IamDhaka, which focuses on the regular, daily face of the city from the eyes of its dwellers.

The objective is to reach out to the Mayoral

Turn for more photographs

Candidates nominated for the upcoming Dhaka City Corporation Election 2015 and show them the real picture of the city they are taking responsibility of. This exhibition will be a platform for the candidates and voters for exchanging views and expectations, thus making Dhaka more livable for everyone. The focus being on the real day to day experiences of the city from the eyes of its city dwellers, the photos cover distinct and problematic topics and are produced by the photography community Through the Lens: Bangladesh aka TTL.

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10 PHoto story | I am Dhaka exhibition

Struggling Life in Metro!

Photo: Showkat Shuvro

Inequality Photo: Korvi Rakshand

Other side of Urbunization Photo: Saud Al Faisal

Everyday Dhaka Photo: Giashuddin Sumon

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Lack of Green Photo: Khondoker Nasif Akhter

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Homeless Photo: Saud Al Faysal

Lack of PlayGround Photo: Md Jahangir Alam Talukdar

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12 Feature | Elder care

Providing the right care

During times of crisis, when coping with ailing older family members becomes to difficult to bear Tausif Sanzum

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ccording to reports published in 2014, there are currently 13 million senior citizens in Bangladesh ageing 60 years and above. With the number of nuclear families increasing, both spouses working, children living abroad and the stress of living in an emerging cosmopolitan, the question of who takes care of the senior citizens becomes a major issue. To get an idea about what might go inside the house where there is an elderly invalid, we spoke to two grandchildren. They shed light on the hardships on the part of the sick person to accept the helplessness and also that of the family members who have to deal with this new challenge.

When distance matters

“Nani isn’t well. She needs a wheelchair to go about the house. She needs to be fed most meals; she has to be bathed and given her medication on time. Although two maids have been appointed to take care of her, they’re not as dedicated as family, so mother and the others need to make sure everything is done right. Since they stay in the country for less than one-fifth of the year, they try to make sure that they make up for not being there for Nani the rest of the year, which, if you ask me, makes it all the more devastating,” says Monon Haque about the hardships that comes with taking care of his grandmother who is suffering from the final stages of Parkinson’s disease.

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The duality of hardship

Naveed Choudhury who took care of his grandfather until he recently passed away talks about how the responsibility of taking care of a bed-ridden person gets to you. After a point the pressure affects your love for that person. “When I started to take care of my grandfather, it was nice. I felt good about myself, that I’m taking care of a person I feel for, and it’ll get better and he will once again return to full health and life would sort itself out….It’s tough on the entire family, but worst of all, it’s tough on your conscience. Personally, while it was easy to adjust to life with him at first, it became increasingly difficult as the members of the family that felt responsible for him, began to dwindle. Suddenly one too many plans had been cancelled, one too many sleepless nights, and one too many panic attacks from a faulty blood sugar monitor. You begin to wish that this “burden” would end, that you had done nothing to deserve this and that you ought to live a more normal life which you so clearly deserve. But you don’t, your conscious becomes heavier but your workload does not. You begin to resent the person, find faults and become passive aggressive.”

From these real life situations, it is clear that taking care of an old relative is a huge responsibility. It not only requires patience on your part but specific knowledge on how to deal with the medical situation.

And most of all, it requires one to

dedicate a lot of time. Its easier to preach than to actually act. Even though you might want to support your old parents or grandparents and physically be present constantly to help them cope with their old age, at times you just cannot do it due to a variety of reasons. At times like this, organisations such as Ray of Light and Help Line comes into the picture.

They might never be able to replace you but they can provide your loved one with the necessary help and medical support they require.

In conversation with Nizam Choudhury

Nizam Choudhury has been living in England for nearly three decades now. In addition to being

a professional tea taster, he has been involved with voluntary works related to health and social services.

One of the major roles he played in some of the projects he developed were related to elderly care. He has previously had the experience of working at the stroke victim unit at a hospital. So what brought him back to Bangladesh after 27 years and set up a very unconventional business called Ray of Light?

13 properly by medical organisations.

