Weekend Tribune Vol 3 Issue 19

vol 3 Issue 19 | FRIDAY, August 28, 2015 Dhaka Tribune

4 DRIvIng hAcks 6 oRIgIn

stoRY 20 the Bong MoMMA

Dear Readers,

This week is devoted to people and their stories. First, get into gear with our driving hacks. Revv up, and let’s head to an event on women leaders. Hit reverse and travel back in the bast for some fascinating royal politics in Shatkhira.

A little more recent, but no less for its nostalgic value, we have the old games we used to play as kids. We’re not the only ones reminiscing; Nadim Rahman does plenty of that, even as he plans to invest in the future of Digital Bangladesh.

The future may well leave us high and dry if our piece on Indo Bangla water disputes is anything to go by. But there’s always hope, and we’ve got a story about how it floats in an interview with the charming Runa Khan. Finally, join The Bong Momma as she goes shopping for her trousseau.

Here’s wishing you a week full of pleasant stories

Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu

Editor’s note

Questions? Comments? Send them to [email protected]

WEEKEN D TRI BU N E | FRI DAY, AUGUST 28, 2015

1CONTENTS

Volume 3 | Issue 19 | August 28, 2015

EditorZafar Sobhan

Features EditorSabrina Fatma Ahmad

Asst Magazine EditorFarina Noireet

Weekend Tribune TeamSaudia Afrin

Moumita AhmedFaisal MahmudSakib MridhaSaqib Sarker

ContributorsMinu Ahmed

Prakash BhandariReema Islam

Sohara Mehroze ShachiTahsin MominSabrina MunniChisty Rahim

CartoonistPriyo

GraphicsMd Mahbub Alam

Tahsin Momin

Colour SpecialistShekhar Mondal

AdvertisementZia Ur Rahman

ProductionMasum Billah

CirculationMasud Kabir Pavel

Websitedhakatribune.com/weekendfacebook.com/WeekendTrib

Email your letters to:[email protected]

FOCuSIndO-Bangla water dIsputes

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News 2 News

3 Meanwhile

FeatuRes 5 Event

women in leadership

8 Feature Children’s games

12 Tea with WT nadim rahman

16 Interview runa Khan

17 Feature perfomance arts

20 The Bong Momma Tales from a first-time mom

RegulaRs18 Stay In

19 Go Out

OrIGIN STOryarCHaeOlOgy

PhOTO STOrydHaMraI Brass Industry

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6

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LISTOLOGydrIvIng HaCKs


2 NEWS | This week

Lion kills guide in Zimbabwe park A lion mauled to death a guide leading tourists on a walking safari in the Zimbabwean national park.

The guide was attacked on Monday after the group left their vehicle to inspect a pride of lions with cubs under a tree in the Hwange National Park, the country’s largest natural reserve.

“Some cubs came near the tourists and one adult lion identified as Nxaha charged at them,” police

spokeswoman Charity Charamba said.“The adult lion retreated for a

while and then came charging at the guide. It knocked him down and mauled him on the neck and shoulder.”

The guide, Quinn Terence Swales, 40, was airlifted from the scene but pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in the resort town of Victoria Falls.Photo: AFP

The world at a glance Weekend Tribune Desk

Cheating website Ashley Madison got hacked: data posted online

When a 12-year-old boy accidentally punched a hole through a painting in an exhibition in Taiwan last week, he didn’t know it was a $1.5 million centuries-old Italian oil painting.

The painting, titled “Flowers” by Italian artist Paolo Porpora, dates back to the 1600s and was part of a collection of 55 artworks on show in the country’s capital.

Video footage released by the

organisers shows the boy tripped over a platform in front of the artwork and then brace himself against the painting to break his fall. He then looks around helplessly before walking away.

The organisers have decided not to seek damages from the boy’s family. The painting was restored on site Monday and is now back on exhibition.Photo: Reuters

AshleyMadison.com, the website for cheating spouses, is in trouble as stolen data from the website has been posted online by a group of hackers.

Around 9.7 GB worth of data was posted “to the dark web using an Onion address accessible only through the Tor browser.”

In a statement explaining the data dump, hackers from The Impact Team, wrote, “Avid Life Media has

failed to take down Ashley Madison and Established Men. We have explained the fraud, deceit, and stupidity of ALM and their members. Now everyone gets to see their data.

AshleyMadison was targeted by hackers, partly because of the $20 fee that it would charge users if they wanted their profile deleted completely. According to the hackers, data of even those who had paid the fee was still very much

present.The Impact Team has also accused

ALM of running a prostitution ring with the website called Established Men which aims to connect rich men with attractive girls. After the hackers revealed the data, ALM has said that FBI is investigating the data breach.

