Weekend Tribune Vol 2 Issue 39

Dhaka Tribune | vol 2 Issue 39 | FRIDAY, FebRuARY 13, 2015

14 IFFAt NAwAz8DeshI

FAIRs 20 RogeR lAtchmAN

WEEKEN D TRI BU N E | FRI DAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015

1CONTENTS

Volume 2 | Issue 39 | February 13, 2015

EditorZafar Sobhan

Features EditorSabrina Fatma Ahmad

Asst Magazine EditorFarina Noireet

Weekend Tribune TeamFarhana UrmeeFaisal MahmudTausif SanzumSakib Mridha

CartoonsSyed Rashad Imam Tanmoy

ContributorsN Anita Amreen

Syed Zakir HossainReema IslamIffat Nawaz

Pragya RahmanSaqib SarkarDina Sobhan

GraphicMd Mahbub Alam

Colour SpecialistShekhar Mondal

AdvertisementZia Ur Rahman

ProductionMasum Billah

CirculationMasud Kabir Pavel

Websitedhakatribune.com/weekendfacebook.com/WeekendTrib

Email your letters to:[email protected]

Editor’s note

About the cover

Dear Readers,A popular grilled chicken joint recently came under fire over the social networks for calling February the “month of love,” seeing as how the month has cultural and political significance for us.

At Weekend Tribune, we can’t think of a more apt way to describe February, however. Pohela Falgun which comes just the day before V-Day has always been celebrated with flowers, colours, and yes, love. And even an event as sombre as Ekushay was born out of a deep love for our mother language.

We’re focusing on the love this

week. Go back in time to discover the dark history of Valentine’s Day (page 5). Indulge in the cheesy with some old-time love songs (page 4). Meet an adorable pair of lovebirds who share a real passion for fashion, food and everything fabulous (page 6). We’ve also got a stunning Photo Story for you, bursting with all the colours of spring (page 9).

Finally, in the light of the atrocities that continue to happen during all the hartals, our columnist Iffat Nawaz pays a heartrending, loving tribute to the victims of arson (page 14).

-Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

News 2 News

3 Meanwhile

Features 4 Music V-Day Hit List

6 Blog-logue For the love of fashion

8 Top 10 Deshi fairs

12 Feature Fair Trade Tourism

14 Salt and Honey Iffat Nawaz

16 Digital Bangladesh F-commerce

20 Interview Roger Latchman

regulars15 Tough Love

18 Stay In

19 Go Out

PHOTO STOryFLoweR poweR

5

9

Blooming BeautifulAll’s not roses in our fair country, but these lovely blooms give us some hope

Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

FEaTurEHIstory of ValeNtINes


2 NEwS | This week

More than 600 Russian troops started exercises in Crimea, RIA news agency reported on Tuesday, a day before a summit on the Ukraine crisis in the Belarussian capital Minsk.

RIA quoted Russia’s Black Sea Fleet as saying that coastal defense units had started exercises in Crimea,

which Russia annexed from Ukraine in March. They were using around 50 units of weaponry, it added.

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany are expected to meet in Minsk on Wednesday to seek an end to fighting in eastern Ukraine.Photo: Reuters

Over 600 Russian troops start exercises in Crimea

Germany returns historic books stolen from Italian libraries

Laptops stolen from Cricket World Cup facility

TransAsia offers $470,000 compensation to crash families

German prosecutors say they will return more than 500 historic books to Italy, including original editions of works by Galileo Galilei and Nicolas Copernicus, which were seized in Munich after being stolen from Italian libraries.

Munich prosecutors said Wednesday that the books, dating largely from the 16th and 17th centuries and estimated to be worth at least 2.5 million euros ($2.8 million), will be handed over to Italian judicial authorities on Friday.

The books were seized at a Munich auction house on May 2012 at the request of Naples prosecutors.Photo: AP

New Zealand police say the theft of five laptop computers from a guarded Cricket World Cup accreditation centre in Christchurch was not a security breach.

Superintendent Gary Knowles told reporters at a news conference Wednesday the laptops contained “information of a very low level in relation to vetting of volunteers and things.”

He said: “They contained no information that could breach

security. They will not impact here or Australia in any way in terms of security. They are securely passworded. We would just like to get those back.”

The laptops were stolen from a building near Hagley Oval where the opening World Cup match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka will be played on Saturday. The facility was being used as a base for volunteers and to issue accreditation passes.

Taiwan’s TransAsia Airways announced Wednesday that it would pay nearly half a million dollars in compensation to relatives of each of the victims of a dramatic plane crash earlier this month.

The offer of Tw$14.9 million ($470,000) for each family comes seven months after the airline made a similar payout to the families of 48 passengers killed in another crash last July.

TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 crashed Wednesday last week shortly after take-off from Songshan airport in Taipei with 53 passengers and five crew on board, killing at least 42.

Amateur dramatic dashcam images showed the ill-fated plane hitting an

elevated road as it banked steeply away from buildings before crashing into the Keeling River.

One person remains missing after two more bodies were retrieved from the freezing waters on Wednesday.

“We offered an amount of Tw$14.9 million ($470,000) as compensation for each person who died in the accident. We hope to reach a settlement with the families,” a TransAsia spokeswoman told AFP.

The compensation deal is the result of closed-door discussions held in Taipei Wednesday with representatives from some of the families.

Anti-Western sentiment ‘at record levels’ in Russia

Anti-Western sentiment has reached historic levels in post-Soviet Russia, with a vast majority expressing negative attitudes towards the United States and the European Union, a poll showed on Monday.

Relations with the United States, the former Cold War era rival, have never been particularly warm under Vladimir Putin, but ties appear to

have come undone since the start of the Ukraine crisis more than a year ago, a study by the respected Levada Centre pollster showed.

“We have not seen such aggressive and strong resentment towards the West since we started our monitoring,” Lev Gudkov, director of the Levada Centre, told AFP.

Eighty one percent of respondents expressed negative attitudes towards the United States, up from 44 percent in January 2014.

The number of people who called ties between Moscow and Washington hostile has grown tenfold -- to 42 percent last month from 4 percent in January 2014.Photo: Reuters

The world at a glanceWeekend Tribune Desk

Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia signed a deal on Tuesday under which the Middle Eastern country will resume importing manpower from Bangladesh gradually.

The process will start with the recruitment of household help.

The deal follows a two-day visit to Bangladesh by an influential Saudi delegation.

Secretary Iftekher Hyder and KSA Labour Ministry’s Deputy Minister for International Affairs Dr Ahmed Al Fahaid signed the deal on behalf of their respective sides.

“We issued around 1.3 million new visas last year for recruiting foreign workers. So, there is a huge employment opportunity for Bangladeshis,” the Saudi minister said after a meeting with a Bangladesh delegation yesterday.

He said: “We have ensured

security for the workers. If the worker has qualities, then their wages may rise.”

Meanwhile, Expatriates Welfare Minister Mosharraf told parliament that Bangladeshi workers can go to Saudi Arabia spending just Tk15,000-Tk20,000 within a short time.

At present, most of the country’s remittance comes from Saudi Arabia, home to more than 1.5 million Bangladeshis.

In 2013-2014, Bangladeshi workers remitted $3.12bn. Bangladesh can earn another $1.5bn a year if it can send another 1 million.