My job was to work with these inspectors. During this period, I developed skills which allowed me to understand what an older person, a person with disability, a young child with autism might need, what the government expects them to receive, what medical agencies are providing and finally on what grounds we are policing these agencies.

“I started doing ground work, research, field trips, and project development ideas during 2011-2013 during my trips to Bangladesh and finally launched it in January 2014,” explains Nizam.

At your service

Ray of Light provides a holistic care service for older people, people with disabilities and day care for service for children. Currently they do not have a day care facility but they provide the service at their homes.

Nizam says: “I feel that people here do not completely understand what home care is. I am trying to draw a line of differentiation in this area which is present in the UK but absent here. Home care consists of two different elements – care which includes medical related help and support which includes elements like talking to an older person or taking someone for a walk.

“The distinction is important between the two because the people working with the two elements need to be trained differently in two different ways.”

Photos: Courtesy

Humble beginnings

“It is not an NGO but a business, so I do not have any funding from elsewhere. It's my personal investment with huge support from my family and friends who share my vision about this organisation. Two factors which inspired me to set up Ray of light was taking care of my

mother for nearly twenty years and secondly, my recent job where I have been involved with for the last seven and half years at CQC (Care Quality Commission) in UK. “Care Quality Commission is responsible to monitor the money which goes out from the Health Ministries and police if it is utilised

Friends of Ray of Light

Nizam explains how his organisation works: “After the initial screening process, the employed staff are personally trained by me. The most important thing in care services is consistency. In your house, if you hire a care provider, whatever your income might be, the last thing you need would be that your loved one is not taken care of properly. I can only run the business if I have the right people for the right job. We call our care providers Friends of Ray of Light.

“We look at each of our clients as separate entities. Even though their needs might be similar, each household is different. Once we are able to match the right client with the right person, we are half way through.

“In most cases, when people call us, they are not sure of what service they require. We go and assess their needs. After a thorough assessment, we suggest a particular service.

The major problems which Friends of Ray of Light face are safety, security, travelling risks which I try to minimise during the assessment period by making sure that I send them to a safe household in a good neighbourhood. n

Lifeline Healthcare After observing the lack of medical care providing organisations in Bangladesh, Lifeline Health care was established in 2003. Suppose a patient is discharged by the hospital but he/she is totally bed-ridden or paralysed. How is a normal family going to deal with the enormous pressure of providing the specific medical help which this family member requires? This creates an imbalance in the family where at one point, the family members give up or due to lack of proper knowledge to take care of the patient, he/she deteriorates. Lifeline Healthcare has become a pioneer is providing the specific services required by these patients.

Services they provide • • • •

Home health care services Doctor-on-call Vising Nurse Services Advice from a panel of specialists in specific medical arena • Ambulance Service • Continued Clinical Care

Cost of Services

• Doctor’s Home Visit, Each Visit – Tk1000 • Visiting Nursing Service Single 8 hour Shift – Tk650 • • Oxygen Therapy Entire cylinder vol. 1.39 Cu.M Tk800 • Medical Procedures like dressing etc – Tk. 500 – 2000 • Aya / W.boy Service Single 8 hour shift -Tk550 • Arranging Consultation Services – Tk500.00-5000 n

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14 Legalese | Jennifer Ashraf Kashmi

Law of the jungle Got a problem?

Write to Jennifer at weekend@ dhakatribune.com

Cartoon: Priyo/Dhaka Tribune

Q

“I am an environment enthusiast and have always been quite interested in environmental issues, with a specific focus on wildlife. More often than not, I have been referred to as a “tree hugger” by my friends. I genuinely believe that wild animals belong in the forest and find zoos and wildlife parks detestable. People are also often offended that the fur coat they are wearing, the snakeskin shoes, the crocodile skin bag or that ivory jewelry set they are proudly sporting is a crime in itself. I have recently come across numerous articles about how Southeast Asia is the primary supply for the illegal trafficking of wild animals – namely tigers, elephants, crocodiles, etc. Are there no laws in Bangladesh specifically designed to protect our treasured wildlife and to stop poaching?”

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Dear Reader: Thank you for writing in to me. You are correct – unfortunately South-East Asia remains a strong source for the illegal supply and trafficking of supply, but that does not exclude other developed countries from facing similar problems.

