Best of the best days

In norway, there is a day of the year called crazy day, where most stuffs are given off at rock bottom prices. Almost everyone prepare from months ahead for this crazy day, and shop like crazy when the day arrives. That is how our psychology works, we always want to get more for less.

Allah being our Creator knows this even better, and that is why He has some days of the year better than others. For us to score a few extra points with our regular daily acts of worship, and bag a lot more rewards with minimal added efforts. One such example are the days of Ramadhan where an obligatory act of worship (fardh) is rewarded 700 times or more.

Just as there different degrees of sale (30%, 50%, or 90%), some of these special days are better than others, with the most blessed of them being the days we are going through now - the first ten days of the month of Hajj. The Prophet (pbuh) said that "There are no deeds as excellent as those done in these ten days.[1]”

So dear brothers and sisters, just as we do all within our means to not miss any big sale or offers, let us try our utmost to make best use of these best of the best of days. According to Hadith, some recommended acts of worship for these days are:

1. Fasting, especially on the 9th day (the day of Arafah - i.e. the day before Eid - which is 7th dec in Norway & Saudi Arabia, and 8th dec in Bangladesh). The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Fasting the day of `Arafah I seek from Allah to make it expiate the sins of the year before and the year after"[2]
(note: this fast can be done with dual intention of making up missed fast of Ramadhan as well)

2. Tahajjud prayers - an easy task now with long winter nights.

3. Remembering Allah alot by Tahlil (saying la ilaha illa Allah, i.e. None has the right to be worshiped except Allah), Takbir (saying Allahu Akbar, i.e Allah is the greatest); and Tahmid (saying al-hamdu lillah, i.e. All praise be to Allah) [3]

Of course, it is not limited to these acts of worship only.

P.S.: For those who are offering sacrifice (Qurbani), it is recommended (not compulsory) that they should not cut their hair, nails or skin [4] (I am not sure about trimming / shaving beard / moustache). It is not compulsory, and thus will not effect the sacrifice in any way.

May Allah help us to make best use of these most blessed of days. Ameen.

Source:
[1] Bukhari
[2] Ibn Majah
[3] Ahmad
[4] Ibn Majah

learn more here

[image source: IOL]

'talks have failed again.'
'what? i thought you said things were under full control this time around'
'only apparently'
SIGH. 'what now'
BIG SIGH. 'what else?'
'god damn... why cant we just settle for something? or forget it altogether?'
'lasting peace or endless uncertainty? its ur choice.'
'never know peace came in so many pieces.'
...

ও পাগল মঅন মন রে, মন কেন এত কথা কয়?

১.
'তোকে কেমন জানি বিধ্বস্ত দেখাচ্ছে। কি হয়েছে?' - দেখা হওয়ার সাথে সাথেই তার প্রশ্ন।
'কই না তো! কিছুই তো হয়নি! ঘুম কম হয়েছে, হয়তো তাই ওরকম দেখাচ্ছে।' ...

দুজন যখন পরে একটু একা হলাম, সে আবার চেপে বসল - 'কি ব্যাপার? কোন খবর আছে নাকি?'
'হুমম....' দির্ঘশ্বাস ফেলে আমি পাল্টা প্রশ্ন করি, 'আল্লাহ অন্তর্যামিত্বটা কেন শুধু তোদেরকেই দিলেন?'

আসলেই কয়েকদিন ধরে আমি অনেক ধরণের চিন্তার মাঝে ঘুরপাক খািচ্ছ। অতীত, বর্তমান, ভবিষ্যত, সব চিন্তায় একসাথে এসে ভীর জমিয়েছে আমার এই ক্ষুদে মাথায়। আচ্ছা মনটা কম্পিউটার প্রোগ্রামের মত ইচ্ছে মতো চালু বা বন্ধ করা যায় না কেন??

এক দিক দিয়ে কাজের প্রচন্ড চাপ। আমার কাজটাও শালার একখান... চিন্তা করাটাই নাকি কাজ! এক সময় ভেবেছিলাম চিন্তুক হিসেবে খারাপ হবোনা, কিন্তু সত্যি সত্যিই চিন্তুক হতে গিয়ে েদখছি, ইটস মাচ ইজিয়ার সেইড দ্যান ডান। চিন্তার এই জগৎটা বিশাল, অথৈ, অন্তহীন। গন্তব্য তো দুরের কথা, ডানে না বাঁয়ে যাবো তা ই ঠাহর করে উঠতে পারছিনা।
নদীর এ কুলটা সবসময়ই কন্টকাকীর্ণ হয়, তাই না?

