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Living by a horoscope

Your love life could see a boost and your work environment almost certainly plays a part. Whether you're meeting someone new at a cash register or just meeting your sweetie for lunch, it's great.

It was a beautiful morning; Linda opened her eyes. put on her flip-flops and ran for the newspaper. Her curious dark brown pupils got larger and larger as she flipped through the pages. Finally, she found the horoscope segment. Linda was a horoscope devotee and believed in it more than she believed in herself. “Ah ha Libra! There it is,” she said. “Your love life could see a boostand your work environment almost certainly plays a part. Whether you're meeting someone new at a cash register or just meeting your sweetie for lunch, it's great.” “ Oh mon dieu! This is my day. I'll meet my special someone today” she thought with a huge smile on her face.

Linda groomed herself, put on her best outfit and went to work. She was a sales girl at a clothing store. Linda was busy doing her regular chores like putting the price tag, ironing the clothes etc. Although this day was different. A man almost 6'1 in height with dark hair and blue eyes sporting a Prada suit walked in. The empowering smell of his Armani cologne left Linda speechless. She thought “This is it, my dream man . This is the moment I have been waiting for”. The man walked up to her and said “ Excuse me Miss are you busy? Can I have a word with you?” Linda was on cloud nine; she already knew what he was going to say. She came forward keeping her eyes, ears even mouth opened. His exact words were “I am sorry to say this to you but I am the new Manager in charge, your evaluation was below satisfactory. I hate to break this to you but you are fired.”

By Fariba Rakhsanda


How to stay cool during summer

It's a seasonal phenomenon, and all of us are falling prey to its wrath everyday. You guessed it; it's the summer! As the Baishakh month rolls in with festivities, it also brings in the sweltering heat. Now all of us should be prepared if we want to stay well and healthy.

Makeup
First of all, girls, those of you who cake their faces with inches of makeup, it won't get you anywhere except for an audition with the “House of Wax, Part 2”. Therefore, keep your makeup to the minimum, and if you have to use it, apply ones with a powder base, or better yet, use talcum powder. It will absorb all the oiliness and keep your skin feeling fresh all day. Kohl, liner and mascara should be applied lightly as well, remembering to use the waterproof ones, or else a sudden gust of rain may change your appearance to that of raccoon! Another thing to keep in mind is to always wear a sunscreen lotion. It protects your skin against the harmful UV rays and also keeps it from getting tanned. Wet tissues are also a must have as it can wipe away the dirt and oil and leave your fresh.

Food and drinks
If you can, please avoid drinking water, which is not bottled. Diarrhoea and Jaundice is on the rise, and its best to avoid drinks outside. Better yet, carry your own water bottle from home. If you are unbelievably thirsty while you are out, opt for a refreshing daab. It is packed with nutrients and keeps the body and skin healthy and glowing. Some fast food shops like Chicken King offer kaacha aamer shorbot (raw mango juice), which is also very refreshing. Even though it will be hard, try to avoid having fuchka, and if you must, don't have the tok. There you have it! All you need to know to combat the season's heat! Stay cool!

Clothes
When clothing is concerned, please stick to cotton clothes. The synthetic ones are awful for the summer heat. Cotton on the other hand is perfect for this season, and you can get trendy prints of cloths in Chandni Chawk with which you can make anything ranging from shirts and tops to kameezes. As for the guys, please DO NOT opens your shirt till your belly button even if you are dying of the heat. It doesn't matter if you just got your chest waxed, people don't want to see it! Guys should go for cotton shirts, t-shirts or even polo shirts, which are widely available in any clothing store.

Shoes and accessories
In this unpredictable weather, sandals and flip-flops are the way to go. Both guys and girls should invest in good quality sandals and shoes, which lets air pass through and keeps your feet dry and insulated. It will also be wise to carry an umbrella in case a kalboishakhi decides to hit the city. Another thing to keep in mind is to wear very light scented body spray/splashes or perfume. It is the biggest torture when someone wearing an unbelievably strong fragrance comes into a room. General stores have some light and fresh body splashes at an affordable price, so be sure to carry one in your bag for refreshment.