On February 1, following a six-year ban centring anomalies in recruitment processing, the Saudi government announced that it would hire workers from Bangladesh again. News: Dhaka Tribune

KSA signs deal to resume importing manpower


3meanwhile ... | NEwS

You’re welcome

The 5 most common tactics used to hack passwords Trying common passwordsAny hacker trying to break through a password will first try the most common passwords in the book. Silly though it may seem, a disturbingly large number of people rely on passwords that consist of just a few common numbers of letters. Even the word “password” is commonly used as a password.

Social engineeringIf commonly used passwords don’t work, and a hacker knows the owner of the password they’re trying to bypass, social networking can be used to try and figure out what the password might be. Hackers know that people who don’t use common passwords are still likely to use passwords that have some personal significance.

The weakest linkMost people use the same password on multiple sites, and many use just one password for everything. Hackers know this, and they also know that many sites have weak security. Using the information found while reviewing your social networking profiles, a hacker may be able to identify sites you visit. Some are sure to be heavily guarded. Others, however, probably aren’t.

Sniffing Wi-Fi packetsOpen wireless networks can be a nasty security issue because they are – well – open. Information transmitted on them can be picked up by anyone within range of the network, and that includes passwords.

KeyloggingLike sniffing Wi-Fi, keylogging can be used personally or impersonally. Using information gained about you while attempting to guess your password, a hacker might find a way to send you a file that you think is legitimate but actually contains a keylogger. Once installed, it can detect your passwords as you enter them.Source: Distractify

Photo of the week

Farmers in Mongla district urge their water buffaloes forward during while they plough.

Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

Say what?

Cop finds valuable Al Momaday prints in old Meth lab

An Albuquerque police officer searching a former drug lab came across an unexpected find.While searching a condemned apartment abandoned two years ago after it was discovered to be a

methamphetamine lab, the cop stumbled upon a portfolio with several prints in it. The well-preserved box containing 72 prints was recovered from the site and taken to a curator, who identified the art as the work of late Kiowa artist Al Momaday, who died in 1981. Turns out they’re worth about $33,000.

The property was also known as a stash house for stolen goods, the Albuquerque Journal reports.

Andrew Connors, the curator at Albuquerque Museum of Art and History who examined the artwork, suspects that the prints may have been stolen.

“They may have been stolen out of a warehouse or a back storage building behind a gallery or an artist’s estate,” Connors said. “We have no idea where they could have come from. Wherever it was, they haven’t noticed they’re gone yet.”

The museum will hold on to the art until the rightful owner is found.News and photo: Huffington post


4 MuSIC | V-Day hiT lisT

“My funny valentine Sweet comic valentine You make me smile with my heart Your looks are laughable UnphotographableYet you’re my favourite work of art”

Originating as a liturgical celebration of Christian saints many centuries ago, Valentine’s day has become one of the most prominent celebration days worldwide. However, it has evolved to lose most of its religious characters and is no longer constrained within the Christian religious culture.

Religious or secular, music has always been a part of celebration. A piece of music can be as iconic as the celebration itself. An example being the famous song by Kazi Nazrul Islam welcoming the Eid ul Fitr has become an integral part of Eid in Bangladesh.

In addition to sending decorated cards on Valentine’s day people like to listen to music that glorifies and affirms their love. Here we list some of the most widely received romantic tunes that you may add to your playlist or even make a mixed tape (we mean flash drive) and use as a gift.

Love Me TenderElvis PresleyElvis adapted an old Civil War song called “Aura Lee” and made it into Love Me Tender. He performed this song on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, 1956. On the following day, RCA, the record label, received 1 million advance orders, making it a gold record before it was even released.

The simple lyric sung in Elvis’s full voice and accompanied by soft

instrumentation don’t sound cheesy as Elvis sings on:

“Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go. You have made my life complete, and I love you so.”

In the Wee Small Hours of the MorningFrank SinatraFor people who love soulful vocal music this is a simple yet powerful tune. Sinatra recorded this song for his 1955 album titled “In the Wee Small Hours.” Composed by David Mann and lyrics written by Bob

Hilliard, the song talks about a lover who misses his woman in the early hours of the morning:

“When your lonely heart has learned its lesson, You’d be hers if only she would call, In the wee small hours of the morning, That’s the time you miss her most of all.”

Love ItselfLeonard CohenThe lyrical prowess of Canadian poet and musician Leonard Cohen always leaves an impression on the listener either for it’s beautiful ambiguity or for the solemn musical rendition. Love Itself is no exception. The song was released in 2001 on Cohen’s tenth studio album simply titled Ten New Songs. Cohen’s deep voice sings his words in mesmerising melody that evokes mystery and deep emotional response. Even though not a regular love song this is among the essential songs that all lovers of music should listen to.

“I’ll try to say a little more Love went on and on Until it reached an open door – Then Love Itself Love Itself was gone.”

They Can’t Take that Away From MeLouis Armstrong and Ella FitzgeraldWritten by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film Shall We Dance, the song has since become a classic. It has been recorded by many great singers including Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan.

We picked the version sung by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, revered as two of the most versatile jazz singers. Like all other songs in which these two legends collaborated, in this song Armstrong’s deep raspy voice quivers in perfect complement to Fitzgerald’s bright tone.

Sung playfully, the song will bring a smile to your face and is bound to make your Valentine’s day even better. And it works as a great pick-me-up of your V-day didn’t go well.

My Funny ValentineElla Fitzgerald The famous Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart tune “My Funny Valentine” is one of the most iconic romantic songs ever written. After it was first played as a show tune in 1937 the song received such popular acceptance that it has since appeared in over 1300 albums and recorded by over 600 artists. Many jazz giants, including, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis recorded their own versions of the tune.

In this song Ella Fitzgerald laid down one of the most beautiful female voices ever recorded. Although not a heavy song, thematically Fitzgerald’s diction and expression gives the song a melancholic feeling as she asks her Valentine to not leave and repeatedly affirms that she will not change anything about her lover.We hope you have a musical and magical Valentine’s day. n

Photos: Bigstock

As the day for love and romance approaches, here are a few evergreen tunes to put you in the mood or share with a special someone

Saqib Sarkar

Playlist for Valentine’s Day


5hisTory of ValenTines | FEaTurE

Love in springa pagan festival, a Christian priest who was later called a saint, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer’s a Parliament of fowls – all these lead to the day of love we have all come to recognise as st Valentine’s Day. As the cash counters of card shops never stop ringing on the 14th of february, we take a look at the history of this international day which gives millions of people the strength to express their love

Reema Islam

In ancient RomeLupercalia was a pagan festival celebrated in ancient Rome to honour the god of fertility, husbandry and hunting, Lupercal. Priests or Luperci would sacrifice cattle, sheep, goats etc in the caves of the Lupercal on the Palatine Hill, known to have been where Remus and Romulus were fostered by a she-wolf. The priests then took the hides of the sacrificed animals, smeared themselves with blood and ran amok, thrashing women who stood naked in their paths, believing that this sound beating helped preserve their fertility. The women believed this offered them the chance to be purified and the word February in fact is derived from Februa or “means of purification.” Shakespeare even referred to this in Julius Ceaser:

“Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, to touch Calpurnia; for our elders say, the barren, touched in this holy chase, shake off their sterile curse.”

Under Catholic influences This barbaric ceremony was followed by a more lewd one, a feast to honour the goddess of love called Juno Februata. Names of teenage girls were written on chits and left in a bowl to be picked by boys of similar age and then they were paired up for the rest of the day to partake in carnal pleasures.