Numerous developed countries are constantly combating the challenge of stopping wildlife crime once and for all, but it is an ongoing battle and will continue to exist unless people start taking this seriously. Being a “tree hugger” is actually something to be proud of – there are very few people who would concern themselves about the ethical issues rather than focusing on the material pleasures of fur coats and snakeskin shoes. I personally find even faux animal products and animal printed attire offensive – we are humans, not leopards or zebras.

Personal feelings aside, let us now take an objective look at the legal issues concerning this area. You will be happy to know that a very recent Act was enacted in relation to the conservation and protection of wildlife in Bangladesh – referred to as the Wildlife (Conservation & Security) Act, 2012. This Act contains certain provisions relating to the unlawful killing of wild animals. Section 36 of the Act deal with the unlawful killing of animals such as tigers, elephants, etc. and specifies that: “If any person kills any tiger or elephant ... he shall be deemed to have committed an offence and shall be non-bailable for such offence and, be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than 2 (two) years and not exceeding 7 (seven) years and also with a fine of Taka not less than 1 (one) lakh and not exceeding Taka 10 (ten) lakh and, in case of his repetition of the same offence, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 (twelve) years and with a fine of Taka not exceeding 15 (fifteen) lac”. An exception is also made if the killing is done as a measure of self – defence, an important point to consider. In such cases, it would have to be duly reported to the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD), who would then confiscate the remains of the tiger, elephant, etc.

There are similar provisions for the protection of cheetahs, crocodiles, whales and dolphins and selfdefence from these animals. The relevant segment, Section 37 of the aforementioned Act states: “If any person kills any cheetah, lam cheetah, hoolock, sambar deer, crocodile, gharial, whale or dolphin ... he shall be deemed to have committed an

offence and for such offence, be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 (three) years or with a fine of Taka not exceeding 3 (three) lakh or with both, and in case of his repetition of the same offence, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 (five) years or with a fine of Taka not exceeding 5 (five) lakh or with both”.

The killing of birds and migratory birds is dealt with in a similar manner by virtue of Section 38. This Act also brings the other entities such as Companies under the ambit of this, as covered by Section 46, which states: “If a company commits an offence under this Act, each director, manager, secretary, partner, officer and staff involved directly with committing such offence, shall be deemed to have committed such offence, unless he can prove that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.”

I am currently assisting and involved with the formulation of Rules to enable effective implementation of this Act, and am happy to report that every single person I have come in contact with do truly take the subject of wildlife conservation and security quite seriously. The BFD, neighbouring countries, different national departments (RAB, Police, Coast-guard, Customs, etc) and International organizations (CITES, IUCN, etc) are constantly cooperating with one another to prevent Wildlife crime. It’s an ongoing battle, true, but we are putting up a good fight and I am hopeful that wildlife crime is on its way to obliteration very soon. Till then, please do your bit to help raise awareness – every bit helps.

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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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Facebook and privacy | Rant

Prey of the curious colleagues The world has come to a place where almost anyone and everyone with internet access has a Facebook account, and sadly, also added, is the habit of adding almost anyone they know or can think off Lameya Alma Amin

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n most average Bangali's daily routine, statuses on Facebook have been upgraded to being a very important part of life.

It is no longer merely the social networking site that connects people. People tend to post every little detail of their lives, in spite of knowing how open the networking site is, thus making themselves vulnerable to every John and Jane Doe out there.

These sites are for networking,

Photo: Bigstock

mostly with people you know well or are friends with. But there are always some people, who tend to send friend requests to almost every person they met or know, irrespective of how close the relationship they share is. And these sort of creatures tend to make the lives of others difficult, and to some extent awkward and irritable.

Meeting people in the literal sense is really not a big deal. We meet someone new every day. Be it

at the workplace, or at a restaurant or even at the tailor's shop, there is always someone you bump into or are introduced to. So what is the minimum courtesy time to wait before you add someone on Facebook? Honestly, nobody has a definite answer. But one can definitely stop sending requests to people they have just encountered.

