Random Thoughts on Bangladesh

• Before any revolution takes place on the streets, it has to take place in our minds first.
• What we need now is a knee-jerk reaction to the political impasse, enough of dialogues and protests.
• The reasons we have fever is because of any malignant virus, to cure it or to control it, we take anti-biotics which are in turn viruses themselves. To cure the political disease of intolerance and destruction in Bangladesh, we need to employ the ‘healing virus’ by spotting and destroying the political leaders who are the virus causing our national disease. Hire hitmen and kill them, we do not have law and order and enough room in prisons any ways.
• When we rush an ailing patient to the emergency, the doctors and relatives do not sit around the distressed soul and converse. They also do not wait patiently, seeking divine miracle to cure the pain, rather they apply ‘shock therapy’, to revive the senses first, to get life back on rhythm first, then diagnose the disease and observe medical care. Similarly Bangladesh has become a 35 year old ailing youth, because of the ill politics. What we need now is no more tolerance of the political leaders, rather we need to give the system a ‘shock therapy’, eliminating corrupt politicians in the most ruthless way they would always remember, if they are alive.
• Fear spreads faster than love, and if you cannot be loved, atleast be feared. There could be a way to instill fear of death, defame in the minds of corrupt politicians.
• We need to agree with the basics first and then move on, as the two ladies have hijacked the nation as they themselves are tied up in the pasts.
• What do you call a man still unsure about his father’s identity? What do you call a nation still disputing over it’s founding father?
  Let it be clear who the father of the nation is.
  Let it also be clear what his shortcomings were, but keep in mind that there is still no denying that he still remains the father of the nation.
  Now lets look in future can we?
• It always takes a few persons to spoil the whole show, similarly the number of peace loving Bangladeshis would outnumber the corrupt ones, however the evil ones still rule. I believe it would take a few of us only to bring about a change, atleast can’t we get the ball rolling?
• Even a human baby is born after 10 months of wait and pain, a nation born within 9 months of war is probably premature, unable to comprehend and sustain the value of freedom.
• We Bangalees have always been good subjects, still suffering from ‘colonial hangovers’. First it was the ‘white British’, then it was ‘Fellow Muslim Pakistani Brothers’, now we are ready to listen to anybody who is NOT a Bangladeshi. Our ex-finance minister was even jealous of Dr. Yunus winning the Noble Peace Prize. I wonder if its possible at all to bring about a positive change in our nation’s fate by ourselves? Or do we need foreign intervention? Although we started fighting against Pakistan from 26th March 1971, India intervened in 3rd December and East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 13 days, in 16th December 1971. Probably we should have delayed India’s intervention, so that every family in Bangladesh would have had lost someone in the fight for independence, then they would have probably understood the value of loss and gain.
• Bangladesh is not ready for democracy. Majority do not know how to spell ‘democracy‘ or ‘Gonotontro’ in Bengali, confused which ‘n’ to use. A ‘Benevolent Dictator’ is what is required now, so that we do not waste time, head in one direction for a few years and then talk about democracy when we think like that.
• What we are suffering from is called ‘identity crisis’. We do not have a national leader, national icon, national dress, we do not have anything to boast off to the outside world.
• Our national cricket team rightly reflects the nature of Bangladeshi people. The 11 players as a team do not acknowledge that cricket is a mind game too, involving temperament. Individually they are very nice human beings, down to earth, soft spoken and modest. They are rarely aggressive, abusive or offensive, they lack the killer instinct, they do not attack the bowlers (when they do they lose their wickets in quick successions), they do not attack the batsmen (how often do they put attacking fielding? How often do they sledge? How often do they exchange fiery looks with opponents?). However it is argued that sometimes you need to think outside the box, act outside the norm, to win a game or to bring about a change, sometimes you need to lose patience and starve for success, and change. Is the time now?
• How about a ‘Rang De Basanti’ type revolution?
  
  

Alien invasion

I think he was from North India...as he started to talk to me in Punjabi as his wife was embarassed and was trying to drag him away...I didn't understand a single word what he was saying...so he asked me if I were Asian or not...upon getting a positive response he asked me which country I was from...when he came to know that I am from Bangladesh...he said that he was from India...and added that still we are both Asians...so its the same. This incident took place in the narrow alley of Ripon Bhai/Farhana's place in Turnpike Lane this evening. I think the Indian family must have arrived recently in the UK and the guy must have been very eager to meet fellow countrymates/Asians in the greatest melting pot of the world...London. However this small incident reminds me of something....Bangladesh bears the unwelcome label of being the 'largest delta' in the whole world...unwelcome because this causes serious floods every year....partly due to natural climate changes and partly due to neighbourly expressions of 'water generosity' from time to time....causing great misery to people...the only thing that remains 'not drowned' in floodwater are the rail tracks...so inundated human beings take refuge on those rail tracks awaiting the flood to subdue...interestingly enough..a strange cohabitation of humans and animals could be seen during these times....for example humans with their minimal household items could be seen with stray dogs, cows, cats, foxes, goats, poultry etc. trying to accommodate each other as the calamity continues...the deadliest of enemies would even shake hands in cooperation when both of them are hit hard by another enemy...so they better coexist and survive first...then they can resume their bitter enmities....say for example if something like the movie 'Armageddon' does happen to the Earth....what would happen then? I assume we will see fighting nations of the world would abandon their earthly causes and would unite to fight the bigger 'alien' threats...to save the Earth from destruction by a flying rock or from alien invasion from the planet Krypton...we might see the Bush-Laden duo working hand in hand to find out a way to destroy the deadly rock and save the mankind from 'final destruction'...this pair have already proved to be very successful in terrorising the whole world with their mutual enmities...one with his promise to find WMDs and make America and the world safer from tyrants...and the other by taking a franchisee of Islam and thus ensuring everyone 'explosive' one-way tickets to heaven....but in the face of third party danger...they can combine their brains and do something worthwhile....we might also see that Israelis and Palestinians are sorting out plans to save the holy lands of Jerusalem from being destroyed by the unexpected meteroid out there to blow the Earth to pieces...America, UK, France, China, Israel, India, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea etc. would stop aiming their hidden nuclear bombs to each other's asses and would start aiming them towards the Big Rock...the Rock which might be million times destructive than their combined nuclear bombs...and would blow all of their asses in a second....I wonder if the Sunni's and Shiites would stop killing each other in Iraq and Pakistan....if they would realise that they belong to the same faith in the end of the day...I wonder if India and Pakistan would stop fighting over Kashmir and hold hands in leading the sub-continent in the world economy by virtue of its sheer manpower....and the human beings of different countries, different religions, colors would realise that they are humans first...and foremost...being human was in the hand of nature...rest are all man made...and they would keep this in mind when the 'flood' would die away and they would be able to return to their 'homes'....all this I was talking about because the Asian man I met this evening became very happy to have found another Asian in me...in a European country...if I would have met the same person in India...I am sure he would have sniffed me out wondering if I have proper documents to be in India or not, what faith I follow etc....strange isn't it? So moral of the story is 'Alien invasion is the only way out to solve world's political problems'...if any four-eyed six-legged green-blooded alien is reading this blog...please feel free to email me and abduct me beforehand to your planet incase you decide to attack our one and only beloved Earth.

