The Mixed sides of Eid

Babuji, zara dheere chalo…' I was flipping channels and came on to this hilarious song out of nowhere. Funny song, I told myself; adding the buffalo was definitely a success…every time I see its poor confused face, I am overcome by this uncontrollable urge to burst into laughter. That reminds me, guess what's just around the corner, with the obvious involvement of lots and lots of cows? That's right… Eid-ul-Azha is just around the bend. I don't know about you all, but I had definitely forgotten all about it this time!

Eid ul Fitr went by in a blur. Frantic shopping I still remember my mum's increasing panic as she tried to find the perfect and best outfit, along with accessories of course), visiting relatives (tedious) and cousins (fun!) during Eid, and then going out with friends the following day to relax and complain, about how Eid was just so boring. Somehow Eid ul Azha follows the same pattern. Frantic shopping (in this case of course, the object to be bought is the cow; thankfully mum's no longer going to be able to drag me off to Dressy Dale every evening!), another visiting session (only now every place you visit, there is every possibility of being assaulted by mounds of meat…
I honestly feel sorry for people who don't like beef) and then going out with friends again (but that's hardly unusual, as you don't really need Eid as an excuse to be with friends).

I guess the mornings are the worst, for me anyways. After the morning prayers, there's this scary business of cutting open the poor cow, which I no longer witness cause the sight of all that blood up front makes me queasy, and I don't think I would fancy starting the Eid day by throwing up so early in the morning. My pichchi cousins soon come running to me after witnessing the death of the poor cow 'Oh Apu, it was sooo horrible; I miss the cow so much' (my goodness!). The next half hour goes by in comforting them, and then I am left with absolutely nothing to do.

I remember one time when my best friend came over we got so bored, that we finally leaped upon the phone for some form of entertainment (don't get me wrong…
we even do prank calls with style). Before starting we hit upon a plan, which went like this… we'd dial random numbers, pretend that we were the Bengali version of 'Kaun Banega Krorepati' and then proceed to ask them 3 questions (1…What is the color of the Taj Mahal? 2…Who sang this song?(over here we played them one paragraph of the song) And 3rdly… How many strands of hair do you have on your head?) Extremely silly questions, but would you believe if I told you that no one thought it was silly at all?

One person even proceeded to give us all his details i.e his home phone number, email address, home address, office address, etc. Weird!

Before I bore you anymore with this insane rambling, I'd like to conclude this write up on a slightly serious note. I have often noticed that during Ramadan, many become highly religious…praying and fasting becomes common.

Yet after Eid goes by, all these somehow manage to vanish into thin air. Eid ul Azha somehow seems to lack the spirit of religion. Lets not forget that the main theme of this Eid is in fact 'sacrifice'. Many believe that they have done their duty by distributing food or money to poor. A simple sacrifice, some love and a little of your time to show that you care will do more wonders for these people than all the food and money you can give them.

Hopefully you'll keep this in mind this time, when Eid comes around. An advance warm Eid Mubarak to everyone from my side!

By Jennifer Ashraf

When Reality Bites

These days reality shows are dominating television. Viewers in Bangladesh have already been introduced to shows such as "Joe Millionaire", "Temptation Island", "Survivor", "Are you hot?", "The Osbournes" and a few more. Despite recent criticism, there is no denying the fact that demand for reality TV shows has been quite high.

So why are people suddenly interested in reality TV? Perhaps it is because viewers are tired of all the sitcoms and dramas, whose story lines have become so predictable. Reality TV portrays ordinary people in real situations. They are created to portray all aspects of our lives family ("The Osbournes"), fears and anxieties ("Fear Factor") and romance ("The Bachelor", "Joe Millionaire"). Some reality shows are actually quite interesting. Take for example the show "Trading Spaces" (they do not air it in Bangladesh yet), a programme about home decoration, which is fun to watch. However, most of the reality shows on television feature dating games and people getting insulted or humiliated. I suppose it may be interesting for some viewers to watch others squirm in front of the camera, but such viewers, I believe, are quite rare.

The ironic thing about reality TV is that it is actually the furthest thing from being real. It may be about ordinary people, but the situations they are put in are never ordinary.

The producers of these shows spend hours editing and some key moments are actually staged. What we see is what the producers want us to see and it may not always be the complete picture. However, reality shows are relatively cheap to produce. Their ratings are often as high as those of the popular sitcoms, but they do not have the additional cost of paying celebrity actors and actresses. Because of this there has been a sudden boom in the production of reality shows in recent years.

Many of the reality TV shows can be seen in Bangladesh on either Star World or AXN. Some of the more popular ones are "The Osbournes"(which can be seen on MTV), "Fear Factor" and "Joe Millionaire". One of my personal favorites is "The Amazing Race".

The show is about different teams competing in a race, which takes place across all continents. Each team has two members, such as a mother-daughter pair or married couples. The show is thrilling till the very end, with many unexpected twists and turns. The show is currently in its third season and I must admit that it has lost much of its original appeal.