তার উপর আবার যোগ হল ভবিষ্যতের ঝামেলা। তাও আবার স্বপ্নের সাথে জড়িত, রঙীন স্বপ্ন...
মাঝে মাঝে মনে হয় দুৎ ছাই, গুল্লি মারি সব কিছুরে - কি দরকার উটকো ঝামেলা স্বাধ করে ঘাড়ে চাপানোর?

২.
আমার দুটো সোনার হরিণ ছিল। টুকটুকে সোনালি, দেখতে স্বর্গীয়। কিন্তু ভারি অভিমানি, যত্ন আত্বির একটু অভাব হলেই কষ্ট পেত ভীষণ। যদিও মুখ ফোটে কিছুই বলতনা, িকন্তু দুঃখ ভরা দীঘল কালো চোখ দুটো তো আর লুকানো যায়না।
সময়ের সাথে পাল্লা দিয়ে বাড়তে থাকে আমার হরিণের সংখ্যা - নতুন নতুন সব হরিণ, নানা রঙের, নানা ঢংয়ের। আর ফিকে হয়ে আসে সোনার হরিণের প্রিয়ত্ব।

নতুনের রঙের মোহে আটকে পরা এই আমি টেরও পেলাম না কবে যে সেই পুরোনো প্রিয় সোনার হরিণ দুটো নতুনের মিছিলে ঠিকতে না পেরে একদিন পালিয়েই গেল গহীন জঙ্গলে।
তারও অনেক পরে, নতুনের ধুসর হয়ে আসা রঙ দেখে মোহভঙ্গ হয় আমার, বুঝতে পারি ওল্ড ইজ গোল্ড। অনেক খঁুজাখুঁজির পর অবশেষে আমি জানতে পারলাম পালিয়েছে তারা ভবিষ্যতে, ভবিষ্যতের রঙীন স্বপ্নের কোলে।।

আর তাই আমিও আটকা পরি ভবিষ্যতের ঘুর্ণিপাকে।।

Bangladesh: a call for optimism and team Playing

came across a great article on bangladesh by a great man. its somewhat long, so i will just post the gist.

he calls us to unite and work towards building a better future by working together on things we agree; and respect each others opinion on issues on which we disagree. another important pre-requisite for better tomorrow is according to him: "generation of dedicated, creative and forward looking action team whose love for the country is beyond their personal and group interests."

finally dr abdul bari ends with a list of to dos for us to work upon. these are:

1) Each of us has to create our own personal vision of life, what we want to be and what we want to achieve, for ourselves and for our country. We need to increase our horizon. Sky is the limit!

2) We need to be steely in determination. Imam Kurtubi said long ago, ‘first class brain with second class determination loses out with first class determination and second class brain’.

3) Surely, we need basic amenities in life to live in dignity. But how does one measure it? Greed is in human nature. But it destroys individuals and nations. It appears that the current consternation in capitalistic economy is due to uncontrolled greed. The question all of us should ask ourselves is how much we need in our life before entering into our grave.

4) We must learn how to ‘think outside the box’ and be creative and imaginative. The world is for those who are entrepreneurial and have the courage to take measured risk. Someone recently wrote in an article that as long as America would be able to produce Microsoft and Google it will have its edge over others, even though its economy is faltering now.

5) While politics is a noble profession and good politics is the only route to sustainable success of any country, we must keep away from Bangladesh’s polarised politics which has become toxic with its party politics. National interests must come first. For that to happen we need to broaden our mind and lengthen our sight.

6) We have to come out of the habit of being passive or starting a good initiative only to falter within a short span of time. Stamina and consistency in anything we do are fundamental for our existence, let alone success.

7) We must practise how to work in a team so that we collectively flourish. Nation building is like team playing, there is no room for solo playing with envy dominating each other’s life.