Long Lost Buddies

I met him after 3 years...in between I had gone back to Bangladesh from India....and then came here in the UK...he took a job in India..was placed in Cyprus and came to the UK this month only for a business trip...it was so good to meet my good old uni friend from Delhi....we recalled memories...talked about who is doing what...and what lies next...and talked about 'beyond description' crazy, whacky, funny, interesting incidents that took place while we studied together...I finally saw my friend off this evening saying goodbye and not knowing when and where we will meet next...straight from Heathrow I headed to Stratford to meet another LLB (Long Lost Buddy)...this time...from school...I came to know just yesterday that he had been in London for the last 4 months...and had been living in the same place where I used to go so very frequently till end April..when my friends/ex-colleagues used to stay there....a couple of friends are still left there...and from this topic to that topic my school buddy realised that both him and his housemates have a common friend...that's me....so I decided not to delay any further and meet him straight away....after long 11 years I met my LLB and hugged him as if we were school boys...we realised our languages took sudden dip and lingos/slangs/swearwords used in 1995 came down flowing...we also realised that the sincerity felt inside in asking whereabouts and wellbeing...was so true...and heartfelt...there was no sense of selfishness, jealousy....comparison of our individual gains...the joy in meeting a long lost friend was pure and precious...we realised how pure, precious and simple life was when we were in school...amidst all the confusion and complication of present life...it was still worth to enjoy the same feeling for a short while in the company of my long lost friend.

Binding Boundaries

A true example of 'hidden cost striking hard' was when my supervisor asked me to hard bind my dissertation and make three copies of it...one for the sponsor company, one for the university and one for myself...so that I could show it to my grandchildren in future...The shop near the university quoted 45£ for a 3-day hard binding service...I was alarmed to calculate that in order to hard bind three copies of my dissertation would cost me around 200£...including the printing costs...I was so shocked and unprepared financially for this sudden expense that I was determined not to let this happen...so I finally gave a spiral-bound version (9£) of my dissertation to the sponsor company..and found that they were pretty happy with it...on a test basis I decided to go ahead with one copy from that 'next-to-uni' shop...and saw my 45£ go there...adamant not to let this happen in the case of the last copy...I seeked help of the Googlegod...and came to know of a company in central London who do the same job for just 25£!I was at my wit's end...and realised that had I waited longer and done a bit of research...I would have found more affordable options...however I then opened London journey planner website and found out the easiest way to go to that place by bus...next morning it took me around 40 minutes to reach that binding shop in Ludgate Hill...happy I was and I told them I would recommend them to my friends as well..as they are providing such affordable thesis binding...happily I returned home and happily I collected it from them after a few days...all went well when a friend of mine informed me that day itself that there is another binding shop close to university and guess what...just next to where I live..sharing the same emergency exits....they offer the same job with special discount for students at a price of only 22£ !!! This was the latest when I felt like a complete fool...the cheapest binding shop at my nose-tip and I travelled across central London to look for one...I was shell-shocked and couldn't look at the mirror for the next few hours...moral of the story...'its always a good idea to know your neighbourhood first and know it well'.

Signs

Do I call these mere coincidences? well if you say so...but let me tell me more...I came to London with 1200£ to buy a laptop...which disappeared in front of my eyes while settling down in the expensive city, I tried to keep track of it, but I was always eluded...I finished my one year MBA without any laptop...deprived of the facility of doing my assignments from the comfort of my room...where I resided...I made my way to local cyber cafe after work...in the bitter English winter...progressed on my assignments withstanding hunger and exhaust...then made my way back home braving the chilly wind...and after finishing the coursework..when I was left only with my dissertation...and when the need of a laptop was paramount...somehow my credit score passed and I could get a laptop of my own...ironic wasn't it? Well and good...so far so good...all went well..I worked on my dissertation and finished it well before time while my laptop gave me the comfort and luxury to do things from my own room...thanks to the unsubscribed wireless internet connection...which did use to drop from time to time...but it was just perfect for me...and now...in August..when I am done with my studies and dissertation...willing to prolong my stay here in the promise land...my poor laptop is unable to trace and connect to any strong wifi internet...at the same time...I am about to lose my job...as I don't have my passport with me..to show them that I am legally eligible to stay in this country and continue with my work...and dreams...as my travel document still lies with the decision-makers..still awaiting consideration....they haven't decided yet..whether to let me stay...or show me the door...I wonder how and why does my wifi internet connection fails when I am finally done with my studies...and the big questions hangs over my head...whether to stay here or go back home...hardly plans fall according to how they are expected to be isn't it? Are these all signs of something we don't control? I don't know...as of now..I know that I am drifitng away...either from the shore....or to the shore I am supposed to be.

