LIFE AS IT IS

We witnessed blatant rivalries among school friends in the months of June and July. No, they were not participating in any competition, rather their favorite teams were. It was the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which turned our friends into foes. It was one occasion when two close pals did not necessarily support the same team. Arch rivalry sparked among the Brazilian and Argentine supporters. An Argentine fan wrote on his college friend’s Facebook wall about the rage that engulfed him upon learning that his friend, who was once an Argentine fan, is now a die-hard Brazilian supporter. The Argentine fan clearly felt betrayed by his friend - this happens only in football. We witnessed taunting of friends. I remember a friend jeering an Argentine fan, saying “Could you properly digest the ek haali goal (or, the four goals)?” Another friend promised that he would donate money to the poor if his team made it to the finals. Statuses were updated even at the darkest hours of the night. The wor...

Imagine being brought up in the filthiest alleys of a red light district, where days begin with lurid screams from drunken men and women. Imagine a childhood where you toiled from dawn to dusk, filled buckets with water, scrubbed dirty pots and pans, and watched your family fight and curse at each other. On some days you carried booze bottles to your mother’s guests, on other days you clasped your ears to shun the sounds that came from a room next door. For most of us, who have lived a secure life, it is difficult to imagine a childhood smeared with obscenity, fear and a lot of anguish. The Daily Star link  July 13, 2010 But there are children out there whose first day into this world marks the beginning of a tormented life. “Born into Brothels” is a bold attempt to bring into light the lives of children growing up in the notorious Sonagachi brothel of Kolkata. Some of the shots are heart-breaking; some of the scenes make you contemplate what it would be like to grow up in an...

It’s a rainy day today. Here I am in a midsized city in Minnesota, sitting on my bed with a laptop, scribbling words to pour out many an emotion that the damp day has aroused. On the roads, cars are whooshing along, splashing the rainwater that collected in puddles. A lone red Chevrolet is standing in our apartment building's parking lot, its windshield dripping drops of the summer rain. The Southwest metro bus just left the street corner. A middle-aged lady is walking down the street - her one hand holding a bag of groceries, the other a yellow umbrella. Gloom is hanging over the whole city. It's a small city and the gloom makes it appear even smaller. Is there a connection between the apparent size of a city and its weather? I believe not. But then why does a city seem bigger and merrier on a sunny day? There is not much difference between the Dhaka skies and skies here in Minnesota. I can only see the differences when I gaze down - the differences become vivid in the mo...

The immense satisfaction associated with working for others has driven me to community service. I am not trying to beat my own drums but only sharing the reasons for spending hours behind something that does not have a monetary return. It was the year 1999 and I was in Grade 11. Among numerous student organizations in my high school, there was one called the Education Club. While my close friends chose to join the Debating Club and the Reading Club, I suddenly became eager to join the Education Club, which I heard worked toward educating underprivileged children of the neighborhood. Joining the Education Club was one of those decisions for which I would always thank myself later in my life. I can never forget the love and laughter of the small children I taught for some one-and-a-half years. Every Wednesday was like a pleasure day; almost every Wednesday I would get something from my little students. On many occasions I received flowers, guavas and green mangoes from my students, many ...

শিরোনাম দেখে অনেকেই হয়তো আগ্রহী হবেন জানতে লেখাটি কি নিয়ে। শিরোনামটি আমার নয়। এটি ২০০৪ সালে নির্মিত অস্কার বিজয়ী একটি প্রামান্য চিত্র। কোলকাতার কুখ্যাত রেড লাইট ডিস্ট্রিক্ট সোনাগাছিতে বেড়ে উঠা শিশুদের উপর নির্মিত এই চলচ্চিত্রটি দেখবার সুযোগ হয়েছিল গতকাল। অনেক দৃশ্যেই চোখের পানি আটকে রাখতে পারিনি। অনবদ্য এই প্রামান্য চিত্রটি তুলে ধরেছে নিষিদ্ধ জগতের বাসিন্দা এমন কিছু শিশুকে, যাদের জীবনের স্বপ্ন প্রতিনিয়ত ভেঙ্গে যায় তাদের জন্ম নেয়া সেই অপরাধ জগতের কষাঘাতে। নিজের শৈশবের কথা বারবার মনে পড়ে গেছে কচি, মানিক, সুচিত্রা, অভিজিৎ, পূজার জীবন কাহিনী দেখতে গিয়ে। মনে হয়েছে আমিও তো জন্মাতে পারতাম একজন সুচিত্রা হয়ে, আর তাহলে পরিচয়হীন শিশু হয়ে সবার কাছ থেকে ঘৃণা কুড়োতে কুড়োতে হয়তো পার করতাম এক জীবন। কিন্তু হায়, এই ঘৃণার পিছনের কাহিনী কয়জন খুঁজে বের করবার চেষ্টা করে? তারাতো খিস্তি করেই সারা। আমেরিকান আলোকচিত্রী জেনা ব্রিস্কি একদল শিশুকে আগ্রহী করে তুলে ফটোগ্রাফীতে। একটা সময় এইসব শিশুদের আলোকচিত্রের প্রদর্শনী হয় নিউ ইয়র্ক এবং কোলকাতায়। শিশুগুলো চলে আসে সংবাদমাধ্যমের শিরোনামে। এরই মাঝে অভিজিৎ সুযোগ পেয়ে য...

I don’t remember the first time I read Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice (P&P). But I do remember reading this eighteenth-century novel five times in my life. If I can allow myself some free time in the days to come, I would probably peruse it again, feel deeply once again the finer sentiments scattered in its lines and pages. P&P has always been a pleasure to read – the handsome Mr. Darcy is like a dream. The protagonist Elizabeth was indeed an intelligent, witty and bold woman of her time. But I never had an opportunity to watch TV or film adaptation of this classic until recently. When I first read on Wikipedia that BBC aired P&P as a serial, I knew I had to watch it. The social networking sites have made things so accessible to the modern day humans that all I had to do was search for it on YouTube. Voila! On YouTube were all the episodes of this magnificent 1995 television adaptation, starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. I spent seven long hours watching the ...