The most common problem one faces is at the workplace. We tend to meet numbers of people at one's

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office, and not everybody knows everyone well. But there are some people who forget the thin line between the concept of a colleague and a friend, and though some may add others only for official purposes, not every person feels comfortable accepting random acquaintances in their profile. Some may like to have a profile limited to just their close ones, but these sort of requests make them obligated to accept that person in their networking profile.

Now, one may argue that there doesn’t seem to be a problem in accepting office colleagues. Not everyone would agree with such a statement. The problem being that, their relationship is only limited to the office and its specified hours. And with that, everyone tends to behave in a particular manner. Following certain rules and regulations, a person’s real nature and character isn't displayed, and one fails to understand the other individual properly. In the middle of so many people, one might get vulnerable to exposure to various kinds of people, starting from the creepy one to the stalker to the oversmart one.

There are the types who add their colleagues just to be more familiar to them, to try make friends. Also there exists the types who loves to check out the lives and the updates of their working buddies every second they get, thus stalking them. The problem with these kinds of people are that, one just doesn’t put himself at risk by accepting them, but they also put the other existing people in their profile at their exposure too.

Facebook has such a setting, which enables one person to look into his friend's 'friend list' and check out the profiles of the people present there. For instance, your newly accepted office buddy will be able to look up your New York based cousin from your profile, and check out her 'timeline' and the picture of her recently bought Chanel handbag with her favourite Persian dog sitting in her dressing room. These sort of incidents work in a cycle, and all the components of the circle falls prey to the nosey neighbour of your office desk.

As one might hate to admit, it gets awkward if one doesn’t accept his next desk neighbour of the office, as they end up meeting every day.

Accepting them might also prove to be troublesome in some cases, but probably the best thing is to just restrict the people you wouldn’t want snooping around your account, and if you want to take up more precaution, then simply create two separate accounts – one for your professional life and the other for your personal world. n

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16

TOUGH LOVE | DINA SOBHAN

The sacred art of leaving

Q

Dear Dina, I just got into a relationship with this awesome girl, and everything’s going great. The thing is, I’ll be flying off to America for college in August, and she’s planning to pursue her higher studies here in the Desh. As much as I want to believe we can defeat the odds, I have to be realistic about the chances of our surviving the distance. Maybe I should be a man and break it off now, but it hurts too much. Please advise?

A

Dear Maudlin man, The phrase, “It hurts too much”, is not often used by individuals in the process of manning up.

Seeing as your delicate sensibilities would probably not be able to withstand the Dina Sobhan is a freelance writer, and cautions readers not to take her ‘advice’ here too seriously!

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, AP R I L 1 7, 201 5

Got a problem?

Write to Dina at

weekend@dhakatribune. com

Cartoon: Priyo/Dhaka Tribune

onslaught of a breakup at present, maybe you should just put it off for now. Don’t be a man, be a mouse.

Hang on to the relationship ‘til the bitter end, milking every sweet, melancholy moment until you two part ways at the airport, looking over your shoulders as your bosoms heave with unshed tears, etc. Be sure to spend every waking moment together until that time – sharing milkshakes at Bittersweet, sniffling over long Hindi movie sessions, holding hands during long walks in Ramna park at dusk, and sharing romantic meals anywhere on Banani’s Road 11 – the premiere dining destination for Dhaka’s young loves.

See, once you get to the States – after a brief, lonely period spent gazing longingly at your sweetie’s photographs and having long, stiflingly sweet Skype conversations – you will no doubt be distracted by the plethora of offerings that “Amajing Amrika” will toss your way in the form of underage drinking and sorority girls, and your local lady will become a fond and distant memory.

So, do the unmanly thing and enjoy

the best of both worlds while they are yours for the taking.

Q

Dear Dina, Every time I ask my wife to visit my parents, she always manages to come up with some excuse or the other, which usually consists of a multitude of health issues, ranging from having a bad headache to breaking out in hives. And these ‘ailments’ only get wackier by the day. Who’s she kidding? I love her and don’t want to start a fight or force things on her, but making a little effort for me on this particular issue, at least once in a while, would be sincerely desirable. How do I get her to comply without things getting ugly?