In search of peace

Life never has been so stressful perhaps since the good old school days in early 90s...we never had to bother about being stigmatised for our names, our color or the faith we believe in...things have changed over the years till now..and they have changed for the worse...I wonder why we decided to leave our countries in the first place...to get better education...to earn more money...to have a decent lifestyle...to have a peacuful life I suppose...free from political instability, corruption and heat and humidity ( I hate that)...over which we don't have control..as individuals...but now it seems that that it is nothing but a mere mirage in a oasis of confusion and frustration...seems that we don't know now that when we wake up everyday whether we will be back home alive in one piece...or would be blown apart into pieces...in tubes, buses or airplanes...we are caught in the crossfire between policymakers and their opposers...and we are prone to becoming history... for wars fought in different corners of the world...any nightmare is a step away from becoming reality...I wish we were born in or would have settled in countries which are 'not very hot and humid'...and which are not involved in any conflict with any particular group of people in the world...say countries like Sweden, Finland, Norway or New Zealand fall into this category...they don't have hot weather..and they don't invade any other countries...they don't supply arms to any other countries...and they are not in any direct conflict with any other country or community....well...wishful thinking I guess....that is all we can do now.

Burning Book Method

First it was Salman Rushdie with Satanic Verses, then it was Taslima Nasreen with Lajja and now its the turn of Monica Ali with Bricklane...The Bricklane Association here in London, the people at the helm of upholding the culture of Bengalis, have decided to burn copies of Bricklane this Sunday....why? well...no wonder its summer time here in London any ways, the folks don't need any extra heat by burning those letters written on paper...they think the author has written something insulting to the curry businesses and to the Bengali-British community as a whole...and since the author had her freedom of expression....so they also have freedom 'to burn books'.....wonderful i'nit?I really don't have much to say...if this is what they represent after living in this country for decades....their view of the world have remained the same...myopic...i am sad to say....even narrower than Bricklane itself...or than any remote alley in their 'fele asha desh'....I wonder how many of them have actually read the book in the first place...I have always wondered why don't they write something called 'Quranic Verses'..in reply to Rushdie...something called 'Gorbo' (Pride) in reply to Taslima's 'Lajja'...or write up something in reply to..as a retort to Monica's Bricklane....but they chose to do the easier act...prepare a rally...preach some shit..or hate..burn the books...and go home happy...understandably writing a novel is tougher...and requires brain...more than brawn. Nevertheless all this 'burning book' syndrome has made the authors of those controversial books...very famous overnight...they didn't have to do anything much...I think Rushdie, Taslima and Monica can very well fire their personal agents...as the folks in Iran, Bangladesh and Bricklane are doing their job pretty well...bringing them to limelight by creating a fuss over something probably which is not worth in the first place...anyways...inspired by the activities of the activists...I have finally decided to write a novel....hoping that very soon it will be able to create a controversy strong enough that they will try to burn my book too....making me famous in the process...what do you think? atleast I am trying to apply my brain here...come on!All these years of studies and all..what for? I am nobody still....if there are freelancers there who are willing to make me famous by burning a few copies of books...what's wrong in that?

Fancy a bet?

I have noticed something interesting in my job lately....the flow of money....from whom, for whom, what for, how much, on what etc....its been more than a year now that I have been working part time in the world's and the UK's largest bookmaker...Ladbrokes.....most important aspect of my job is taking in bets, putting it through the scanner, inputting the punters instructions in the computer, paying out any outstanding bets.....sometimes I wonder...when I see punters winning money big time...say the largest I have paid out was £41,000 for a mere £20 horse accummulator bet....punters lose, they bet again, they win, they lose again...it continues...the horses and the dogs that run every half an hour don't even know what they are running for and who is getting all the money...we know who is getting all the money, how and why...but its not my money either....when I payout somebody an amount which is say thrice what I earn laboriously in a month...I feel the difference....here I am working my ass off for a month to get the money which someone is earning in 1 minute after a few button clicks and rolling of the roulette....I touch the queen's photo every second and I make sounds with the pound coins everytime I place them in my coin-tray....and I realise...the difference between what is mine....and what is not mine...what I deserve...and what I don't....its my job and I will take away only what I work for...at the end of the month...I am happy...after all...life should not be a gamble.