8) We need to learn the art of introspection, self-questioning and self-responsibility. For too long we have pointed our fingers at others. We have to remember that for one finger pointing to others three fingers are pointed inward to ourselves.

let us step on that journey of rising above our self and living for others.

full article

back to books

been doing some reading lately. after a long while. finished two books back to back. wish they were from my studies, that would hv bn of much help. but then, thats why they are study books (meant to take a whole lot longer to finish even parts of it).

a friend suggested i read famed polish journalist late mr. ryszard kapuściński. the first of his books i could get my hands on is titled 'the emperor - downfall of an autocrat'. divided into three chapters, it accounts the majestic pompousness and luxurious lifestyle of late emperor haile selassie of etiopia and his downfall.

found a very well written review of the book here, so i am not going to reinvent the wheel.

while reading the book, i was constantly being surprised at how the emeperors court half a century back closely resembles the court of our own very own emperors here in bangladesh. tweak the facts a little here and there and replace the emperors enormous court with equally enormous prime ministers/chief advisors office, and voila, one could easily pass that off as stories from right here in 21st century bangladesh. be it hasina, khaleda or the latest addition dr. fakhruddin ahmed at the helm, it has always been the same story of bartering our motherland and all that she stand for in exchange of a place in the good book of mr big. i wonder when would we, yes myself included, learn to take the lessons history is desperately trying to teach us?



latest read is GIRLS OF RIYADH. everyone who lives on the internet must hv heard of it when it was first published in arabic in 2005. the english translation was published in 2007 by penguin. dint expect much from it from the beginning, but still wanted to read it, more out of temptation to have an insiders view of womens life in ultra conservative saudi society.

finished it at 3 in the morning, but didnt find it as captivating as that sounds though. in fact, at times i had to force myself to continue reading. nonetheless got at least some of what i had expected. the story is about four girls from the elite (and of course extra rich) saudi society, and how they juggle between the reality of their ultra conservative society and their aspirations in life, which is much influenced by their close interaction with western society (e.g. one of them is half american). the story revolves around these girls little adventures for finding love - such as flirting in shopping centres, dating at friends place or even driving around dressed as a young man.

all in all, i must appreciate the authors courage for writing on a topic such as this, especially considering the fact that it was much more closer to reality than most of the hyped up super duper bestsellers about muslim / islam / women in islam etc (such as brick lane - which i think was a real crap). furthermore i found her style (each chapter was in the form of an email she sends out every friday afternoon) unique and interesting.

next on my to read list is Rachel Corries journal, let me stand alone

বলেও তো যেতে পারতি

তুই চলে গেলি
এভাবে নিরবে, না বলে কয়ে?
কেমন ছিলি তাও ভুলে গেছি
হতেও পারো দেখিনি কখনো তোকে।
তবুও তুই আজ আমার সুহৃদ,
আত্মার আত্মীয়।
আশা - ভরসা - ভালোবাসা : স্বপ্নের মিতািল।।

তবে ভাবিসনে দোস্ত,
নেই হওয়া মানেই নাই হওয়া নয়।
আমরা তো আর তোর মত নই -
শক্তিশালি কঁাধ, দৃঢ় মনোবল, বিশাল হৃদয়।
তবুও তোর ফেলে যাওয়া অস্ত্র আমরা কঁাধে তুলে নেবই।
তোর অসমাপ্ত যুদ্ধ জীবনবাজি রেখে লড়বই।
িবচরণ করব তোর আকাশছঁোয়া স্বপ্নরাজ্যে।

হয়তোবা তোর মত করে লড়তে জানিনা, কিন্তু
লড়াই আমাদের চলবেই। তোর মত আকাশছঁোয়া
হয়তো হবেনা, কিন্তু স্বপ্ন আমরা দেখবই।
নিঃস্বার্থ - হৃদয় উজাড় করা না হোক
ভালো আমরা বাসবই। বাসবই।।

20.10.08

Conversation

The wound is still wet, scars yet to dry
vivid in our mind, memories of your smile
and cry.
but with time all will dry,
and you will just be a was
in the mind of few of us.

That's okay, remember me not
matters not a lot
for I am doing just fine up here with God.

My only plead
that you lead
the battles I had left un-won

...
So who is there?
With might and dare?
To keep my plead-
And take the lead?

