Home   |  Issues  |  The Daily Star Home | Thursday, December 29, 2005


By E.R. Ronny

New year's eve has many different meanings for as many different people. Some embrace it with open tipsy arms. Yet others breathe a sigh of relief like watching an annoying in-law leave through the front gate. Optimists will tell you it is the new beginning. Their pessimistic kin will tell you it is the beginning of the end. Worse still they might be right.

Throughout the year we have had a lot of happening stories. 2005 was undoubtedly the hottest most explosive year so far. Yep, it was the Year of the Bomb. All this time we thought our country was behind on technological matters. Where other Asian countries are sending things to the moon we can't even send a mailed parcel 10 kilometers away without it getting seriously lost. Then again who knows, all those parcels might actually be on their way to the moon.

So there we were all caveman-like until one day we wake up suddenly to discover that someone had invented fire, explosive fire. Sounds just like the cavemen, doesn't it? Sure we could have tried to advance ourselves in the field of medicine. Better yet we could try to devise a way to use hot air expelled during political speeches to run electricity pants. Nope, we had to go get all technologically advanced in the field of making things go boom. Thank goodness no one has yet thought of searching the net for ways to make a nuclear bomb. Oops, maybe shouldn't have said that.

Other than that we have had our usual share of disastrous launch capsizes, improperly constructed buildings falling down and RAB related deaths. Death hangs heavily in the air. Shocking as it always is to see the loss of human lives we have gotten used to seeing such things happen. As a result, foreign embassies face a long line in front of their immigration booths.

We saw Iraq crumbling to dust and hurricanes wiping out the west. As if all that death and gloom was not bad enough Rising Stars almost did not come out one fine Thursday. But it did so it's not all bad. It's times like these older people like to reflect upon the good old days. Weird how when days become old they also become good and old. If you think about it some of the good old days were pretty bad old days. Before 2005, there were major flooding, hurricanes, couple of World Wars, election of both the Bushes as U.S. presidents, our very own blood soaked liberation war, the Chernobyl meltdown and Hitler. The list of bad old days continues with famine in post liberation war era, 9/11, mad cow disease, bird flu epidemic, terribly ugly cars of the eighties and bad hair of the seventies. Worst was the day some guy invented the cell phone and allowed everyone on the planet to annoy everyone else not just with phone calls but with ridiculous ring tones. Makes you wonder what the world is coming to.

We have had good times too in 2005. The drive against food adulteration set up by the government was a most welcome act. Sadly and rather predictably we saw almost all the food producers being fined hefty amounts for unscrupulous practices.

For a while Dhaka city looked great in a way a ghost town can during the SAARC summit when roads were cleared out to allow VIPs to pass unseen. Of course, now we are back to the same old standstill traffic.

Another event that got everyone's' attention was the arrival of the world's richest man Bill Gates. It is rumoured that when he walks, a dollar bill falls out of his pocket at every step. The Dhaka City Corporation cleaners must have been very active that day. In the end all these good thing sounds a bit like finding a rusted metal lining in every bright rain free cloud.

So you see it's always a bad year until it is past and then it becomes one of the good old days. Don't worry, next year you will look back and think 2005 was one of the good old years.

Happy New Year readers.


By The Girl Next Door

Dec 31, 2005: Taking stock. Love life status: crashed and burned. Finances: broke. Weight: pushing obese. Academic performance: abysmal.
In the coming year, I will
Enjoy being and STAYING single. Boys are stupid; throw rocks at them.
Study hard and improve grades.
NOT spend so much. That includes cell-phone bills
Lose weight.

January 1, 2006: New Year's Day! Time to pah-tay! Need to call up and wish all my friends, and maybe we'll go check out that new fast food joint. Studies can wait…it's the New Year, man!

February: Valentine's Day! I cannot believe it! Faisal from Physics coaching classes asked me out! I love him, I love him, I love him! Oh bliss and joy!

March: Our one-month anniversary! Got to get Faisoo a gift…if I can get dad to ignore my cell-phone bill and give me a loan.

April: Dumped! Boys are stupid; throw rocks at them! Need to call up girl-pals for a good cry. Maybe a little shopping therapy won't hurt either.

May: I'm officially over men now. Exams next month! Study…study…study…I have to do well in my midterms.

June: Which sadist set these questions? God, I need more pizza! I can't study all night without brain food!

July: More C's. Ah well. I'll catch up during the finals. Right now, the holidays are here, and it's party time! Water Kingdom, Nandan Park, here I come!

August: [sigh] Good times never last, do they? Ah well, back to the grind. Wait a minute! Who is that new hottie in Chem. class?

September: Finals are two months off…why sweat now? I can cram later; right now, I need to solve the problem as to why the Chem cutie is not pattafying me. Maybe if I got my hair straightened…

October: He's got a girlfriend! Woe is me! What I need is a good man-hating gossip session with friends at our favourite fast food hangout.

November: Oh no! I did it again! Exams! Study…study…cram…cram…pray!

Dec 31, 2006: Taking stock. Love life status: crashed and burned. Finances: broke. Weight: pushing obese. Academic performance: abysmal. Here we go again…

And the story goes on…here's hoping our readers have better luck with their year-end resolutions. Happy New Year from everyone at the Rising Stars.


 
 

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