The Hero Returns Home

I wonder if its a matter of pride or shame....should we...as a nation...be proud or be ashamed....the body of Bir Shreshtha Flight Lieutenant Shaheed Matiur Rahman was brought from Pakistan to Bangladesh today...after 35 years of independence of the country....what an irony.....one of the seven Bir Shreshthas...or Great Heros..who laid down his life heroically for the independence of Bangladesh...finally will be buried in the soil for which he sacrificed his life.....in 1971.....shame on us that we could not hear his plea....which was crying out silently from the shabby ordinary graveyard of the Maswoud Air Base of Karachi..in Pakistan....pleading to take eternal rest in the soil of his motherland....so busy our politicians were to look after their vested self-interests..or party interests.....that the very fact of independence from Pakistan became dubious....so easily we were oblivious of the cyring soul of Matiur...he was a flight instructor in the PAF...while in a training flight...he tried to take the training aircraft towards India..with the intention to join the liberation movement back in East Pakistan...Bangladesh...he had a scuffle with his trainee...captain Rashid Minhaz...inside the aircraft...and his aircraft was chased by four fighters of the PAF.....amidst all this ....his plane crashed just 3 miles away from the Indian border and both of them died.....Rashid Minhaz was declared a national hero of Pakistan...and was buried with glory and honour...and the national hero of Bangladesh...Matiur was buried as a traitor...as an ordinary person...and we bothered to show him last respect after 35 years....I am sure the souls of the Bir Shreshthas who are witnessing the situation in Bangladesh now...must be regretting having laid down their precious lives for the mess we have created in Bangladesh. This is not what they dreamt of.

HR Paradox and a lesson

I have a burning HR issue....how to deal with a senior manager whose expertise are superb and profound in the business domain.....who surely knows better than most in moments of confusion....however....is not liked by most..as a person. What if the manager's interpersonal skills are considered to be very bossy, blunt, agressive, unreliable and two-faced....most of his colleagues, subordinates are not comfortable with him....but the person remains unaffected to all this background conversation due to his expert knowledge.......the colleagues or subordinates can't quit the job just because of this one person...at the same time...they have to adjust with the peculiarities of the person concerned....what to do?

A lesson learnt : When you ask someone to do something for you, never expect it to get it right the first time, if they do, you are lucky and it will not happen again, so forget it and keep quiet.

Rat or Robot?

Life never got so busy ever since coming to London in Feb 2005.......five days a week work at the bookmakers.....thanks to the World Cup Football...our tills never stop taking in and paying out bets....but 12 hours a day's work is taking its toll...I wake up, I eat, I get ready, I go to work, I work, I work, I work till 10 at night...I come back home...I eat...I sleep....I wake up....and it continues...nothing else happens in between....whatever minute happens is part of the regularity....the two days that are off in the week were supposed to be devoted to my dissertation...the last but most important piece of document left for my MBA....but I am not getting any time at all to be in the right frame of mind to sit down..cool down..concentrate and write up that thesis.....amidst all this....I have forgotten when I cooked last....I have made the local Chinese take away richer lately...the lady even knows very well by now that I only order the Singapore fried rice (very hot) (without pork) every night at around 10.20...just before they close..probably I am their last customer....I don't have any time to even shop groceries...forget about cooking....I can barely stand when I return...sometimes I wonder...if I have become a rat or a robot.....in the mornings and in the evenings...when I see the Londoners rushing down the stairs to catch that tube....I feel like a tiny rat in a rat race....we all are rats running down the underground stairs to grab that bigger, tastier piece of cheese.....or have I become a robot? mechanic, programmed, predictable life....gradually devoid of small but meaningful emotions...as we enter the sandwich generation.....as if we only live for needs..not for feelings.....I don't know what I am now....probably I am a robotic rat...that sounds better....more specific I guess.8 minutes to midnight....enough time has been wasted on this...can't afford to be awake before 12.20 AM. Rat Robot signing off.zzzzzzzzzzzzz!

God's invention or the invention of God?

I still remember a discussion with a very good Indian friend of mine....sometime in 2000 I think...we started talking about girls, money, food, sport, career, love and finally ended up talking about something mystic.....about God and religion...we talked about how the concept of God could have set in...some excerpts from that discussion....it could be that when man is faced in front of a danger or uncertainty so big and so severe that its beyond his control..he seeks help and shelter from an entity much much larger and bigger than him...which would be able to provide salvation from the imminent danger....that is how people started worshipping gigantic mountains, turbulent oceans, violent winds, flashening thunderbolts, or even a huge tree or a big piece of rock....all of which have been items of worship and have been labelled 'such and such' God at some point of time....as man was vulnerable to the forces of nature....man felt so small in front of these items that they knelt down and asked for protection and mercy. Over a period of time, we saw the rise of some 'social scientists'....now what are social scientists? We have scientists who have invented say electricity, radio, television etc. we have theories from Newton, from Einstein and from Thomas Edison....similarly a few men had thought deeply about the indiscipline and chaos in personal and social lives....and they have tried to come up with a formula..or a set of rules...to install order and peace in both personal and social lives....in the societies they used to live in....so they devised the sets of rules and procedures which took the form of religion over a period of centuries....but these wise men knew that anything man made like this would be a subject to ridicule or even destruction by other people....so the divine presence of a super power was essential to justify and validate the rules...voila came the notion of God...the almighty......the supreme....anyone who doubts His teachings...His directions....are infidels....and are wrong....was the impression. But if we look at today's world....we see that religion was probably needed once upon a time to establish a common platform among people...so they could share common personal, social and spiritual values...but no more....now religion has become secondary as a mean to install commonality among people....because we have concepts of country and culture as a stronger element to build bonds among people. So...after all this easy explanation of how religion was invented.....where does God go? should we all be atheists? should all religious teachings be banned? Well...in my opinion....when I close my eyes...I can very easily speak to My God...and religious values are ofcourse important....as no religion tells to steal, to tell lies, to kill....so I guess now is the time to focus more on the end results of religions....rather than looking at the means of it.