Many words are said
Many prayers prayed

Thanks, but that's not all dear,
I am doin' fine over here

So, I ask again, anyone there?
With might and dare?
To keep my plead
To take the lead-
THAT'S ALL WE NEED

(from the ... onward (last four para) was written by someone else)

Photo credit: Art hit gallery

www.couchsurfing.com

its one of those late nights again. seems like blogging is keeping me up late.

couch surfing is about traveling, meeting ppl and sharing cultures. been a member for a while, but its only recently that i got active. two weeks back i hosted captain Tomasz (the captain part added by one of his friend) from Poland. with a guitar in his hand, a tent in the packback and some euros in his pocket, he is out on a year long trip around part of the world. at 21, he has already traveled quite a few places and knows a lot of things about ppl and life. this time around, starting from Norway, he plans to travel to finland, russia and then all over asia (including bangladesh) till august next year, when he has to return home to attend his sisters wedding. couch surfing, hitchhiking and camping all the way. hats off to his spirit and desire for adventure.
after he left i found myself questioning me whether i would be able to that. even when it comes to things that mattered much to me, things that i believed in, things i say i would do anything for; let alone travels.

a week after that i had an austrian girl surfing with me. she is a doctor who will soon start her specialization. medicine studies here is not at all similar to that in bangladesh. after school, they study six years to become a doctor, which is nothing but the title. then just to be a GP they need another 4 years of further studies (internship is in parts throughout the study years). otocho amader deshe mutamuti medicaler corridor diye bar koyek hata chola korle, ar khade apron o golai stethoscope julalei daktar hoya jai. manushe jibon niye chinimini khelte o amader pathure hridoye bajena!!
but what surprised me most is their trust. how much a girl traveling all alone have trust to spend a night at a completely stranger's place? some may say these europeans dont really care about physical relations, but i dont buy that. i think no matter what, most women are concerned about it to certain extent.

how much would i trust a bangladeshi stranger in bangladehsh? or a muslim stranger??

random rumbling at 0113

its 1.13 AM. up so late (or is it so early) after a very long time. usually i switch to staying up at night and sleeping through part of the day in summer, when the night is too short to sleep through. earlier today went for karate classes for the first time since leaving melaka. thus was planning on sleeping early, but here i am listening to 70's music, and blogging, and thinking what am i doing? at 0119 hrs.

last month i was in cannes. my first attendance to a major conference. met a few old friends from aalborg, and realized conferences are more than just just conference. there is also a socializing, making contacts and traveling aspect to it.

traveling with my colleagues, one other thing i realized is how alcohol became the number 1 industry in the world. we usually had dinner together, followed by the gang going for a drink at a cafe/pub. a few casual drinks and each of them were counting like 30-50€, excluding the wine at dinner. i even saw a wine that costs over 500€ a bottle (75 cl).

but that was last month. now i am back in trondheim, my adopted hometown for the next three/four years, spending dreadful days with all sorts of theories (matrix theory, information theory, communication theory) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. [sometimes i really ask myself - how on earth did i end up being a researcher!!!]

okay, i guess thats enough rumbling to make a post. (thus i can continue claiming to be a blogger;)

its me again

thats the usual me. absent for a long time, once again.
wats happened in all this while???

well, first of all i (sort of you can say) recovering from a long negative peak in my efforts at trying to be who i am. the thing is i am sort of lost as to what it really means to be who you are. i wont really say confused. its that i more or less know what it is (theoretically speaking), but trying to put that into perspective of everyday life as a practicing and God fearing Muslim (alhamdulillah).

there is a hadith stating that our heart is like a white sheet to begin with. as time goes on, and we start sinning, black dots appear on this sheet one by one, until one day no traces of the original while remains. by definition, Islam is the deen-fitrah (the natural life style), which means being who you are should really go hand in hand with being a Muslim. but by now my heart is pretty black (may God help me) and which sort of made things complicated.

thats one good reason. but i guess there are more. i thing that i can think of the society i come from. back home you are born with a pack of expectations. become successful in life (ans success means being an engineer or doctor or such - and get a white collar job), get a beautiful wife and bla bla bla. i have been living abroad on and off for some time now, and i have come across many people who are really following their heart when it comes to doing something with their life. so i am sort of caught between two boats..... of course the "financial safety net factor" has a big role to play, but then again - where there is a will, there is a way.

life isnt really meant to be "and they are living happily forever ..." - and there is no fun to it. so i have no complaints.

the quest for survival goes on, and he laughs best who laughs last. i have my fingers crossed.