When "Joe Millionaire" first started people were not quite sure what to expect. Many people were soon captivated by the show. I know some people who were glued in front of the television every Thursday to find out who Evan would finally chose as his special one and what would happen when he finally revealed his secret. Personally, I thought the show was a cheap attempt to appeal to our romantic side. There is nothing particularly romantic about dating a dozen women at the same time and then choosing one of them. And I must say that the same goes for many of the reality shows on television these days.

Reality shows are never me less a refreshing change from the usual sitcoms and drama serials. They provide the viewers with some variety and some of them are quite interesting.

However too much of the same thing is never good and it will not be long before viewers are tired of these shows. Many of these shows are in their second or third season and already their ratings have dropped. Unless someone comes up with a more creative idea, reality shows are bound to become a thing of the past.

By Ayesha S. Mahmud

The Madding Crowd

It is a pity that mad people are mad. We usually sympathize with them and wish that God hadn't loosened their bolts. But then again, how come we blame them when they do things that are wrong, or downright life threatening? They are, after all, mad!

Once, when I was much smaller, I was on a rickshaw with my mother. I had an invitation card in my hand and was going through it when suddenly I realized that it was not in my hand anymore. My mother gasped but I wasn't sure of what had actually happened. The rickshaw stopped and I looked to my side to see this madman with the invitation card in hand, running across the road and laughing with glee. It was a wonder how he managed to snatch the piece of paper so fast! But this incident, of course, was not life threatening… it just sent shivers down my spine when it happened.

Just yesterday, my bua was going home from work when this lady called her. The lady looked normal, gentle and not at all scary. So my bua went up to her. The lady said, 'Give me some money,' and when bua said she didn't have any, she started punching and strangling her! Her grip was strong and bua tried in vain to free herself. The mad lady had her by the throat and was showering her with punches. If a passer-by hadn't come to help, she believes that she would have died on the spot. She already has swellings around her neck, which hurt when touched.

This six-year-old boy, who happens to be my neighbour's cousin, came to his grandma's house to spend his winter vacation. His aunt took him out for a day. On the way back home from wherever they had gone, they took a bus and were waiting patiently for it to begin its journey. This madman on the road was throwing pebbles around aimlessly. That is when the worst thing possible happened. One such pebble went crashing through a window in the bus, the one next to which the poor boy was sitting. In a matter of seconds, his face was covered in blood.

A shard of broken glass had landed on his eye. It was the most horrible sight ever! Is the madman to be blamed for this? True, he was supposed to be in a mental hospital and not roaming around on the streets. Whose responsibility is it to take him to one? You can't expect him to do all that by himself! Because of such irresponsibility, that little boy lost one of his eyes at such an early age. Was there any form of judgement? Did anyone get punished for this? No!

It is essential that we take steps to stop such incidents from happening. Mad people should be sent to mental institutions by their relatives or doctors. Because the institutions in our country are in very poor condition, they do not want to send their relatives there, fearing that the doctors and nurses might mistreat them, even if they are causing severe problems to the people around.

The mental institutions are in dire need for improvement, so that they are considered to be a better place for madmen rather than the streets.

By Marwa

It's late afternoon. The sun is sitting at the distant horizon. The sun and the water seem to meet together. The shades of evening begin to spread over the earth. The stars are rising in the sky one after another. It's quite late. We should go. But none of us have the intension to get up. Let the time flow; let the stars rise. It's the last change for us to sit together, enjoy together, and dream together. Yes, dreams. Our dreams, our destinations were always the same but the ways to achieve those never matched.

I won't say that we have got full family support. But I'm sure they were not at the opposite pole. I don't know whether it was a blessing or a curse for our relationship. But we were quite sure that we are going to be each other's. The moment we realized this our expectation from the relationship, our behavior towards each other changed dramatically. He has become dominating. I've become desperate. He began to think I'm his property; I have to do whatever he wants me to do.

My wishes became valueless for him; he began to think he is always right, my suggestions, and requests were no longer important for him. I also had some faults. At the initial stage of our relationship I used to support his decisions. I never had any strong say in anything. I was happy to see him happy. But as time passed on I realized where am I?

Where is my individuality? Some one else is coloring my dreams. Is this life? Certainly not. So I have become desperate. Our relation has become a burden for both of us.

Before binding ourselves into the relation ship named "marriage", we thought we should think again. We know we will love each other till death. But if we begin to live together we wont be able to do so. So to keep our love intact we have to be apart. We have tried a lot. But sometimes only try cant make things right. We don't know what was the lagging. But we know our love for each other is like the vastness of the sky, but we are not made for each other. Something doesn't match, some cords don't sound together.

So it's better to become apart with a feeling "someone, somewhere is happy with a feeling that you are happy." We don't know whether we will become happy or not. But obviously it's better than living together with bitterness.

-We should go.
-Yes. We have to go.
-I'm sure there is some one who is made for …..Then you will forget me.
-Lets go.
The silence of the nature, the silence in our mind has made the environment a difficult place to tolerate.

By Suravi