ABCDs and BBCDs

Yes....today its about ABCDs and BBCDs....no its not going to be about learning the English alphabets...rather I just wanted to talk about the American Born Confused Desis and the British Born Confused Desis...simply speaking...after the 7/7 London bombings....when I came to know about the backgrounds of the bombers...what struck me most was the issue of identity crisis....when someone is born in a say...Bangladeshi family here in Britain...the parents try to raise the child according to their own cultural values...whereas when the child goes to school and mixes with local children...it tries to adapt to local values and norms...and all of which leads to confusion.....however I have met Bangladeshi/Indian families in Britain and have met their offsprings born and raised in this country..who are as knowledgable about the British culture as they are aware of the culture of their parents' homeland....its fortunate for them that they have been able to learn and live the best from both the cultures.....some unfortunate ones are the ones like the ABCDs or BBCDs....for example when they grow up ...they are probably ridiculed by local white boys as 'Pakis' or 'Brown Arse' etc...and as they are not white....their Britishness probably could always be under scrutiny...irrespective of their knowledge of the UK or the Midland accent they speak in....on the other hand..when they visit the country of origin of their parents....they are unwelcome by the natives as ABCDs and BBCDs...as they can hardly speak in the local language...let alone reading and writing it....the Queen's English is their only means of articulation which is an item of fun and teasing by the locals.....so amidst this identity crisis and the sense of 'not belonging to anywhere'.....where do they seek refuge? bingo.....no where else but under the banner of religion....its the religion which gives them an identity...which indoctrines them in the principle that your first and foremost identity is that you belong to such and such religion....rest are all mortal..and manmade...i.e. country..nationality..culture etc...so you should forget them....or even erase them...destroy them.. from your life..in order to establish 'your true identity'....your religious one.....and voila we have well-educated, western-born, suddenly-turned-religious youth who plants bombs in tubes and buses to kill the bunch of infidels....does not matter if they were his own countrymates or not...as long as they didn't follow the same ideals as he did...all of them are 'permitted' to be killed....I think this is how the confusion leads to destruction.

What are you dancing for?

Lately I have noticed one thing in the clubbings out here is that its so much a prelude to being laid...the atmosphere...the people..the grooves and the moves....the low lights and the free flow of alcohol...all in heavy smoke...are always a bit in one direction...I don't fit into that always...I don't have the mood to think in those lines all the time...I so fondly remember the college fest days back in Delhi..when we used to swing in the tunes of music...with mates...just for the sake of having fun...and laughing at our wacky dance moves....and keep on swinging....it was plain, clean and simple...things get too raunchy in clubs out here...I mean if you want to get something..you might get something...but I don't always get the kind of fun I sometimes seek...music I have grown up with....music I have moved with...and music I have laughed with....old habits die hard...I want to keep that habit alive forever I guess...

Uncertain winds

Apne marzi se...kaha guzarte hum hein...rukh hawao ka...jidhar ke hein..udhar ke hum hein...I don't know why but the tunes of Jagjit Singh always hover in my mind...as if we have already entered the sandwich generation...where we have to take care of our elders..and our youngers...the more we want to have control of things..the more we are controlled by things...and we move on...pondering...

James takes Bangla Rock to Bollywood

Bangladeshi rockstar James goes to sing in the Bollywood film 'Gangster'..i didnt know that...just came across this...'Bheegi Bheegi...' was inspired by Gautam Chatterjee's Bengali song, 'Prithivi...' The producers bought the rights from Asha Music and then started looking around for a raw, grainy voice, who sounded like a folk singer of Bengal. James fitted the bill perfectly. There were visa and passport problems but Mahesh Bhatt spoke to the embassy and James was cleared....James does not understand a word of Hindi and English. The lyricist had to write the song in Bangla for him. On the day of the recording, he really had the jitters and therefore the producers got him drunk! At 2 a.m., they were able to get him in front of the mike....check out the link to music video as well...I really liked the composition of the song..its very uncommon...and James have no doubt sung in his own style...but the fact that he sang it in almost perfect Hindi was really remarkable....excellent song. I had always wanted to see Bangla music scene cross the borders...as the traditional heritage of Bangla music might have its roots in West Bengal but as far as Bangla rock is concerned, its on the Bangladesh side where the revolution took place way back in the 70s, thanks to bands like Miles, Souls, LRB and gurus like Azam Khan, Ferdous Wahid etc. The following decades saw a mushroom like growth of Bangla bands...and when it seemed that the stage is set for expansion and international recognition...the guys at the helm got too busy with internal politics...thanks to the united opposition of Indian Bengali broadcasters...Bangladeshi band music was not even sold/aired in West Bengali satellite television channels...even till late 90s....whereas Bangladeshi youth had continued to sway with the tunes of Nachiketa, Anjan Dutt and Suman...not to mention how popular Hindi movie songs had always been....keeping all this mind...I think its better late than never....thanks to Mahesh Bhatt...who is remotely linked to the Bangla Rock scene...to have given James an international platform. http://www3.youtube.com/watch?v=DsCP7mqyMZs&search=james%20bangla