[photo credit: my dear friend shabbir ahmed the chemist]

slap the weakling as you wish

some emergency repair work is going on at meghna gomti bridge on dhaka chittagong highway, and so this bridge is now a one way street. the work which started on may 15 is planned to last 44 days. and that means we, the frequent travelers between dhaka and chittagong, have to face untold sufferings and long hours in queue to get across. newspaper reports say the queue itself was as long as 18 hours couple of days back.

bus owners took this opportunity slap us, the helpless passengers, with yet another blow - an unauthorized 10% fare hike. a timely slap when we are most vulnerable.

so now a bus trip between dhaka and chittagong is not only going to take longer, but also cost more. what a way to treat one's customers!!!

p.s. i heard even flight operators took benefit of this long jam, and hiked up their fares.

now you know how all those mercedes and bmw's plying the posh streets of bangladesh are financed.

Bangladeshi potographer wins yet again

G.M.B. Akash a student from Pathshala's first batch wins first prize for his photo titled "passenger without ticket" in the prestigious gordon parks photography competition.

more of his work

lets talk about human rights

along with most of the civilized world, I protested much about the world-touring olypmic torch over concern for china's human rights violation in tibet and elsewhere.

pondering back, i wonder whether my conscience is similarly pricked when scores of civilians, men, women and children, are killed everyday and thousands more deprived of their basic rights in palestine. or when the recently released aljazeera cameraman sami al haj was detained in the u.s.-run guantanamo bay detention center since 2001. needless to say without trial and on the vague allegation that he was a courier for an unspecified militant muslim organization.

almost every single person in the world have their basic human rights violated in one way or another. for some it is in direct form, as in tibet, palestine, cuba, africa and many other places.

but for most others its in a form altogether different. are most people in the west presented with the right information? or are they fed with information someone wants them to hear, with opinions and understanding tactically engineered? isnt that a form of human rights violation too?

how would you term depriving millions of people from food so that we can a have a guzzling supply of bio-fuel for our suvs and hummers? or supporting autocratic, authoritarian and anti-people regime just to ensure the interest of elite few is served?

i just wish my children will not have to be blogging about this topic in the same way. let our actions direct toward that.

destination Sundarban (part 2 of 2)

continuing from part 1
---------------------

we begin day two early in morning exploring the nearby coastal area. after an hour of walking around in mud covered mangrove forest (avoiding the the pneumatophores - root-like structures which stick up out of the soil like straws for breathing - was a tough call), the letka kichuri (a not-so-wet porridge type traditional meal) breakfast awaiting us on board is indeed a welcoming retreat. after the hefty meal, we are all set for the only remaining agenda of day two - jungle trekking and island exploration.


once again it is 50 people jam-packed in that same 20ft life boat. and this time, none of us are wearing life jackets. the 30 minute ride to destination island covers the junction point where the river meets the sea. even a mild sea wave caressing the boat makes her swing left and right, and our hearts jump in fear; though for faruk vai and his crew this is mere child's play. some try to beat the fear with laughters and click-clock off their digital cameras, while others i am sure are silently engaged in prayer. to make things worse, a huge fishing net is caught on the propeller of our boat making the propeller stuck and leaving all of stranded in the 'mild waves' just meters away from shore. after what seems like ages, we are finally towed on shore by a group of fishing fishermen.



first thing first. right after setting foot on shore, everyone gathers for a group photo before setting out on the eight km trekking trail through mangrove forest, a 'mini desert', katka beach (where we make a two hour swimming stop) and tiger point, a huge open field where tigers hunt for deers. one of us, a doctor, finds a pair of deer horns, a tigers skull (claims faruk vai) and a man's left hip bone (she is damn confident about that). i guess bones are naturally attracted to doctors !!! (probably we would have 'discovered' it if an antique antenna was to be found).


by the time we are back on board and relaxed after filling our burning stomachs, it is almost evening. the eight km trek is too much to take for us dhakaians, and we spent the rest of day 2 sleeping and or lazing away. refreshed by an untimely evening nap, i am on deck dating stars and the sky at midnight. experiencing the moon slowly climb over my head, i realize Sundarbans is not the place for a three day getaway. even after weeks exploring, i dont think one can fully devour her majestic beauty and vast wilderness.