By Sumaiya T Ahmed


Myth box
Titans

The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.

In various Indo-European mythologies, gigantic peoples are featured as primeval creatures associated with chaos and wild nature. There are also other stories featuring giants in the Old Testament, perhaps most famously Goliath. Attributed to them are superhuman strength and physical proportions, a long lifespan, and thus a great deal of knowledge as well.

Fairy tales such as Jack and the Beanstalk have formed our modern perception of giants as stupid and violent monsters, frequently said to eat humans, and especially children. However, in some more recent portrayals, like those of Roald Dahl, some giants are both intelligent and friendly.

In Hinduism, the giants are called Daityas who were the children of Diti and the sage Kashyapa who fought against the gods or Devas because they were jealous of their Deva half-brothers. In Greek mythology the gigantes were the children of Uranos and Gaea (The Heaven and the Earth).

The Greeks believed some of them, like Enceladus, to lay buried from that time under the earth, and that their tormented quivers resulted in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In Norse mythology, the giants (jotnar) are often opposed to the gods. They come in different classes, such as frost giants, fire giants and mountain giants. In folklore from all over Europe, giants were believed to have built the remains of previous civilizations. Some argue that giants had to exist, because nothing else would explain the large walls, stone monuments, and statues that we now know were the remains of Roman construction. Aside from mythology and folklore remains of giants have been claimed to have been found in America. So the most frequently asked question is “Do they exist?”

By Nishita Aurnab


Cool Adda

Location
Gliese 581c (Planet found that can be the next earth)

What to bring:
Your laptop with internet access, camera, a movie titled 'Life on Earth', companions and Md Jafar Iqbal's fictions.

Why there?
You're pissed off at your life, tired of living on Earth; you desperately want some free air, peace and harmony and you can take some time off from your wretched hopeless life where you have to be worried about Global warming, the Arctic melting, Bangladesh drowning…that sort of thing. If you are lucky enough, you might find aliens who can speak your language. You and your mates can take unlimited pictures with them and 'make friendship' with some! Just tell them how intriguing they are to us, and how popular they are, and I am sure they will give you more heed than anyone ever did. If they try to hurt you, then you have Jafar Iqbal's books for your survival. Do not question the power of his books. Seriously. The movie that you brought with you might become the best horror film ever, so that can be your solo ticket towards fame in our favourite exterritorial planet. Don't forget to post the pictures on facebook!

Pros: You are going to a new planet, meeting new forms of life if it exists…that enough will make you the most famous person on Earth. And if you did not notice it yet, you are decreasing the population on earth and making earth a better place to live in! Also, this experience can make you want to become a philosopher. More fame!

Cons: you have to have a very long life span to reach the planet, so you might have a very small life. We don't know what lies ahead on your trip; there might not be any food, water or oxygen. In short, you might die. But that's just a 99.99% chance! Just be sure that you don't converse too long with the aliens, as you might be inducing hatred, jealousy, and a lot more spiteful attributes on them. You can be putting a new form of life at stake!


RS Mailbox

I just wanted to correct a mistake in the article 'Pahela Boishakh:Not only in Bangladesh" The article said that the Sri Lankans did not celebrate the New Year. The Sri Lankans do celebrate their New Year on 14th April. It is called 'Sinhala saha Themala aluth avrudda" It is the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year. On this day, most Sri Lankans celebrate it very grandly and make many sweets such as 'kaum', 'kokis', 'mung kaum', 'pol toffee, 'kiri toffee' etc. We start the celebrations at an auspicious time by making the traditional dish, 'milk rice'. The astrologers tell us the Right time by gazing at the stars. On our New Year, we also buy new clothes according to a certain selected colour. Our New Year is either on the 13th or the 14th. It is the biggest celebration in the country. Wesak, however, is a religious festival for Buddhists and is also a grand celebration.

Thank you,
Devni Yasara Weheragoda

 

 

 


 
 

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