Lessons of London

1. The value of time is atleast £5.30 per hour.
2. Watching TV is a great waste of time, unless its current affairs/news.
3. Watching movies from time to time, which add value, are ok.
4. The streets of London are painfully narrow leading to disgusting traffic jams sometimes, yet nobody honks, when someone does, its usually to draw someone's attention, to swear at someone or when an accident occurs.
5. The unpredictability of English weather is attractive, you never get bored, you are always left wondering how the next minute is going to be, one moment its sunny, next moment its cloudy and raining, and you better be prepared for any consequences.
6. A sucker is born every minute in this world.
7. Acquaintances are many, friends are handful.
8. The more people you know, the better off you are, if you don't have good academic background, yet know someone influential, you can get a good job, if you have a good academic background but don't know the right person at the right place, its difficult...if you don't have neither...you are gone mate.
9. Pound is a very strong currency.
10. London is the greatest melting pot of the world, so many languages, so many colors of so very different people from all the corners of the world.
11. Everyone should spend some time in life out from the home country...to realise what life has to offer...to broaden point of view...to know people and to know oneself.
12. In the end of the day, you are alone....not lonely.
13. London is getting crowded...with EU people and with people like us.
14. Its a free country, you can live the life you want, pray, stray, study, tidy, work, screw, sleep, peep, gaze, booze, plan, moan, eat, meet, watch, match, cry, try, look, hook, cook, ponder, wonder, blunder, wander, spend, lend, mend, amend, laugh, bluff and the list continues...the limit of your being free is inversely proportional to your sense of responsibilities.full stop.
15. I was pickpocketed in the bus once, I was robbed at work at gunpoint, my friends were mugged at night...the darkness just below the candle...London no exception.
16. Its a good idea to judge people individually, their country of origin, race, religion do play a basic role, nevertheless, the final role is played by the person's personality only.
17. There you see well-mannered beggars in trains or next to ATM machines asking for change.
18. A group of teenage hoodie boys/girls are always a reason of concern.
19. Its good to be nice to nice people, and swear back at those who swear at you, and avoid eye contacts with drunks and gang of hoodies... color does not matter.

20. Our English is much better than that of the EU people.

Of laptops, iPods, life and love

I was so surprised when my credit score passed that I forgot to even buy the accessories like a carrying case, webcam and microphone etc. along with Toshi...yeah...that is what I call my dreammachine...who sits pretty on my laptop...a Toshiba laptop...lol...I remember having brought 1200£ when I landed in London...to buy a laptop...life was such...that money was draining out like anything in the early days..when I was desperate to find a job...and having a blindspot in my arsenal of expertise...that is not knowing how to cook...I was spending precious pounds behind samosas and burgers from the Afghan shop at Holloway Road...well...I have now...what I wanted for so long...but I would not deny that the final motivation was derived from the tiny black 2GB iPod Nano which I bought a week earlier...when I realised after reading the manual that you need a PC for charging it...or else you can buy an expensive charger to charge it...so there I went looking for it...and I got it finally...I remember the first time when I bought my first PC way back in 1997, there came a time when I was mimicking the PC...becoming too procedural, materialistic and logical...devoid of emotions...getting restless of slow things, striving for speed and efficiency and automation...and crashing often...lol. Well...things have changed a bit...but the basics remain the same I reckon.....my mental softwares still crash and hang my system....they are still very prone to emotional viruses...I think I have to look for a better anti-emotional virus software...McShehzaad....or NortonShams...something like that...the thing is the harddisk in the laptop revolves around an axis...when the axis exerts too much pain, heat and frustration....it is vulnerable to crashes.....however I have a capacity of 60 GB with 256MB RAM...so the memories accumulated all over these 5 years are precious, cannot be replaced and are right-protected..they cannot be deleted...even if I hang in stand-alone mode...they are still there...I cannot live without them...partitioning the hard disk would help a little...I can atleast save my other data from being erased...but what to do with the operating system? I really am not sure whether to format it...and reinstall it...at this age...at this stage...I think a life without a laptop is still manageable...but a life without love? I am still in the thinking process...I am more human now I guess.

Omor Ekushey

The day started with a complete tour of the British Museum along with Babul Bhai, the painter/artist friend of mine who 'Londoned' himself just two weeks back. After a tiring yet worthwhile experience of the world's fascinating antiques we headed towards Bethnal Green, the Bengali dominated neighbourhood, to get introduced to the folks of 'Betar Bangla', the new Bangla radio in London which has got a recent licence to be on air for 6 hours every day from April. I am always very much eager to meet people involved in media, as I believe media holds the power to initiate a 'bottom-up' process of change in a nation. I was overwhelmed to get myself introduced to the chairman and the director of the radio channel, both gentlemen in their fifties and both happen to be freedom fighters...who had left the very motherland they had liberated in '71....and had come to this country in mid 80s...to pursue a better life for themselves...and perhaps...to forget the pain of not being recognised...as 'muktijoddhas'...by their very countrymen. But my unplanned meeting with these accomplished men got all the more significance as it was on the eve of 'omor ekushey'....the international mother-tongue day...the day which upholds the glory of Bangla..as a language...to remember those who laid down their lives in 1952 against the unilateral imposition of Urdu as the state language of Pakistan. The time was right to speak my heart out to them, my plans, my aspirations, my complains...and to my sheer surprise, I discovered that the gentlement might be somewhat 25 years older than I am but they have the hearts of a 25 year old, burning with the same zeal, same energy and same dreams as they might have had when they ran through the paddy fields of Bengal with an LMG on their shoulders, or with which they had patiently waited to explode the enemy vehicles with previously implanted PEs ( in their terms)...or plastic explosives....i was so hopeful to have found some likeminded people who share a lot of similar views about the improvement of the nation.....so finally after a heated and informative 'adda' we headed towards the shaheed minar at Whitechapel to place flowers there at 12 am. I was so excited with the idea....thinking that never in my life have I ever gone to the shaheed minar at Dhaka to do what I was about to do miles away from home..for the first time in my life....I remember Papa and his friends used to go to the Dhaka shaheed minar early in the mornings to do 'Probhat Feri'...but myself...no. The park was filled with some 2000 slogan chanting, tunes singing Bengalis who braved the merciless London subzero temperature to express their gratitude to those who gave us the right to speak in Bangla...I was amazed to see senior citizens...apparently religious in nature...wearing beard and caps...with flowers in their hands....what a beautiful retort to the last year's objection of the nearby East London Mosque against placing flowers in shaheed minar...(they think its idolatry)...I also saw so many Sylhetis chanting the same slogans and sharing the same views as us...the non-sylhetis...after all...we are Bengalis...Bangladeshi Bengalis...from the start of the day to the end of it..it was quite an eye-opening experience for me....I learnt that I shouldn't generalise about people...also...that we still have hope...we have the scattered pockets of likeminded revolutionaries...just waiting to get integrated and bring forth another '71...this time for good.