Thus romance languished, between the barbarous and the lewd, until along came Pope Gelasius in 496 CE (current era) and poured holy water on this steamy affair. Now instead of finding the name of a pretty maiden on the chit, boys drew out the names of

famous saints whose virtues were researched for the rest of the year! The tradition of drawing out names of saints and honouring them the year onwards never really caught on with the Christians and eventually the church went back to allowing young men to write the names of pious virgins on their sleeves, hence the term “wearing your heart on your sleeve.” They did however try their best to revive the culture of drawing out names of saints but people had simply moved on.

This day was however given the name of Valentine, who has a number of identities. One of them being the priest who lived in the 3rd century CE. Claudius II had decided that single men made better soldiers, so this soft hearted priest went around marrying these love struck soldiers and was caught and later executed. He was first claimed a Saint, then the church celebrated the day of St Valentine who sacrificed himself for love. There are at least three contenders to this name, but this story seems to be the most probable choice.

The second story has a sweeter end to it and one of love, compassion, friendship and an almond tree. Valentin, again in Claudius II’s reign was jailed for being a Christian and helped the jailer’s blind daughter get her vision back through prayer. He educated her and taught her the faith and before he was executed, left her a note urging her to remain faithful to God. This girl planted an almond tree at his grave and the Porto Valentini gate in Rome was also named after him. Claudius II however left nothing in his legacy except being mentioned

in reference to St Valentine. The introduction of the heart

symbol on this day also takes a more twisted claim at the identity of Valentine, where he has been compared to Nimrod, the one man who inspired the birth of many gods, builder of the tower of Babel and existed around the era of BCE 2200-2160. Referred to as the “mighty one” in the Bible, Nimrod hunted with a bow and arrow and was possibly the inspiration to Lupercus who was a hunter, also known as Pan the god of light in Greek mythology whereas the Phoenicians worshipped the sun god Baal, also a hunter. Thus Nimrod morphed into Osiris, Pan, Lupercus, Baal and the much popularised Valetine, whose name stems from Valens or “the mighty, strong one.” The heart symbol however may have originated from the Chaldean language where bal means heart.

Under Chaucer and ShakespeareBy the 14th century CE, one of the English languages most famous literary figures, Geoffrey Chaucer first used the mention of St Valentine’s as a day of love in his poem the Parliament of Fowls:

“For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.”

(“For this was Saint Valentine’s day, when every bird of every kind comes to this place to choose his mate.”)

Later on, the Duke of Orleans mentioned his wife in a note as “my sweet valentine” in the 15th century, while Shakespeare immortalised it in his play Hamlet as Ophelia says to Claudius:

“Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day,

All in the morning betime,And I a maid at your window,To be your Valentine.Then up he rose, and donned his

clothes,And dupped the chamber door.Let in the maid that out a maidNever departed more.”

Modern-day ValentinesBy the 17th century, passing letters on St Valentine’s Day started becoming popular and as printing technology improved, cards were sent out by the middle of the 18th century. Things further progressed as low costs on postage in the 19th century encouraged people to express their love in written words, as society back then still looked down upon the brazen open confession of love. By 1915, a company called the Hall Brothers sold Valentine’s Day and Christmas cards and the rest is well known history!

But above all else, St. Valentine’s Day remains a day of love, friendship and new beginnings. As Pohela Falgun nears and the city awaits to be washed in the yellow of marigold flowers, I leave you with Chaucer’s words as he compared love to one of man’s most glorious means of joy: nature.

“A garden sawI, full of blossomy boughs Upon a river, in a green mead, There as sweetness evermore enough is, With flowers white, blue, yellow, and red, And cold well-streams, nothing dead, That swimming full of small fishes light, With fins red and scales silver bright. n

Photos: Bigstock


6 BLOG-LOGuE | for The loVe of fashion

Tanusree is a penta-lingual blogger who finds shopping and cooking therapeutic, believes shoegasms are

greater than the real deal and never limits her personal style to a single genre, rather she calls herself an eclectic stylist. Shehzaad sees the world in red, green and blue, and believes his constantly evolving personal style is all thanks to his wife and PAM (Personal Appearance Manager), Tanusree. As the head of a department at a multinational gaming software company, this MBA holder turned “beautographer,” is the creative head behind the lenses. Despite holding separate day jobs, they pursue their passion for blogging through their very own blog, onetimefashionista.com.

As a dynamic and multitasking couple living in London and traveling around the world, they offer an interesting perspective on their blog, talking about their love for fashion, their zest for travel and the inspiration behind their culinary adventures. Read on to know about the couples inspiration behind their blogging journey, their views on the Bangladeshi blogosphere and their shared passion for blogging for an international audience.

What inspired you to start Onetimefashionista?

There is a very humble beginning of how onetimefashionista started. Tanusree always had a passion for dressing up, designing clothes for herself and her family members and friends. One day she figured out that she had too many clothes in her wardrobe good enough for a garage sale. One friend gave her the idea to sell them on Facebook that there may be many people in her network who may be interested. Then Shehzaad proposed the name “onetimefashionista,” we created the page on Facebook and put up pictures and descriptions of the items for sale. That is how it started but as you can see it was certainly not meant for “one time” only. On the contrary, our passion for fashion and the beautiful photos we clicked in different looks during our innumerable holidays or otherwise, particularly my obsession for clicking Tanusree’s photos, led to the idea of launching the blog with the same name since there was a growing number of followers on the Facebook page who appreciated the initiative. Thus the blog was published with the sole focus on fashion. Then sometime in the middle of 2014 in a bid to diversify, we moved into two of our biggest interests – food and travel. Given a choice to change the name to something more suitable to the topics we share on the blog today, we would certainly

Morocco Chefchaouen day Photos: Courtesy

Peru

this week we talk to shehzaad shams and Tanusree Ghosh, the creative hands behind onetimefashionista.com, a fusion blog that features Vogue, Voyage and Voracity, that is everything from fashion, beauty, styling, travel to food

N Anita Amreen

Onetimefashionista


7

be happy to change the name. Do the readers of Dhaka Tribune have any suggestions?

While you blog for the Vogue and Voracity section, the fashion and the food aspect of your blog, Shehzaad, your “beautographer” writes travelogues for the Voyage section. How did you two discover your shared interest for blogging?I was involved in blogging from earlier. In 2007 I founded the first ever Bangladeshi corporate blog at http://bangladeshcorporate.blogspot.com. I wanted to blog about branding, management and corporate issues of Bangladesh to provide an alternative platform for companies and customers to interact. Tanusree launched onetimefashionista in 2012 to express her love for style in anything she does, be it fashion, food or travelling. That is when we realised our shared interest for blogging. In fact, many times Shehzaad suggested titles of the posts under Vogue category. Similarly, Tanusree has written a couple of posts on Voyage herself. So, it is a complete team work. Without my photos of Tanusree, we could have never blogged on fashion. On the other hand, without Tanusree’s unique and equally exciting choice of places and ridiculously well planning, be it outfits to coordinate with the

location or even things to do, we wouldn’t have been able to travel this extensively.

How did you and Shehzaad meet? Tell us a little about your love story.We were crowned (not literally) Mr & Miss Fresher at a Fresher’s party at the University of Delhi, India way back in 1999 while doing our undergraduate studies. We have known each other for 15 years now and our relationship in fact started with a trip to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India in the beginning of this millennium. We realised that the best way to find out if you can live with a person for life is to go travelling together. We did draw our names in the sand dunes of the Thar Desert in Jaisalmer in 2000. Since then we have travelled together across five continents, 25 countries and more than 145 cities around the world. We knew that the winds of norms, tradition and religion will blow against us. But that didn’t stop us from celebrating each other. Just last year in 2014, we drew our names in the ravishing golden sands of the Huacachina desert in Peru. We believe that even if the names engraved in sand dunes get erased by the wind and time, those written in the heart are safeguarded from any force.