A

Dear Hen-pecked husband, This is an instant where I might have to ask you to put your man pants on and show the little lady who is

boss. While I am sympathetic to her plight, especially if you’re one of those devoted offspring who insist on dragging the family kicking and screaming over to your parents’ house every weekend – come rain or shine, and at the expense of all other social engagements – to sit through yet another tedious Sunday lunch with the entire gushti present, I do think that filial duty is a requirement on occasion. The next time she invents a mysterious medical condition, tell her the clinic is on the way and you’ll pop in on route to visiting your folks.

If she prevaricates further, rush her to the emergency ward and insist that the duty doctor produce the largest and most intimidating needle in supply to help eradicate her illness forthwith. For good measure, insist that she have a full medical check-up in your presence if these conditions do not abate, and then have the resident psychiatrist sit her down and define the word “malingerer” to her.

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Re-using rainwater | Feature

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink?

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solution to check the groundwater depletion.

“It doesn’t involve a huge cost. It’s a universal practice and the technology to do it is not that hard to build. We’ve already had some success in doing that’, he said.

Khan said that the Dhaka WASA is considering a plan to recharge the underground aquifers with rainwater in eight areas across the capital this year to top up the rapidly depleting groundwater table.

Incidentally, the Dhaka WASA MD said that the Ministry of Housing and Public Works had prepared a draft of the building code with the provision of incorporating rainwater harvesting in the buildings of the city. “The building construction guideline of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) also has the same requirement,” he added.

Going underground

Photo: Bigstock

Re-using rainwater to address supply crisis of drinking water Faisal Mahmud

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ccess to safe drinking-water is a basic human right.

But ensuring safe, sweet, potable and drinkable water to 156 million people remains a great challenge for Bangladesh.

The existing water supply options such as groundwater and surface water are deteriorating across the country, especially in cities due to hydrogeological variations.

Millions of people still do not have access to safe water due to the prevalence of many challenges in the water supply sector. These include arsenic contamination in groundwater, saline intrusion in both ground and surface water in the coastal belt, gradual decline of the groundwater table, improper waste management, water-logging, flood, drought, and surface water pollution.

Alongside these challenges, the unavailability of feasible and affordable water supply technologies has been a barrier to providing a safe supply.

Could harvesting be the answer?

In this context, experts have long been arguing for rainwater harvesting as a solution to the water crisis, as Bangladesh receives a huge amount of precipitation during monsoon period due to its geographical location.

Sayed Azizul Haque, a Superintending Engineer of PWD and the founder president of the advocacy

group Rainforum, says rainwater is ‘pure’ and the technology to collect it on a large scale ‘cheap and available’.

“We have prepared a building code where a provision has been kept to harvest rainwater. If proper massive scale measures are taken to implement that, then the water crisis of the capital will be removed.”

Harvesting rain could be a particularly feasible response to supply shortages in Dhaka, where the unplanned dumping of sewage and household and industrial wastes in rivers and lakes makes it difficult for Dhaka Water Supply & Sewerage Authority (WASA) to use surface water, resulting in its dependency on ground reserves.

An 2006 assessment study by the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) showed that the groundwater level at different parts of the capital had been dropping by 2-3 metres every year.

Experts gave the reason for the decline as the excessive use of groundwater through deep tube wells; and the filling up of low lands, canals, and other water bodies. Consequently, in 2010 Dhaka WASA started a pilot rainwater harvesting project titled ‘Artificial Recharge from Rainwater’ in the Lalmatia and Segunbagicha districts of the city.

‘Alarming depletion’ of Dhaka

groundwater

Talking with Weekend Tribune, Taqsim A Khan, managing director of Dhaka WASA, said the pilot successfully recharged the groundwater with rainwater, but he remained cautious as the city’s groundwater has been ‘depleting alarmingly’.

“Around 80% of the water in unconfined aquifers, which are the closest to the ground surface, is used up already,” said Khan.

According to the statistics of Bangladesh Water Development Board, the groundwater level in Mirpur dropped 53.75 metres between 1991 and 2008, while over the same period the decline was recorded as 37.4 metres in Sabujbagh, 18.59 metres in Mohammadpur, 14.14 metres in Dhaka Cantonment, and 8.22 metres in Sutrapur.