the next morning while on the upstream journey back from serenity and peace of nature to chaos of civilization, i make a firm resolution of returning to the Sundarbans. i can clearly foresee myself laying helpless in her arms, like a child to his mother! and probably catch glimpse of a royal bengal tiger !!!

more photos, courtesy of chandan

on women empowerment and equal rights

yes we badly need women empowerment for the country to move forward. after all, you cannot expect a nation to progress with more than half of its people falling behind. but equal rights mean buying a toy car for your child son, and a doll for the daughter; not the same toy for both.

in a society not everyone is a doctor or an engineer or teacher. everyone has their own role to play. empowerment should be preparation for fulfilling one's role in the best way. it is historically proven that it takes an 'empowered' woman to build an healthy family. and only a healthy families build a prosperous society.

destination Sundarban

national holidays this year has so far been very conveniently placed - either adjacent to the weekend or a day away from it. including the holiday of 26th march (our national and independence day), which converts into a 4 day break by taking a day off in between. the perfect time to escape the hustle and bustle of dhaka, thought I. 'lets head for the sundarbans', suggests a friend; the idea gets immediate acceptance and 'so let it be', we echo in joining voice with him.

what was initially planned as a trip for a few turns out to be 'le tour de sundarbans' with a whole contingent of colleagues and families and friends - our five year old warrior Maisha and a forty one strong team of up to third degree friends.


as usual i am just in time (arrived at 10.29) to catch our 10.30 bus to khulna, from where we will board the launch that we have booked. we reach khulna three hours behind schedule at 8.30 in the morning. hopping off the bus and hopping on to our the launch, is all what we manage to see of khulna in this leg.

faruk vai, MD of royal hotel, and the organizer of this tour, warmly welcome us on board his vessel. we quickly settle in and then move out to invade the deck and enjoy mother nature's magnificent extravaganza on the banks left and right. ten hours of upstream ride bring us to our docking place close to the bay of bengal, the katka point. thanks to our delay earlier, its nightfall by the time we reach. i am somewhat half hearted to find we have wait so many more hours before we can set foot on the sundarbans and immerse ourselves in her arms.


after filling ourselves with dinner the contingent is scattered around on deck in groups - some chitchatting, others playing cards or counting stars, while the couples among us romanticizing. its 11 when to our great surprise, faruk vai announces he has arranged a surprise boat excursion for us. its agenda: 1) experience the moon rise and 2) ride into a channel and sit in complete silence to listen to jungle's voice in the middle night. with almost fifty people cramped in a 20ft life boat, keeping silence is no easy task. nonetheless we did witness the moon rise (at quarter to twelve) and heard some roars and cries (or at least imagined so) from deep within the thick mangrove forest.


early next morning while waiting for the sun to rise, i get my first clear view of the majestic forest on both banks of the channel. it is only then that i fully grasp the impact of cyclone SIDR on these poor trees. four months has since passed, but the trees were still barren and twisted and broken. instead of standing tall proudly with her arms stretched to the full and green branched housing wild colored birds, every single tree i could see was lying defeated with head her bowed to the ground in shame. just imagine what would have happened to the coastal areas had this 2400 sq mile forest not exist?


suddenly the sense of our incapability and powerless-ness overcomes me. how little we indeed are? how powerless? what if it was i facing this SIDR in place of these trees? would even a single cell in me exist? yet we dare to deny Him, Almighty. dare to disobey Him. dare to boast of our prowess. Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny? (Quran: Ar Rahman, 55:13)
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-> part 2 of 2

visit Bangladesh year 2008 (part 3 of 3)

continuing from part 2

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some distant church bell lazily announces that it is an hour to midnight. for dinajpur, that deep dead into the night. at around half past eight, i was out for pre-dinner walk around town cum window shopping. but surprisingly, not only were the shops closed, even the roads were almost deserted apart from a astray dogs playing around and health conscious elderly people walking a mile after dinner.

its been a long day for us. earlier in the morning, after two bus changes (including an hour-long ride standing) and two hours of bore-some waiting, we finally reach dinajpur at an hour before dawn. the morning azan (call for prayer) is still due, yet shops and restaurants are lighting on their bulbs and opening up for another day of business. later in the evening, i discover dinajpurians are not only early to rise, but early to bed too.