Rang de Basanti

"I thought people die in two ways...either while screaming...or dying in silence...but I know of a third kind...who die smiling..."....
(if you want to improve things in your nation) "either tolerate things and shut up OR start taking responsibilities for change" (don't just nag and complain)....
"No nation is perfect...YOU have to make it perfect and work for it"....I am no movie buff and I don't memorise dialogues from movies....hindi or english...but these three lines from the movie were engrained in my brain after the 3 hour experience at the last show of 'Rang de Basanti' at Woodgreen cineplex. I know people say that after all its just a movie, don't take it seriously, people will forget about it after a while etc. etc.....but I disagree, I mean come on you have to be serious about atleast something worthwhile in life! If you keep on overlooking the compelling, subtle messages for change and improvement from day to day life, how else can you expect to prosper? Movies are meant for entertainment, but they are one of the greatest social tools for education, for learning, if after watching a movie like 'Rang de Basanti'...your thought processes are not transformed, if you remain the same person you were before you entered the theatre, then I am afraid I find no difference in living life like a tree...you have a life, you grow, you inhale and exhale, you bear fruits and flowers and spread smell and color...and you die....BUT...you do not think...its the air that moves you, its the sun that feeds you, its the soil that holds you...and you...just live and live and die one day...similarly if we keep on waiting for things to happen in our lives... wait for external forces....and do not think and act...but merely nag and complain...we are no better than a tree. I do not want to spoil your experience by narrating what happened in the movie, all I want to say is that the greatest revolutions take place in the human mind first...then they are articulated, planned and executed in battle fields, streets, board rooms or wherever...but the locus of revolution remains the mind...hitting the nails in the coffins of corruption..which is eating countries like ours, 'Rang de Basanti' is not only about India and its aspirations, its youth and its potentials... my hats are off any ways and always for them who have so successfully given 'patriotism' a new dimension--the Indians, inspite of having so many differences in languages, religions, cultures and opinions of a billion people, when required--they have been able to unite all under the tri-color...and look how far they have come and you won't be able to see how far they will have gone 10 years from now, so rapid is their economic and social growth...but the gist of the movie could be applied to any context where the problems are similar....and the most corrupt country in the world is the finest ground to implement the inspirations derived from that movie...that is what I believe...combine 'lagaan', 'dil chahta hein', 'shaheed bhagat singh', 'swades' and 'yuva'...what you have in 'rang de basanti' is equal to that...watch the movie...and wake up....if you don't....if you can't....then keep on sleeping...you are not worth it any ways....eat,shit and die...as a bosom friend of mine used to quote.

What a waste of energy

Leader whose life spanned the Gulf state's growth from backwater to global player, By Robin Allen Published: January 16 2006, Financial Times

Kuwait's Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, ruler since 1977 of the oil-rich state, died over the weekend aged 79, paving the way for a long-awaited succession by his ailing distant cousin, Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah......Sheikh Jaber never lost the trappings of a traditional autocrat. On one occasion in 1979, when Britain's Queen Elizabeth attended a race meeting, she congratulated Sheikh Jaber on his horse coming home first of the nine runners. The ruler replied casually, "They're all my horses.".....Sheikh Jaber was married as many as 30 times. He leaves 23 sons and at least 15 daughters.

Dubai in mourning after emir, 62, dies in Australian hotel
Brian Whitaker, Thursday January 5, 2006, The Guardian

Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and a world-renowned owner and breeder of racehorses, died suddenly in Australia yesterday, aged 62. ...The emir, who had been staying at the Palazzo Versace luxury hotel on the Gold Coast in Queensland, had arrived on December 28 in his personal Boeing 747-400, apparently to attend the Magic Millions yearling sale, which starts next week.....At home, he generally maintained a low profile, preferring to allow his younger brothers to run the day-to-day affairs of Dubai, one of seven wealthy mini-states that make up the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia is the largest oil exporting nation of the world, Kuwait and UAE also contribute to a great amount in the world oil exports.....the geographic and political importance of Middle East is very important...better understood by the West than the Arabs themselves.... its also the holiest place for devout Muslims....yet the increase in scale of global Islamic terrorism makes me wonder what the rulers of those countries have been doing all along....doing something for their region, for humanity, for Muslims, for Islam....doing something like not only building shining expensive mosques and madrasas in remote corners of impoverished countries like Bangladesh...not only building expensive hotels in sea shores of Dubai...not only keeping large stables and expensive horses managed by white jockeys in England....but effectively establishing a just democratic society by spreading scientific education, infrastucture development, economic freedom...for themselves and for the poorer Islamic nations around Middle East...but what a pity....they are still harboring monarchies.....and are the best allies of the 'democracy champion' of the world--The United States....they even don't know how many times they marry in one life time and how many children they have produced....expensive harems, private jets, family run state, lavish lifestyle and oil....all in the banner of the 'vanguard of Islam'....what a shame...how well they could have capitalised their comparative advantages in terms of natural and financial resources...just see what they are doing....and interestingly enough...world press gives coverage either to the terrorists with Islamic names....holding AK-47s and the Quran with hostages etc....or to 'blessed Muslim souls' like Jaber al-Sabah and Maktoum....who died still oiling the West's industrial wheels and machines....moderate Muslims usually don't make space in international press...as they are still confused.....and haven't done anything 'significant enough' to deserve a space there....note that 'significant' does not mean blowing up a bomb and killing 'infidels'....or spreading the seed around and contributing greatly to the world's population...or flying in private jets where fellow citizens are illiterate, poor and camel-riding nomads. Sad...very sad.