Dhaka WASA’s daily water production now stands at around 210 crore litres against the requirement of 230 crore litres. It produces around 88% of the water from 613 deep tube wells, while the rest is taken from four water treatment plants. On top of this, there are 1,500 legal and 2,000 illegal private deep tube wells in the city.

Khan said that the capital’s water authority is trying to use more surface water to check the groundwater depletion, but that is a long term project involving huge cost. He sees rainwater harvesting as a feasible

Mizanur Rahman, senior groundwater specialist at IWM, told Weekend Tribune that future project will include developing zone-wise prototype design of artificial recharge system and preparing aquifer map and groundwater zoning map of Dhaka city.

“With a total of 10 recharging pits, WASA expects to pump 50 lakh litre of water into the underground aquifers annually,” he said, before adding that the authorities need 1643 crore litres of water a year just to recharge the underground aquifers in the capital.

“To make the water table of Dhaka city stable, we need to pump 45 crore litres into the aquifers daily. This is very much possible,” said Rahman. He further added that artificial recharge by harvesting rainwater from the concrete rooftops of 60% of the buildings in the capital may replenish 25 crore litres of water per day, with the deficit covered by reducing the extraction of groundwater.

“We have checked the quality and quantity of the city’s rainwater under the first pilot project delivered last year with the help of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, and found the water recharging suitable,” said Rahman.

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Fact box

• Nearly 80% of the annual average rainfall of 1,854 millimetres (73.0 in) occurs during the monsoon season from May until the end of September.

• The new national building code keeps the provision of rainwater harvesting in individual households.

• The civic water supply body has taken a project where groundwater will be recharged with rainwater in eight new locations across the capital.

WE E K E N D TR I B U N E | F R I DAY, A PR I L 1 7, 2 0 1 5

18 stay in

Mini cryptics Clues

ACROSS 1 6 7 8

New bog all round the world (6) Indicate nothing in imperial measure (5) Animal mother found after all returned (5) Laying low to avoid a big defeat? (6)

DOWN 2 3 4 5

Boy keeps map of frozen domain (7) Cleverness keeps it in the country (7) Liberally distribute kittens (6) Moorland keeps 50 in fitness (6)

Photo: Bigstock

Weekend’s Writing Challenge!

Attention, Fictionistas!

Do YOU have what it takes to win Weekend Tribune’s Drabble challenge? Grab your writing tools of choice and give it a shot.

The rules:

• We’re looking for original stories in exactly 100 words, excluding the title. That means, a 99-worder or an 101 worder will be disqualified.

• The stories must have a beginning, a middle and an end • Mail them to weekend@dhakatribune.com, and include your name

Last date for submission

Last week’s solutions

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

ACROSS 1 Headgear contains a little place to live (7) 4 Musician put M in new murder (7) 6 With a canoe, I moved around Pacific area (7) 7 Room for 100 between young ferret and fowl (7) DOWN 1 Strange rise in chop for fish (7) 2 Savage gouge in hollowed out bangle (5) 3 Trainer reorganised the lie of the land (7) 5 Bite of Norwegian painter (5)

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

April 17, 2015

Five lucky winners will get their stories printed and receive a special Dhaka Tribune goody bag! n

Last week’s sudoku solutions

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, AP R I L 1 7, 201 5

Go out Apr 17

Apr 17

Culture | Bangladesh

Music | Blues Night Under the Sky

Ministry of Cultural Affairs Presents

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"EBONG RABINDRANATH" When 6pm Where Bangladesh National

Museum, Shahbag What Writings and songs of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore influenced a lot of legends in his work or vice versa. Be it Shakespeare in his Black sonnets, or the nature loving Wordsworth or the path-finder Gibran – one way or the other have enlightened the world with similar ways of thinking. Unknowingly so many discreet thinkers find common routes to perceive, procreate, propagate and present, thus giving truth to the quote “great men think alike”.

Musical duo Soumyojit and Sourendro from Kolkata so

Apr 18

Culture | Puppet creation training and show

When 2-6pm Where Tajmahal Road, Mohammadpur, 16/1 Tajmahol Road,mohammadpur Dhaka What April is autism awareness month. Positive Thinking School is arranging an art competition, puppet creation training and puppet show for all the rising little stars. Jolputul Puppet Studio is collaborating with Positive Thinking School in this program.