Sand dunes in Jaisalmer and Huacachina

Peru

As a blogger, what is your perspective of where Bangladesh is at in terms of travel and fashion?I (Shehzaad) would like to address this question as I grew up and stayed in Dhaka till my HSC. I have been long away from the country and out of touch with how the younger generation in Bangladesh perceives blogging but I think Bangladeshi blogosphere is still not where it should have been in terms of blogging on travelling and fashion and that especially in English. It is true that the Bangla blogosphere is the largest in the world and the number of active contributing bloggers in various Bangla blogs is remarkable. It is also true that the types of blogs that are popular discuss mostly political and social issues. Blogging in English on travelling and fashion in Bangladesh is virtually non-existent. There are certainly print fashion magazines but those again, are limited in terms of reach and readership. It is rather unfortunate that although Bangladeshis love to travel so much, they don’t have resources where they can get inspired by reading experiences and recommendations from other fellow Bangladeshi travellers.

What does blogging mean to both of you?For me (Tanusree) blogging is the preferred channel of expression, communication and livelihood. She thinks blogs have given her the best platform to interact with an interested audience without having to rely on expensive setups, intermediaries or fixed assets. For Shehzaad blogging makes everyone a potential publishing house. If done with passion and discipline, blogs can influence opinions, help you decide what to wear, where to eat or where to travel. After all, blogs have a face whereas other traditional media is hidden

under the company brand and logo. So when people interact on blogs, its more personal, relevant and effective.

If you could give one piece of advice for budding bloggers, what would it be?We have two pieces of advice instead of one. First is focus. Whatever the passion or field of interest, one needs to have serious focus to keep generating intriguing and relevant content which is too sticky for readers to let go. The other advice is to blog regularly. Readers crave for new content so better not to leave them for too long. We schedule blogposts in advance even when we are away for too long on holiday so that readers always have something to look forward to.

What’s your favourite part of blogging?It is the fact that we get to share our experiences through amazing photos and tell the stories we live ourselves. We get to exchange ideas and knowledge that we gain through our very own life events. In other words, we blog about places we visit, about food that we cook and eat ourselves and clothes that we wear. Hence this is this personal connection that we get to share with our readers which we think is the best part of blogging.

Any plans to quit your day jobs and move to full time blogging?We would love to do that eventually, as we gradually increase our collaborations and sponsorships. As of now we have to carry on our day jobs since we have bills to pay in the UK. Tanusree plans to come out with her own line of clothes in the near future so she may quit her day job to give full time to blogging and fashion designing. n


8 TOP 10 | Deshi fairs

It might be for the diversity of religions and cultures here or the seasonal changes, but there is a festival to be celebrated almost every two monthsFarhana Urmee

Celebrations

Pohela BoishakhThe first day of the Bangla

new year is Pohela Boishakh. Like many other communities around the world, people here too welcome the new year with festivity and celebration. Traditional celebrations of Pohela Boishakh today are observed through a handful of longstanding customs which include the Mongol Shobhajatra, panta bhat, new clothes, fairs and cultural programmes in both rural and urban places. But things were somewhat different in the days of old. In Bikrampur there used to be a cow race held as a part of the celebration. In the Chiitagong Hill Tracts, Pohela Boishakh is celebrated with the same spirit and festivity, with the addition of another fun custom of water fights which signify the washing away of the dirt and filth of the past year. This celebration is called Bihu or Biju.

Another new year celebratory custom was of having cold food that had been cooked in the last year, the night before, which is still followed today through having panta bhat. Having this cold food is meant to signify bringing good luck from the past year.

Haalkhata and PunnahHalkhatha is another festival

that is observed on Pohela Boishakh. This is carried out by businessmen,

shopkeepers and traders, who open a new book of accounts for the new year and close the old ones from the last year. On this day the businessmen give their clients special gifts of lungi and gamchha and offer them sweets. Clients are supposed to clear all their dues to the businessman, so that he can start the new account book. Punnah is another tradition where the village zamindars used to meet the subjects and offer them special feasts for the new year and gets due tax.

Choitra ShonkrantiThe last day of the month

Choitro and the Bangla year is upheld in various fashions across Bangladesh. The celebrations vary from places around the Indian sub continent but the spirit has been the same. The last three days of Choitro was the time to observe Shongkranti, where groups of people used to roam around barefoot singing and dancing. They would dress up like gods and goddesses and often perform the custom of hurting themselves with indigenous weapons. Performers would go door to door to raise money, rice or fruits as Pronami.

Chorok UtshavOne of the many symbolic

Buddhist celebrations is the Chorok puja. Chorok comes from the word Chakra. The puja takes place with the

instalment and worship of a Chakra on the top of a pillar. Chorok puja was a festival for the low caste Hindus, which became most popular after the 16th century. The Chorok puja is thought to be equivalent to the primitive worshipping of the sun. the rotating Chakra here symbolises the superiority of the sun.

NobannoThe month of Kartik is

traditionally the season of harvesting in this land. After harvesting the crops farmers husk golden crops for rice and other grains. And that is another big occasion to celebrate in this land. Nobanno is observed in the middle of the month Agrahayon when the produce is ready to make pithas, sweetmeats and other foods. This is a celebration of goodness and blessings of nature and fertility.

Kite FestivalCelebration has always found

a different language with the colours of kites added to it. Particularly in Dhaka, people will take up any excuse to fly kites. Celebrating the last day of the year, Choitro Shonkranti, or the last day of the month Poush Shakrain, or even the first day of autumn, Dhaka dwellers have their own traditions to fly kites. They also have kite flying contests which gives the festivity another boost.

FairsNekmordan’s fair used to be

held for seven long days featuring the products of North Bengal. In 18th century this fair used to take place in different parts of Dinajpur. Traders used to bring buffaloes from Bihar, elephants from Assam, camels from Punjab for the fair.

Another big fair was held in Chittagong Hill Tracts called Mohamuni Mela. Mohamuni mela was held to observe Choitra Shonkranti for 15 days. The longest mela used to be held in Bikrampur for two months called Kal Boishakhi mela which started on Pohela Boishakh and ended on the last day of Joistho.

For Dhaka festivals and fair also included horse race in Ramna and Hijra dance in the alleys of old town.

Jharoka-E-DarshanThe kings were perceived as

deities for the subjects in Indian sub continent. Thus seeing the king’s face in the morning was almost equal to worshipping. The Mughal kings had a morning ritual of making public appearances to bless their subjects. They had an extended veranda or open window through which they could do this without leaving the palace. The same practice of Jhaoka-e-darshan has its own version in

villages for the zamindars.

PurnimaThe full moon has been

religiously connected with Buddhism, and thus provided ample occasions to offer special prayers and celebration. Buddists celebrate Buddha purnima, the largest celebration of the Buddhist is observed during Boishakh. Another one is Madhu purnima in Bhadra, Maghi purnima during Magh and Probarona purnima, which is observed in the month of Aswin. Probarona is one of the biggest festivals for the Buddhists, on this full foon night Lord Buddha is believed to have visited God’s abode and returned to earth.

Religious festivalsSince the land has a diversity

in culture, community and religion, the religious festivals are observed in almost every month through the year. For the Hindu community there are pujas like Lakkhi puja in Bangla month Autumn, Saraswati puja in the of month of Magh, Kali puja in the month of Kartik and Janmastami in the month of Bhadra are the massively celebrated ones besides the biggest celebration of the community Durga puja in Autumn.