Culture Shock : Part trois : Colors of life

X is committed to developing its policies to promote equal opportunities in employment. All applications will be treated on their merits, regardless of sex, age, marital status, disabilities, sexuality, race, colour, religion, ethnic or national origin. To monitor the effectiveness of our equal opportunities policy, we would be grateful if you would provide the information requested below. The information requested will be detached by us upon receipt of your application and will not be used during the selection process.

White-British

White-Irish

Any other white background

Mixed- white and black Caribbean

Mixed- white and black African

Mixed- white and Asian

Any other mixed background

Asian or Asian British-Indian

Asian or Asian British-Bangladeshi

Asian or Asian British-Pakistani

Any other Asian background

Black or Black British-Caribbean

Black or Black British-African

Any other black background

Chinese

Other

Now this is what they say when they take applications from job-seekers, all the ethnicity monitoring and stuff. But what makes me wonder is their classification criteria for this. I mean you can categorise people in terms of country i.e. Bangladeshi, Indian, British etc. ...or you can categorise in terms of religion i.e. Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu etc. or you can categorise in terms of continents i.e. Asians, American, European, African etc. or ofcourse you can categorise in terms of color....if that makes any difference to you...like Black, White, Brown, Yellow etc.....but how on earth and why on earth would you combine color and country/continent in the same list to classify people?...I mean look at the list above..it takes for granted that if someone is White its most expected that he/she would be British or Irish or from any other 'white' country...and the rest...I don't care...as long as they are non-white. A British friend of mine asked me where he would put himself in that list, as he is neither from the Caribbeans nor from Africa but born and brought up by British parents who just happen to have colored skins...as if being 'purely' British and black are mutually exclusive! It also makes us..the Desi people wonder why the most 'fairest' pupils are known by their names by those who care....and the rest are like 'miscellaneous' ....and why 'some' names are 'impossible' to pronounce....whereas we call even 'Schwarzenegger' with much ease.

So the troisième culture shock comes in colorful ways around you...rules of fair play and ethnicity monitoring etc. are however written in papers only....in black and white....probably to distinguish between black and white....I admit that fingers of the hand are not of the same size...but the issue remains one of the major underlying causes of division among people here.

Culture Shock : Part deux : W.C.

Never would you miss so much the 'gono shouchagar's back in Dhaka or the 'sulabh souchalay's back in Delhi...unless you are in London. As there are no free lunches..and free waters...(ref. culture shock part un)...there are no free...lol..toilets too...yes..in the financial capital of Europe..its all about money honey...so if you need to say hi to nature, you better not water any roadside trees, or put grafitis on walls..as you might get yourself arrested...so what you have to do is to pay 20p and relieve yourself of urgencies. But hang on....where is the public toilet in the first place? Bars and pubs and kebab shops and supermalls and cinema halls and cars and people...almost everywhere you see...but no W.C. I just listened to radio this afternoon that London is planning to get some more W.C.s so that its residents can 'release in ease'...haha...so make sure you know where the nearest W.C. is before you know where oxford street is..as the maps might show you where that is ..but they don't show you where W.C. is.

Culture Shock : Part un : Water

Although its nearly a year late to write about culture shocks, still better late than never. Coming straight to the point, we have to buy water from our university cafes, I have come to know from culture-shocked 'mates' from other universities as well that they don't have water-reservoir or something like that from where you could fill up your bottle, or tactically use your hand to drink some much needed water, when you are tired, thirsty or right after a meal. A small bottle costs 60-80 pence and it takes around 3 seconds to finish it in one go. Whenver I am bound to 'buy' water, I think of my school days in an impoverished, over-populated, hot and humid country and my university days in a less impoverished, populated, hot and humid country, and wonder how the laws of supply and demand fail to make any sense here. When there is more demand for water say like in hot and humid and polluted countries, its supposed to be expensive, a candidate to be sold in bottles...but where the demand is less... like in cold, developed, cleaner countries where people don't get thirsty often any ways (or live on alcohol)...water could be made easily available and ofcourse free....but NO...shock shock !! There are no free lunches...or free water...take it or leave it.

Where the power lies and lied and still lying

This is how the ranking of the countries look like in terms of population, I was amazed to learn that 3 South Asian nations appear in the top 10 and also the combined population of these countries (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan) are one-third of the total world population (6 billion).

1.China (1,298,847,624) 2. India(1,065,070,607) 3. UnitedStates (293,027,571) 4.Indonesia (238,452,952) 5.Brazil (184,101,109) 6.Pakistan (159,196,336) 7.Russia (143,974,059) 8.Bangladesh(141,340,476) 9.Japan (127,333,002) 10.Nigeria(125,750,356)

After all its human beings who have created modern economies, better lifestyles, scientific innovations and prosperous societies. It was the brain and brawn power of the homo-sapiens, not any extra-terrestrial assistance that brought us to where we are now. So people are the greatest of all resources and guess where in the whole world they are most available? Its a pity how those who hold the most potential are wasting time fighting over issues such as petty politics and ofcourse religion. India has however gone far ahead in contributing something worthwhile to itself and to the world....in the true sense...but alas..Pakistan and Bangladesh are yet to free themselves from the shackles of militant factories and wholesale corruption respectively. The true power lies in our part of the world and those who are in power...the politician species...have been lying all along just to cover their vested interests. Time to wake up, realise where the true power lies and use it.