The programme is free for all.

Apr 18

Music | EMK Platform presents: An Evening with Shan & Joyita

When 7pm Where EMK Center, House 5, Road 16 (New) 27 (Old), 9th Floor, Midas Center, Dhanmondi What EMK Platform is an EMK initiative to support individuals and groups who possess enormous potential in arts and culture. They strive to connect

endeavour to think together musically with orator Samiul Islam Poluck and vocalist Swapnil Shojib based in Dhaka and present for music lovers in Dhaka, an extravaganza of songs, sonnets and sonatas engrossing ghazals, thumris, songs of Lalan, Nazrul and Tagore interspersed with Shakespearean sonnets, Mystic works of Jibanananda Das, Keats and so on.

The programme is free for all. n

the brilliant minds with positive ethos for public service and arts. As a part of it EMK Platform is arranging an evening with Shan and Joyita.

They will perform 12 songs: Ghum, Jeno Kichu Mone Korona, Radha, Borne Gondhe, Aj Ei Brishtir Kanna, Uchatono Mono, Tepantorer Mathe, Chad Keno, Khola Janalay, Jeona Dokhin Dare, Gohono Kushum and Jochona Koreche, Tickets will be available at the center before the event at Tk100.

Apr 19

Workshop | Ty Alexander Cheng Project: American Contemporary Dance Workshop

When 4pm Where EMK Center, House 5, Road 16 (New) 27 (Old), 9th Floor, Midas Center, Dhanmond What The "Ty Alexander Cheng Project," a workshop on American Contemporary Dance through eight classes, will introduce dancers to American dancer Ty's unique dance style within the hip-hop/jazz funk genre. It will also introduce other western contemporary dance styles offered by his creative team.

This course also offers an in-depth

When 9-11:59pm Where EMK Center, House 5, Road 16 (New) 27 (Old) , 9th Floor, Midas

Center, Dhanmondi What The Blues Brothers offer a mix of some classic selections of Jazz, Blues, Soul and Easy Listening numbers from 60's to 90's, featuring John Lenon, Tracy Chapman, Santana, BB King, Robert Johnson, Fleetwood Mac, Otis Redding, CCR, Norah Jones, The Mammas and the Papas, Bob Dylan, Edie Brickell, Ben E King, Bill Weithers, Harry Belafonte, Nancy Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Julie London, Elizabeth Cotton, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and many more.

Ticket is only Tk500. n

approach to learning choreography, with a focus on performance techniques, and methods to improve stamina, endurance, memory, and flexibility. Participants will create a dance piece from material learned in the course to perform at the diploma ceremony at the end of the course.

Register as soon as possible (spots are limited) at: http://goo.gl/ux0d4G Registration fee: Tk800 for the whole course

Apr 20

Education | Advising on US University Admissions

When 3-4pm Where The American Center, Plot No -1, Progati Sharani, J-Block, Baridhara, Dhaka (Opposite from the US Embassy Dhaka) What US Embassy is arranging a free session for all at the EMK Center for those who are interested in pursuing your higher education in the US. EducationUSA adviser will be discussing on US university admissions process and requirements.

No prior registration is required to attend this program. Interested people are to go to the EMK Center as per the schedule.

Apr 22

Culture | Drama- ''Mayur Shinghason''

When 7pm Where Bangladesh Shilpokola Academy, 14/3 Segunbagicha, Ramna What Aranyak Natyadal is arranging a drama ''Mayur Shinghason'' written by Mannan Heera Mannan Heera and directed by Shah Alam Dulal.

First premiering in 1999; this drama is still appealing the spectators. This drama tries to depict socio-cultural scenarios of the 1960s, a crucial period of time when we questioned about our nationalism and independence.

In the backdrop of a rural jatra troupe, the play weaves fundamentalism, class-struggle, woes of jatra artistes and more in a satirical approach.

Mamunur Rashid, Shah Alam Dulal, Tomalika Kormokar, Tazin Ahmed, Dilu Majumdar and others will be performing.