For the Muslims besides the biggest celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha, Maharram and Ashura and Eid-e-Miladunnabi are celebrated with special prayers, food, sacrifice and re-uniting with family and relatives. n

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9spring flowers | PHOTO STOry

Flower power

Turn for more photographs

In light of all things colourful that is the approaching spring season, this week’s Photo story features local flowers of varying hues, shapes and sizes from Jessore, as well as other parts of the country. the local farmers of Jessore are more inclined to invest in flower cultivation, particularly during this time of the year.

Photos by Syed Zakir Hossain


10 PHOTO STOry | spring flowers


11


12 FEaTurE | fair TraDe Tourism

Welcome to the land of stories

Think of a lonely banyan tree in a green field. It might be one hundred years old. You may have walked past it

years ago on your way to school, or witnessed village events that took place right under it.

This is how a mere banyan tree in a regular village of Bangladesh can become a local icon and a hotspot for tourists.

Craft entrepreneur Shahid Hussain Shamim tells his story of coming into the tourism business through the ingenious idea of marking our country as a tourist destination in the world map – community based fair trade tourism. “I became interested in tourism through my fascination and work experience in crafts. An organisation named Trade Craft operates a tour named Meet the People Tour. I am a tour guide of the Bangladesh chapter,” says Shamim, CEO of Ajiyer Fair Trade Tourism, a tourism organisation. He elaborates that Meet the People Tour comprises of educated and retired members

from around the world who love to see and learn about new places.

Fair trade Trade Craft buys products from those who are fair trade certified in Bangladesh like Prokriti, Aarong, Swajon, Bonoful. They ensure that the producers follow the principals of fair trade. That is why they want to meet the artisans too. They are consumers and promoters of fair trade. Trade Craft arranges tours for such people, who further promote fair trade and tourism once they go back to their countries.

Community based tourismIt was initially difficult for Shamim to enter the tourism business that has for so many years focused solely on Cox’s Bazar’s beaches and the Sundarbans. He started to think about how he could bring in his work with crafts into the tourism business. And he came up with an operation, where one doesn’t need to have resorts or high-end hotels, but instead, the

tourists are hosted by a community of at least ten homes.

“We are working towards setting up a collaboration with the government too. Ajiyer signed an MOU with Bangladesh Porjoton Corporation in January this year. If the government is involved in this kind of endeavour, it will be easier for us to raise awareness among the communities regarding tour operations and get them engaged in this business.” says Shamim.

How the community is involved The project usually includes around 10 host houses across two villages. Just like any regular tourist checking into a hotel, Ajiyer tourists can also check into any of the allotted hosting houses, where they will be provided for during their stay.

Each of the ten selected hosting houses will be responsible for a certain service, depending on the skills of the household members: some may provide food, while others, accommodation, some may be guides

for the tourists, etc. While managing community

based tourism one has to think of some hospitality fundamentals, such as basic cleanliness and hygiene. Another important concern is the issue of safety and security of the tourists. Tour plans should be designed on the basis of needs. Female tourists or senior citizens can have additional support from the community. The community involved in the programme are given proper training.

However, such community based tourism may also have an adverse effect if not planned properly. This is usually initiated by some local miscreants against letting the community break its regular cycle of life to get involved in tourist hosting. This is precisely why motivational trainings are provided at the initial phase of beginning tourist-hosting communities so as to get the locals on board with the concept.

New ways to show the real Bangladesh to the worldFarhana Urmee


Welcome to the land of stories13

AjiyerAjiyer had a two years long research on this and also developed a training module to train the community members. It has taken help from foreign experts. “Our pilot project has started in Patrail in Tangail district. We also take special care to not change the basic lifestyle of the community members. Our training always takes this factor into account. I am highly against the idea of having to uproot local inhabitants from there homes and earning sources in the process of establishing hotels and resorts,”says Shamim.

Ajiyer had over 300 visitors last

year both from home and abroad. It is a self financed organisation. For easy navigation in the villages, Ajiyer is also developing an app that tourists can use.

Ajiyer’s policy is to develop tourist friendly souvenir products. For example, the bamboo baskets carried by the local indigenous people, can be made in a miniature form to be used as pen holders for desks. It is convenient, portable and cheap product for tourists.

This model of tourism has already been introduced in Indonesia and Philippines. In Malaysia there is the “one product one village” project

in which they have a restaurant at the outer part of the house, in the middle they are making craft goods for the tourists, and from the inside of the house they are running the business.

Responsible tourism “Before the tourists come here to visit, they will also be signing an agreement for understanding my culture, my customs and my public sentiment. For example, a modest dresscode is one of

the primary things we expect from our tourists so that the religious or cultural sentiments of the villagers are not hurt,” says Shamim.

ChallengesSkilled labour is a major concern. Since this is a new concept, the raising the right kind of awareness is a major challenge. Tourism may have negative affect too. Keeping the natural environment of the communities intact and unharmed is another challenge. Irresponsible tourism should be avoided.

“Communitie should uphold their own cultures,” Shamin says. “Out of cordiality one member can serve Coke or Nescafe to a tourist, but that destroys the whole idea of community based tourism. This kind of tourism should promote their authentic products and practices to serve the tourist. And that is what they have come all the way to see. Instead of a soda tourists can be served tamarind juice or fresh coconut water based on what is available and authentic in that particular village. The community member should exhibit their organic lifestyle to the tourist.”

We have plenty of tour operators. We, need to develop skills that can showcase our authentic culture. We have to train good tourist guides too who can tell the real story and attract

the tourists. Industry Skill Council of Tourism and Hospitality department is prioritising this as a big agenda. Training and assessment is also needed for the tourist guides.

The pilot projectSince 2006 visitors from four universities in Japan have regularly visited Bangladesh. Tangail is already rich with its own produce, its hand loom saris, its iconic sweet meat, the Chomchom and in its music, Kirton, a song that is sung in worshipping God. There are many such things that makes Tangail a unique local tourist attraction.

Back in 1804 Joseph Marie Charles Jacquard from France invented the computing system which allowed the artist renderings to be translated to designs on the loom. The artisans of Tangail saris were quick to adopt this, and today more than 25,000 artisans are living on it. “This story is my product, and I know I have plenty of them around the country, interesting and unique stories, we just need to brush up our memories and tell them to the world and community based tourism can be the best way to do that,” says Shamim, “Let visiting Bangladesh become an educational journey for a tourist, not just a mere tour to a random place.” n

Photos: Courtesy


Ashes to ashesIffat Nawaz

14 SaLT aND HONEy | iffaT nawaz

Cause fire is the Devil’s only friend

One stop, two stop, three stop, four…Mr Nuruzaman and his 15 year old daughter Maisha boarded the Chittagong-Dhaka highway bus. What did they eat before starting their journey? Did they have a good dinner? Did they carry water and makeshift pillows to rest on? Did the father and daughter duo speak a lot to each other or not so much? Mr Nuruzaman must have given tough glances to all the men on the bus who dared to throw a look at his teenage girl. He must have sat on the aisle seat, giving his daughter the protection of the inside seat next to the window.

Maisha must have seen five year old Shanta sitting a few seats up or down. Shanta must have cried and laughed a lot. Her mother Asma must have consoled her, kissed her cheeks and given her treats from now and then. Another passenger must have talked to Shanta affectionately “Ki Babu, naam ki tomar? Biscuit khabe, biscuit?” and offered her cookies. Some responsible young man sitting near Asma and Shanta must have helped them with their overhead luggage.