having failed to find ourselves a hotel room, we decide to set out exploring the place right away. driving out in our rented 1962 model series 60 nissan patrol, I can sense adventure pulsating up in myself. we are in a old four wheeler passing through an old little town, and our destination is the three hundred years old kantanagar temple. it felt like we had traveled back a few decades in time.

completed in 1752, this hindu temple - a magnificent exhibit of the exuberant terracota art - took thirty years to built. the temple was greatly damaged in a devastating earthquake in 1897, but substantially restored in early 20th century by the then maharaja. sadly, much of the beautiful artwork adorning its walls is slowly getting damaged due to lack of the proper attention and delicate care that this kind of antiquities require. (more about the temple)

next point of interest is the huge man-created tank ramsagar dated back to around the same time as kantanagar temple. i say created because this 1000 m-by-300 m lake was actually dug by people, 1.5 Mil of them. legends say the then ruler ordered digging of this huge water tank to supply drinking water for the drought-hit locality. initially no water rose in the tank. a priest prescribed sacrificing the young prince ram and throwing him into the tank to remedy the situation. hence the tank was called ram-sagar (sagar means sea in bengali). the water now is no longer drink-able, but ofcourse bath-able, so without a second thought we opt to enjoy the tank from within.

kanta nagar and ram-sagar sips away the little energy we had left after our long and tiring journey last night, and by the time we step into our hotel rooms, the welcoming bed is all what we can see.

we will return to dhaka tomorrow after visiting shwapnapuri, a theme park cum shooting spot (shwapnapuri literally means dreamland, which is rightly reflected in the theme park's eye-catching design). the direct train to dhaka was sold out, so we will instead be taking the night bus from rangpur, the neighboring town which is two hours journey from here.

visit Bangladesh year 2008 (part 2)

continuing from part 1

my scenic Bangladesh

yes, the bus ride to kushtia is grueling and tiring, but no way near boring. in a country of poets and music-lovers, you can well expect to find a good number of them in a group of sixty. throughout the ride, we are showered with live in-house entertainment of songs, poem recitations (including self composed), and jokes among many others. we have a historian on board, so we are even lucky enough to have lectures briefing us on the historical heritage of every area we are passing through. this includes the famous 'chalan bil', the largest wetland of the country, which cover 368 sqkm continuous sheet of water in the rainy season. other notable points of interest on the way are the jamuna bridge and the picturesque natore countryside, home to the famous banalata sen of poet Jibonanda Das.

laloner majar and robindronather kutibari

lalon's majar (tomb) is on the way to our lunch-place, so we decide to drop in. baul is a type of traditional folk music with a spiritual touch, and lalon to baul is as elvis presley to pop. the place is not just a simple tomb as the name suggest, rather i find there a huge complex housing a music (baul) school, an impressive auditorium, and home to well decorated graves of many of his companions and followers, including his wife. there are also many souvenir shops outside selling all sorts of stuffs (including pipes for smoking pot - which often goes hand in hand with baul music). a local proverb says 'even sweet words sound bitter when the stomach is empty'. so i am not too sad spending merely 15 minutes at a place like this, where otherwise i would probably laze a whole evening away.

our last point of interest in kushtia is tagore's kutibari (resthouse) in the banks of river padma. the resthouse itself is now a mini bungalow-turned-into a very poorly maintained museum. yet it surely is the biggest attraction of kushtia, as i see hundreds of tourist and picnic-goers hanging around. people are gathered here and there in groups and i find last breath of smoke from make-shift stoves and maids lazily cleaning dishes. there are even a few small cottages up for rent around the place. with a tight schedule to meet, we are brisked away back into the bus before we get to absorb the air and dissolve ourselves into the atmosphere. but then something is always better than nothing.

this is the end of the study tour, but two other friends, myself and a stranger decide to spend the next two days exploring dinajpur in northern part of bangladesh. we bid farewell to the rest and separate ways at nine pm, which is dead night for this remote part of highway from where we are to catch the next bus.