Send your events to weekend@ dhakatribune.com

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20 Funnybone | Yamin Khan

Oh My Beloved Dhaka Dhaka can get you at times, but at the end of the day its home, and its a home we love, particularly for a few of the following endearing qualities that makes it so unique to us Yamin Khan

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o matter how much we complain about the traffic gridlocks, absence of an efficient drainage system, continuous destruction of green spaces or even the illmaintained roads, we still hold a deep connection with our beloved city Dhaka and would not swap it for any other place in the world. In other words, we are like one of those nagging wives who constantly complain about their ‘better’ halves, but can never imagine settling with another man.

Now the question is why?

What makes this city stand out and gives it that unique touch and hence makes it an inseparable part of our existence.

This city hosts roughly 1.5 crore people, of which, 1 crore are related to you by some way or the other. A guy once told me that he tried to draw his family tree, but what came out was no less than the Amazon jungle.

To put it differently, how many times has it happened that you attended a wedding and the guest list was bigger than the entire population of the Vatican City? Even our birthday parties manage to pull a crowd bigger than most weddings from around the world. Now if you come to think of it, given our love for weddings and birthday parties, it won’t be wrong to say that procreation has become a big source of recreation for us.

Tong er Cha

Photos: Bigstock

Romantic rickshaw rides

There are many cities in this world who are quite accepting when it comes to public display of affection. Or some of you may call it a mutually agreed exchange of bodily fluids. But how Dhaka stands out is that it provides you with the opportunity to enjoy a public display of intimacy.

In other words, sharing your personal space with someone you care for in the form of a rickshaw ride. These rickshaw rides have nurtured countless love stories and are special because it allows you to be intimate in a public space but still remain discrete for the sake of political correctness. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy the rush of the forbidden fruit?

However, in this whole scenario we tend to overlook one tiny

Food for thought

When someone is born, we eat, when someone dies, we eat, when someone gets married, we eat. This association has reached such a level that we don’t even let circumcisions take a pass. In fact, the other day I attended a dinner; it was to celebrate the third divorce of my second cousin.

In addition to celebrating the special events of our lives with food, we also have a menu for when it rains, when it’s too cold, and, you guessed it right, when

WEEKEN D TR I BU N E | F R I DAY, AP R I L 1 0, 2015

Friends and family ties

detail. Did you ever notice that the biography of a rickshaw puller can be the best read ever? I mean if you are someone who takes a keen interest in other people’s secrets, then a rickshaw puller is the perfect guy for you. And I guess that is why you would never see a rickshaw puller listening to the radio.

As for the business minded ones looking to trade in bodily fluids, please don’t be disheartened. Even you can practice you art in public. But for that you need to locate a shady corner of some park, preferably during an odd hour of the afternoon, and the barter should be complete. Disclaimer for family members – I would like to thank the research team for this insight. it’s too hot as well. And why not?

We have so many unique local cuisines, which are not only great to taste, but have the capability to form a lifelong companionship.

Plus, our culinary heritage has also earned us the bragging rights. We have a strong Mughal influence in our diet, the British have definitely left their mark and the Hindu Rajas have also taught us a thing or two. However, what they did not teach us, is to take a break from eating from time to time.

The British have their pubs, the Turkish boast their tea houses and we have our very own Tongs. This Tong culture is so strong in Dhaka that whenever there’s an election coming up, the first place that the candidates hit for promotion are the Tongs. And that is why the only place where you’ll see our political rivals smiling happily next to each other are the walls of these Tongs.

Moreover, if you are fortunate enough to be a part of any Tong Adda, you’d notice that everything ranging from global warming to lack of warmth in people’s married lives get scrutinized within those perimeters.

In fact, if you are a writer suffering from a creative block, a Tong can work as a very good stimulant for you. And if you are lucky, you might as well get to shake hands with the future mayor of Dhaka.

In conclusion

It is practically impossible to bind all that is great about this city within a word limit. So I have just mentioned some of the features which would top my list and we can happily agree to disagree. In which case, we can settle it out at a Tong, over a meal, at one of the family gatherings, and if you are a young girl with a soft corner for comedians, then may be over a romantic rickshaw ride. n