When Mr Nuruzaman, Maisha, Asma and Shanta were burnt alive by

the petrol bomb, did the fire touch them first or last? Did they hold each other while the fire marched down their spines? Did they hear one another crying in pain, getting lost with all things shattering, dying, becoming ashes?

Five stop, six stop, seven stop, eight…Did truck driver Polash have a colourful life keeping true to his name – bright red flower? I imagine Bangladeshi truck drivers naturally have colourful lives, they drive bright painted trucks, stop along in different pits making new stories, meeting new people. Did Polash have a full life at

35? The burn that saw the last of him must have come across his unfulfilled dreams. Small as they might have been, little dreams on fire.

Nine stop, ten stop, eleven stop, twelve…Then there was that police constable, who fought for his life for twenty days before giving up. Most of the newspapers called him by his profession rather than his name. Too low a post to mention the name I suppose. He was not anybody to any so and so. None of them were, so the deaths were just another number added to a district and labeled as a life gone from 160 million. Who is counting? Are they martyrs? Or are they just bodies?

Twelve stop, thirteen stop, fourteen stop, fifteen…It must be a stronger winter in Gaibandha right now. The three children who died there yesterday must have been wearing their best winter clothes. They must have hopped on the bus hoping to see spectacular things. Things which their grandmothers told them of, long roads with greenery on both sides, kingfishers and rest stop madness. Too young to leave? No impressions left? No names mentioned because they were too young to be remembered by anyone but their close relatives? n

Iffat Nawaz is a writer and development practitioner

“Just commoners,” some would say.“Commoners killing commoners.”“Read your english newspaper and be self aware. There is nothing you can do.” “And the children?”“They weren’t the first and they won’t be the last.”“Are we being punished?”“Only if you want to believe you are a victim.”“Is there any other way to look at it?”“Sure, just close your eyes.”“And everything will feel better?”“Yes, as long as you keep them closed.”

Photo: Bigstock


Oh, honey, it’s time to grow up. You are not a little boy anymore and the days of cowering under your comforter are over. You need to man up and realise

that you are not your parents and your relationship won’t crumble if you assert yourself once in awhile. I understand you had a rough childhood but that’s not an adequate excuse to ruin your adult life as well. There is nothing more annoying than trying to work out an issue with a healthy dose of anger and shouting and meeting resistance in the form of a silent partner. You need to realise that the sign of a good relationship is being able to disagree – without resorting to pickaxes and profanity – but not letting it affect your relationship as a whole. If you and your wife have a good foundation, a little bickering will probably only fortify the marriage, not destroy it. And trust me, your wife will respect you a lot more if she knows where you stand on certain issues.

It appears you do need her approval or else why would you keep introducing your crushes to her as though they were auditioning for a role in her newest

BTV natok? And why would her opinion subsequently bother you so much? You need to stop parading them like show-horses in front of her,

like, yesterday. In fact, if you see her coming, duck into the nearest Fahim DVD shop and pretend to browse the aisles. What I’m suggesting is not only do you not need this so-called friend’s opinion on any matter, you may do well to lose her altogether. Frankly, she seems more like a spurned lover than a good friend. Why is she so terribly invested in whom you see and what they look like? Are you sure

she’s not harbouring a secret crush on you, and was hoping to not only pick up the pieces after your last great love ended, but to be the next great love of your life? Just saying…. But a more likely scenario is she’s just one of those girls who prefer her friends to be miserable so that she’s always in good company. Drop her fast, girl, and get some new friends and a better love life to boot..

A

A

Dear Dina, I was in a two-year relationship, which ended pretty badly when I found out the guy was cheating on me. One of my

closest friends was a huge support to me during the aftermath and I am sincerely grateful to her for it. But this was almost five years ago, and since then I have met a few interesting guys, but every time I introduce them to my friend she seems to have

something negative to say about them. She sometimes shoots them down just based on their looks, saying I have bad taste in men. It gets annoying when she assumes I need her approval, but how can I explain this to her without hurting her?

Q

LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELDDear Dina, My parents have had a long, bitter marriage, and their constant bickering and passive aggression was the soundtrack to my

childhood. This has always made me apprehensive about my own relationships. I finally got married to this wonderful woman, who is my best friend and we have an amazing relationship. But even the most perfect marriages come with their disagreements, and every time we do differ in opinion, I am so terrified of falling into my parents’ footsteps that I will do anything to avoid a fight. Sometimes this feeling is suffocating, and I know it frustrates my wife when I beat around the bush instead of stating my opinion. How do I exorcise the demons in my head and become better at navigating conflict?

Q

Got a problem?

Write to Dina at weekend@dhakatribune.

com

Cartoon: Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy/Dhaka Tribune

Dina Sobhan is a freelance writer, and cautions readers not to take her ‘advice’ here too seriously!

15Dina soBhan | TOuGH LOVE


16 DIGITaL BaNGLaDESH | f-commerce

Over Saturday and Sunday last week, the neatly decorated floor of EMK Center at Dhanmondi,

become a hub of local entrepreneurs, tech enthusiasts, students as well as some of the prominent business leaders of the country.

The organisers claimed that the “National f-commerce summit” was indeed the first of its kind in Bangladesh and it was just the beginning of something which could potentially be one of the biggest business platforms in the country.

Entrepreneurs and investors alike, increasingly think “f-commerce” – commerce on Facebook, the world’s largest social network – is one of the best platforms to expand the reaches of any start-up business in Bangladesh.

During the two-day event, this view was echoed time and again by almost everyone present at the occasion.

Why f-commerce in Bangladesh?The f-commerce summit was organised by Geeky Social Advantage, the only social media marketing agency of the country that conducts their business through social media.

Talking with the Weekend Tribune, Mahadi Hasan Sagor, managing director of Geeky Social said: “In Bangladesh, more than 10 million people out of the 160 million are active Facebook users. And this number is increasing day by day.”

He said that hundreds of thousands of Facebook pages from Bangladesh are now driving huge sales volumes which has much potential to grow if proper policy and infrastructure support is given to these entrepreneurs.

“Whereas there are strong voices and lobbying groups out there for their cousins, e-commerce businesses, f-commerce is still something our policy-makers and the overall business community have not

taken very seriously,” said Sagor.“Given their immense potential,

f-commerce businesses should receive policy and infrastructural support from policy-makers and the business community.”

Therefore, to help these f-commerce businesses flourish, we’ve organised this summit where entrepreneurs, policy-makers, industry insiders, media, domain experts are all brought under one roof to discuss and create a unified voice for these businesses for the ultimate goal of economic prosperity in Bangladesh.”

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) was the strategic advisor to the summit. AjkerDeal.com was the gold sponsor, EMK Center was the silver sponsor and News Cred and Bangladesh Startup Cup were bronze sponsors of this mega event.

Photos: Mahadi Hasan

From policy discussions, marketing strategies, motivational speeches to the sharing and exchanging of ideas, the “National f-commerce Summit” had it all

Faisal Mahmud

Facebook business


17

Strategies and hurdles of f-commerceThe summit had different sessions with panels by renowned local IT entrepreneurs, educationalists and businessmen.

On the first day of the summit, Fahim Mashrur, founder of Bdjobs.com and ajkerdeal.com, Sabur Khan, chairman of Daffodil group and Shawkat Hossain, managing director of BD Venture discussed the policy advocacy on virtual payment systems for e-commerce and f-commerce business.

During the session, the panelists discussed how the virtual payment systems pose the number one challenge for the Bangladeshi f-commerce and e-commerce entrepreneurs. Fahim Mashrur said that the f-commerce market could expand exponentially if the problem in the existing payment method is removed.

