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     Volume 4 Issue 40 | April 1, 2005 |


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Dhaka Diary

Say a little prayer
The other day, in the mosque when I finished my jumma prayer, I noticed some very awkward behaviour. A middle-aged man, sitting a little away from me was pulling his nose-hair and throwing them about. This seriously disgusted me and the fact that he was doing it absentmindedly did not help the situation much. Not only was this act prohibited in the middle of the prayer, but it also reflected a very repellent act on the man's part. I clapped my hands to get his attention and asked him to stop doing what he was doing in the mosque. He realised it only then and looked a little embarrassed. How can people forget themselves to the extent of doing disgusting things in places reserved for prayers?

Aaqib Javed Dhaka Commerce College


Free counselling at the hairdressers!
It's universal knowledge that if you want to hear interesting tid bits about known personalities in town or get some free advice on how to handle your husband's snoring problem, then just drop by your nearest parlour or a salon. The other day, as I was squirming on my seat at a popular hairdresser's in Banani, while the lady was trying hard to get rid of my bushy eyebrows with a mere piece of string, I couldn't help overhearing a conversation going on right next to me. A newly married woman was advising her to-be-married friend on how to tackle fussy mothers-in-law. "You simply have to give it back nicely, if the old one gets to you, you know," remarked the married one, with an air of experience and know-it-all expression in her eyes. "Just remember, darling," she went on. "We live in an age where women can and should raise their voices against any kind of oppression, be it for equal pay at work places, or deciding on who should take the car out, you or your mummy-in-law." I could not help smiling through my painful tears. One can actually get much more at a hairdresser's than a haircut and a pedicure, and that too absolutely for free!

DK Baridhara


Identity at stake
Being a member of the Culture Club at my university, we tend to get busy during the months of February and March. The other day, I along with a friend went over to Elephant Road to search for the patriotic numbers that are sung and played on radio and television repeatedly during these two months. Something that actually struck me, was that most of the music stores could not get enough of peppy Indian numbers like "Dhoom machale" and other Indian olden goldies which have been 're-structured' so as to have the younger generation appreciate them more. When we approached these stores for age-old songs like "Ora amar mukher katha kayra nite chai" and "Joy Bangla", the storekeepers' stoned expression told us that they probably hadn't heard these songs ever before in their lives. They were also wondering as to why a couple of youngsters were inquiring about these Bangla numbers, when they were blaring out hip hop foreign numbers on their speakers. It is really a shame that music stores in an area like Elephant Road, which has so many of them, do not have the famous patriotic numbers that most of us have grown up listening to and which actually speak about our culture, country and the freedom attained by sacrifices by the young and old alike.

EK Banani

 

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