[to be continued]

the equation of general Moeen's extraordinary visit

left hand side: what we get

a state premier's welcome for our one and only general,

two stallions and four mares which will "form a strong breeding germ-plasm for production of quality horses for Bangladesh Army" (handed over the general himself in a spectacular presentation ceremony), and

four dead bodies (killed bt bsf on 24th feb at Thakurgaon Satkhira borders)

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right hand side: what they get

direct train service from dhaka to delhi (and state-of-the-art security cage at the border),

air cargo transit that badly compromises our national interest and security, and

rice export facility at exorbitant price


[photo credit: daily star, www.leatherwoodstud.com, weneedafence.com]

visit bangladesh year 2008

though i hardly ever manage to stick to the resolutions i make beginning of each year, i am very ritualistic about making them. this time around, the new year just passed by silently and it was only recently that resolution-making popped up in my mind. while pondering what can be an achievable resolution, i thought why not let 2008 be my 'visit Bangladesh year'. why not spend my precious few remaining months of freedom (ahem!!) traveling across BD as much as i can?

jei kotha shei kaj (let it be so). i took the next available opportunity, the long weekend of ekushey february (21st feb, which is international mother language day), to seek out exploring my motherland.

destination Kushtia

some people i know planned a study tour on the 21st feb, and i decide to join in along with a few friends. kushtia, once a centre of art and culture in undivided Bangal, is a natural choice for this group of mostly intellectuals (or atleast wannabees). 'we are starting at seven sharp', i was told; but by the time we manage to get ourselves moving, it's just about eight. not bad i reckon, considering the cold lazy morning it is, and the almost sixty of us taking part.

the best mishti doi (sweetened youghurt) i ever had

we arrive in the town of kushtia more than just hungry and tired, after a gruelling five hour trip in a forty four sitter bus. a sumptuous eight dish lunch arranged by some local friends is eagerly waiting for us (i wonder who is more eager, the lunch or us) , but that is a further 8 kms away. our voluntary guide, a professor from kushtia, is wise enough make a famous local restaurant the first stop in our trip, where we are treated to the local delicacy of chira doi (sweetend youghurt with puffed rice). i could hav at least had five more servings of that, if only time was on my side. i guess that explains the quality.

[to be cont'd...]

tadaru' : humility and humbleness before Allah

[note: this is an abridged version of the first in a series of articles by Amr Khaled on Islamic Qualities]

Law Number One: We must always humble ourselves towards Allah

Tadaru' is a term that means exaggerated humility and humbleness caused by despair and is expressed when a person reached his final resort.

Allah teaches us in the Quran that tadaru' is a form of worship a believer uses during emergencies and crises. It requires a person to remove the veils of arrogance and ego covering his or her heart. It implies sincere begging to the Lord of the Worlds. It demonstrates that a person has realized how weak he is and how Powerful our Lord is, and that he is nothing whatsoever in front of Allah (swt).

We need to approach Allah being aware of the fact that He is our last and only resort for help. It is Him and only Him who can rescue us from the calamities we are facing and the hardship we are going through, both as individuals and as a community.

Sometimes when Allah sees that we have strayed from the Straight Path, He puts us in a severe situation so that we realize our weakness and run back to Allah for protection. We must be intelligent enough to understand these messages and act according to them. Allah does this for our benefit, because we need to maintain a close relationship with Him. We must not make the mistake of closing our eyes and hearts in front of Allah's call to humbleness and humility to Him.

Going back to tadaru’:

1. Understand, accept and acknowledge that there is no one to help you apart from Allah (swt), the only One worthy of worshipping, glorified and exalted be He.
2. Realize and confess in front of Allah that you have wronged yourself.
3. Engage in sincere supplication to Allah with utmost humility and humbleness.

Our prayers are bound to be answered if we are sincere enough in our and aware of our status of being His slave. Tadaru' .... that's the first thing we should go back to. We need to achieve tadaru' so that Allah may change our situation, because...

"Verily Allah will never change the condition of a people until they change themselves"

inertia

inertia. i was first introduced to this term of physics in high school back in the mid nintys. it applies to object's reluctance to change from their current state.

this is a term that very much describes a lot about me. i hav a high inertia, especially when it comes to climbing out of those lows that everyone falls into (which in my case more often than not). ever since returning home mid last year, i have more or less been doing nothing meaningful. just laying back and letting time fly me away. guess its like wat happens when u suddenly find urself wit loads of money, and are totally at wit's end on wat to do with it.

it took me great few months to realize this. not lets see how long it takes me to make it happen.

life

life is like a wheel moving forward
each point returns to kiss the ground
but its a different ground at each kiss