After that, Nazim Farhan Chowdhury, managing director of Adcom Ltd, Salahuddin Shahed, VP, planning and servicing, Grey Bangladesh, Shariful Islam, founder of Bangladesh Brand Forum, Drabir Alam, associate director, Cookie Jar and Waseem Alim, founder of Chaldal.com talked about creating credibility in social media space.

Following this session, Asif Anwar Pathik, digital marketing strategist, iVive Labs, discussed the essence of Facebook marketing. His presentation, outlined the difficulties of his field. “There are lots of terms to know and lots of matrices to focus on.”

In the next session, Shahadat Hossain Real, manager, Mediacom, Apel Mahmud, BTL specialist, Red Rocket and Ariful Bashar, head of digital, Red Rocket talked about how social media has initiated a revolution in marketing landscape.

Shahadat Hossain Real stated that marketers can now reach the right people at the right place and time with a lower budget. “It’s all about content of your social media post. Content is the king that creates meaningful association for customers.”

Understanding customers and experience sharingDuring the second day, noted motivational speakers and mentors like G Sumdany Don, the chief inspirational officer at Don Samdany Facilitation & Consultancy and Ejajur Rahman, CEO of ISCEA (Asia) conducted two separate sessions on the mechanics of building a brand and supply chain management for f-commerce business.

In a different session, successful e-commerce professionals like Debashish Phani, chief operational officer of ajkerdeal.com and Alyssa Runsbury, mentor of Founders Institute discussed how they have used Facebook for successful marketing campaigns.

After that Riyad Husain, founder and CEO of Magnito Digital, Asif M Rahman, founder of AR Communication, Zayeema Sarwar, agile coach of NewsCred discussed the ways of attracting the right customers for the right kinds of products on Facebook.

Focusing on understanding the target groups, Asif M Rahman said, “It doesn’t matter how good a content you create, it will be wasted unless people share it.”

During the final session of the day, Youtube stars of the country-Solaiman Shukhon, Salman Muqtadir and Xefer Rahman shared their journeys of producing digital content in Youtube and making them viral through Facebook.

What lies ahead?Saimum Hossain, co-founder of the organizer Geeky Social Advantage said that the summit was able to attract the attention of the successful IT entrepreneurs as well as want-to-be entrepreneurs.

“I think we have created a perfect platform for motivation as well as for idea sharing,” said Hossain.

“The concept of f-commerce is real. It is the getaway for a larger platform which is e-commerce. For a country like Bangladesh, which has an increasing number of ‘netizen’ (people present in the internet), the sky is the limit for f-commerce.” n

Mahadi Hasan

Results of first ever National f-commerce survey According to country’s first ever National F-commerce Survey undertaken by GEEKY Social, it has been observed that a significant 6% businesses are making sales of more than 100,000 BDT per month.

Interestingly, in terms of promotion, most of the businesses are not yet very savvy users of Facebook’s ‘paid reach’ mechanism. Promotion, to them, largely means one or two posts per day from their Facebook pages.

Apart from Facebook, 21% of the business owners surveyed almost equally prefer LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram to spread words about their businesses. Almost half of the respondents sell their products by buying from a supplier whereas a significant 30% have their own production facility. Service businesses comprise of 15% of the map.

The survey f-commerce sector is still low on legal registration and compliance as evident by a staggering 77% businesses being either sole-proprietorship or partnership ventures.

What is f-Commerce?In e-commerce terminology, Facebook commerce, or f-commerce, is a strategy that focuses on developing or designing e-commerce content and storefront sites within the Facebook social networking site.

The f-commerce can take the form of shopping tabs, which are part of a customised Facebook application that enables online retailers to publish a Facebook storefront with add-to-cart buttons on Facebook Business Pages.

It can also apply to developing customised Facebook applications that drive leads or sales to a company’s online e-commerce site or options for “liking” specific products by Facebook users to spread word-of-mouth interest in a company’s products or services.


18 STay IN

S u d o k uUse the numbers 1-9 to complete each of the 3x3 square grids such that each horizontal and vertical line also contains all of the digits from 1-9

Last week’s sudoku solutions

Mini cryptics

aCrOss1 Spice mixed for fans (7)4 Cardiovascular Bio-care movement (7) 6 Drool as Agnes displays Italian cooking (7)7 We sent back soup first for damp (7)

DOwN1 Superficial performance contains everything (7)2 Sacks of fries ordered (5)3 Uncle confused America with central part (7)5 Instrument the French used under insect (5)

Last

wee

k’s

solu

tion

s

aCrOss1 Boils madly in front of hotel after a ban (7)4 Container for hip clothes found in car (7) 6 Dealing after shuffle, and ahead (7)7 Life force of slender South American (7)

DOwN1 Nice gal confused but heavenly (7)2 US city surprise after first of Olympic medals (5)3 Shape of spell put on a ground oddly (7)5 She finds a groom to break first horse (5)

Clues

Solved it? Email answers to [email protected] and win one free month of the Dhaka Tribune.

“Mind Your Language” is a British comedy TV show that revolves

around the students of an adult education college in London. The main focus of the show is on the pupils of English as a foreign language and their teacher Mr Jeremy Brown. The show begins as Ms Courtney the headmistress of the college (who holds a grudge against men and thinks women make better teachers), interviews Mr Brown. Ms Courtney also warns Mr Brown about how the teacher who had taught the class before him had gone insane, Mr Brown steps up to the challenge and Ms Courtney reluctantly puts him on a month’s trial.

The first student we encounter

is a very eager and keen Pakistani student named Ali Nadim and things start to look good until, Ranjeet Singh a Sikh, London Underground employee joins the class. This heats things up between Ali and Ranjeet to the point where they almost want to kill each other because of their religion. Then while Mr Brown takes care of things, a student barges in and sits on the teacher’s chair, not speaking any English. Then as everyone has to point him to his seat, we learn that this student is Juan Cervantes who for most of season one only says “por favore?” then gradually picks up the language.

There’s also Jamilla who doesn’t speak any English along with Juan, but has a good friend in Ali

to translate her Hindi and Urdu in English for her. A character who is fun to watch is of course everyone’s beloved Italian chef Giovanni with his killer catchphrases “Okey-Kokey” and “Holy Ravioli” along with his Greek arch nemesis and best friend Max. Anna is seen struggling a lot with her English as she has trouble pronouncing her “V’s” and “W’s.” She’s also a quite a strong woman and she’s even shown it a few times like when it came to punching flirts like Max. All in all while staying in and in the glorious month of celebrating your own language, if you can, tune in to this TV show to find out how the English language is spoken in many different ways and accents. n

Pragya Rahman

Age is just a number


GO OuT 19

Weekly Planner

London-born, Berlin-based singer, songwriter and producer Sasha Perera‘s live electronica act “Perera Elsewhere“ in a collaboration event of Goethe-Institut and Jatra Biroti.The event will also feature live performances by The Speakeasy Crew and two local spirits “Ebb” and “Chicken Soup”. The event will take place within the framework of Border Movement, a platform that aims to encourage interactions between the electronic music scenes of South Asia and Germany.The event is free for all.

Line Up:Perera Elsewhere (FoF Music, Berlin)Sasha Perera: Vocals, Guitar, Keys, TrumpetToto Wolf: Drums, Percussion, ElectronicsChicken Soup (Shoummo Saha, Humayan Islam)Ebb (Rittika Ali, Atik Sameer, Saybe Dipro, Mostafa Shartaj, Fahadzaman)The Speakeasy Crew

An event promoting a lifestyle that makes smarter and greener choices in reducing our use of Earth’s natural resources and finding alternatives that promises a better world for the future. Jatra Bangladesh is proud to present its first ever three-day festival on sustainable living choices.

Day 1: 10am Fair opens4pm Puppet show about the environment by “Jolputul”6pm Musical performances by Dharok and Baul Shafi Mondol

Day 2:10am Fair opens3pm Presentation by “Obhoyaronno” and “Bangladesh Python Project” on the importance of the relationship between humans and animals.

5pm Workshop on homemade cosmetics 6pm Musical performances by Arnob, Shayan, Shawjeeb and more

Day 3:10am Fair opens3pm Presentations by kid engineers from “The Tech School” on sustainable energy5pm Kanak and Muntasir talk about the project “Trashmaniac”6pm Musical Performance by Joler Gaan

Feb 19Music | Jatratronica featuring Perera Elsewhere (FoF Music, Berlin), Chicken Soup & EbbwheN 6pm-10pmwhere Jatra Banani, 60 Kemal Ataturk Avenue, Banani

Feb 13

leCture | lOFty ambitiONs: the CuriOus Cases OF iNteNtiONWHen 8:30am-12pmWHere United International University, Road 8/A, DhanmondiWHAT Ibana and UIUSSC presents a half-day seminar on one of the key concepts of “intention” because of its effects on our daily activities. Speaker, Ustadh Asif Shibgat Bhuiyan, will address the following points: importance & significance of proper intention, understanding different types of intentions, understanding the state of action when intention goes wrong, understanding the fine line between showing off and sincerity, the ways to tackle “riya” (the Islamic term for showing off).

Those interested, can acquire tickets through advance booking at ibanaway.com/LoftyAmbitions, for Tk300, and Tk400 for spot registration on the say of the event.

Feb 13-14

wOrkshOp | wOrkshOp ON ‘CeramiC hOuses aND earth arChiteCture’ by arChiteCt iliONa Outram khaliliWHen 10am-6pmWHere Housing and Building Research Institute, 120/3, Darus-Salam, Mirpur WHAT A two-day workshop that will be provide a creative platform to all architecture students, where they can give their inputs and learn about unique techniques such as the ceramic dome, and scale models with materials like ceramic bricks,

and learn other secrets of building ceramic houses. The workshop will also provide opportunities for open discussions and will have a film screening at the end of the workshop.

The first 100 students to register will receive a reference copy of the famous book “Emergency Sandbag Shelter and Eco-Village” by Nader Khalili and Iliona Outram Khalili.

The participatory fees is Tk3000.For registration contact:

[email protected], [email protected] or visit www.new-earth.org.uk or call, 8060989.

Feb 14

musiC | release OF armeeN musa’s CD ‘simultaNeOusly’WHen 7pm WHere Red Shift Coffee Lounge, Radius Centre. Bays Galleria 5th floor, 57 Gulshan Avenue

WHAT Armeen Musa has teamed up with guitarist Kaartik (of Bangla fame), pianist Saad Chowdhury, Ashraf on Bass priorly in the band LocoMotive, Shihab Morshed on drums and Airtel Buzz Studio famed Ariba Chowdhury and Jannat Ul Ferdous - two Rabindra Sangeet singers on backing vocals. Together they will present the songs of the album “Simultaneously” as well as some of Armeen’s older tracks.Tickets are available at Tk600 available at Radius/Red Shift(limited seats)

Send your events to [email protected]

Feb 12-14

Festival | Matir MelawheN 10am-8pmwhere Jatra Biroti, 60, Kemal Ataturk Avenue, Banani


20 INTErVIEw | roger laTchman

Roger Latchman, the deputy chairman of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance

(WITSA) believes Bangladesh is a very exciting place to be for Information Technology (IT) entrepreneurs.

Latchman landed in Dhaka amid the ongoing blockade for a three day visit. In an exclusive interview with Weekend Tribune, he talked about the IT and Bangladesh’s prospect in the world market.

Why South and South east Asia, especially Bangladesh?Latchman, the deputy chairman of the consortium of nearly 70 information technology industry associations from different countries observed that developing countries are exceeding their potentials in ICT.

He said that developed countries have the enormous task of uprooting their existing outmoded infrastructure in order to modernise whereas the developing countries have the scope to start with the newest technology.

Also the balance of the IT world has been shifted now. “Nobody looks toward Europe for IT and IT enabled business now, because getting things done there is expensive.”

“The global scenario is of course being dominated by the West. But if you take a look at their market, you will see the dominance of people from the South and South East Asia there.”

“It is because South Asian countries like Bangladesh have booming populations and it’s just a matter of power to turn these men into manpower, especially IT manpower,” he said.

Manpower and the right connectionHe said because of relatively cheap manpower, the western tech giants are now outsourcing from the burgeoning Asian IT markets. “It’s evident in India. Now they have multiple billion dollar tech companies which someone couldn’t have thought of just a few years ago.”

It happens because of the right

connections. You have manpower and someone needs it to be utilised in the right direction. So there must be facilitators to trigger the connection between the two parties.”

Latchman believes Bangladesh has even a greater potential than India to take its industry into the next level because it has one of the best ICT policies in the world. “Your educational institutions are also designed to teach ICT to students and you have young people who are thinking in that way.”

“That’s why, with the right level of implementation, Bangladesh can leapfrog in the IT sector.”

expanding boundaries and reaching others’ marketLatchman said that Bangladeshi information technology and hardware entrepreneurs have the capacity and potential to expand their markets in African countries.

“Bangladesh has been making remarkable progress in IT and IT enabled service industry in the last

few decades,” said Latchman adding that except for some countries, most African countries are still lagging behind in the IT sector.

These African countries are outsourcing IT services as well as manpower to other nations. Bangladesh has the best potential to enter into the African market, said Latchman, who is also a leading IT businessman of South Africa.

“I think the IT associations of the country should come forward to effectively take the country’s business outside the boundaries. WITSA is an organisation which has different such associations from different countries. It can work as a platform to serve the common interest.”

However, the important thing is the members should be eager to utilise the opportunity to serve their own industries in their own nation. “It is up to the members to see that their interest is being best served. I have talked with the Bangladeshi business community and I found that they are very enthusiastic about taking the industry forward.”

Democracy and IT developmentAs a native of South Africa, Roger Latchman knows the value and importance of democracy. He has seen the apartheid reign and the bloody struggle for democracy.

Latchman thinks the ICT policies in Africa and here in Bangladesh are about the same if one considers the goals and objectives. The situation of democracy, though, probably differs between two countries.

“It is important to have a stable government. The policies are dictated by the government but the implementation is being done by the private sector. I believe that innovation supersedes the government.”

He said that the private sector leads innovation and when it comes to the ICT, the governments are following the innovation, not the other way around. “ICT is a great equaliser and any smart government will acknowledge that fact.” n

roger latchman speaks about the potentials of the country’s It sectorFaisal Mahmud

Technology:The great equaliser

WITSA-The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a consortium of associations from the information and communications technology (ICT) industry around the world. The group represents over 90% of the world ICT market through its global membership, and has a goal of advancing the growth and development of the ICT industry.- WITSA was founded in 1978 as the World Computing Services Industry Association, and participates in advocacy in international public policy that affects the “global information infrastructure”. It voices the concerns of the international IT industry in organisations such as the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the G8.


Date post:	07-Apr-2016
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Weekend Tribune Vol 2 Issue 39

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