It was the first time Avid Line Media confirmed the FBI had joined the investigation. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Toronto Police Services are also involved, it said in a statement.

“These are illegitimate acts that have real consequences for innocent citizens who are simply going about their daily lives”, said the statement.

AshelyMadison is not the only ‘dating’ website to be hacked. Earlier AdultFriendFinder was hacked putting the data of nearly 4 million users at risk as it had found its way online. The site did not reveal the nature of the data security breach. Photo: Huffington Post

Negligence by the on-duty engineers resulted in collision between a train and a lorry and the death of one person in Chittagong.

When a Chittagong-bound train rammed into a container truck at Sitakunda on Sunday, four compartments and the locomotive of the train where derailed, putting a stop to rail communication with Chittagong for nearly 6 hours.

Md Azgar, 27, a fish trader from Laksam in Comilla died in the collision. Azgar’s nephew Md Mainuddin was among the two injured and was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital. The identity of the other injured could not be known.

Later police investigation found that although two gatemen were on-duty at the time, none of them were present when the accident took place. Source: Dhaka Tribune

Taiwan boy accidentally damages $1.5 mn Italian painting

Negligence causes train-lorry collision in Ctg, one killed


. . . MEaNWhILE 3

Woman sees Donald Trump in her vegan butterI can’t believe it’s not Donald!

Jan Castellano was getting ready to have some breakfast when she almost lost her lunch. She opened a tub of Earth Balance Organic Spread with plans to put the vegan butter on her toast -- only to see what she claims is the image of Donald Trump looking right back at her.

It wasn’t necessarily appetizing, but it was entertaining.

“This was pretty much before I had coffee, so I was easily

amused,” Castellano, 63, told The Huffington Post. “I needed to put on my glasses to make sure it was him.”

Castellano, of Wildwood, Missouri, says she wasn’t thrilled to see The Donald, mainly because “he is everywhere these days.”

She thought about saving the Trump-enhanced spread and sell it on eBay “so I could donate the money to Hillary Clinton.”Source: Huffington Post

Nobody wants to spend the first 36 hours of their holiday recovering from a flight. At some point in the journey, it is a good idea to try and grab some sleep. Telegraph Travel has put together these ten top tips that should help you arrive refreshed.

Splurge on your seatLet’s start with the most obvious one. Dr Richard Dawood, the Telegraph’s travel health expert says - “Fly business class, or better. It’s a nice option if you can afford it.”“Unfortunately, airlines recognise the high premium passengers place on being able to sleep in comfort while they travel,” he added. “They have turned the lie-flat, premium seat into almost an art form – but know that they can also charge premium fares for the privilege. Nonetheless, it is sensible to travel in the highest or most comfortable class that you can afford.”Even if you cannot travel in a premium class, you may be able to pay a little more for a seat with extra leg room. Most airlines offer this option when booking.

Pick a quiet spotResearch by easyJet (a British low-cost airline carrier) revealed that the most in-demand seat on a plane is in 7F, near the front of the plane – presumably for the perceived ease of disembarkation. Those seeking peace and quiet may wish to avoid the front, however, as this is where parents with babies will often travel, and where flight attendants will be clattering around with drinks trolleys.So consider the back of the aircraft. Window seats obviously reduce the chance of being disturbed and also give you somewhere to rest your head.

Don’t watch TVThe light from the screens keeps your brain awake. “If the environment is noisy, try some relaxing music,” advises Dr Dawood. As it gets very noisy, noise-cancelling headphones and switching to something louder might come in handy.Source: The Telegraph

What’s the best way to sleep on a plane?

Having just returned home on a rainy day someone hung up the umbrella this way, possibly with the intention of it drying out. The irony, though, is quite interesting indeed.

Photo: Md Kowshikur Rahman

You’re welcome

Photo of the week

Say what?


4 LISTOLOGy | Driving hacks

Don’t look at your car in the mirrorWhile driving, most of us think that our side mirrors should be somewhat angled to display the back end of your car and the road behind it. However, safety experts beg to differ. They believe that this is not correct, and mirrors should be positioned in such an angle, so that no part of your car appears in them. This is the best way to negate blind spots ahead of you while you are changing lanes or making a turn. The placement of

both the side mirrors should slightly overlap with the field of view in the centre-mounted rear-view mirror. Even though, it will take some getting used to, but it makes a huge difference in terms of safety.

Cool a hot car in 60 secondsThere are few feelings less pleasant than stepping into a car parked underneath the sun on a summer day. A car, when left out in the sun with its doors and windows closed, can get as hot as an oven, causing

blistered rear-ends and fingers. Conveniently, there is a much easier way around this problem. This quick and simple way can cool down a blazing car in just 60 seconds. First roll down one of the windows all the way on one side, then walk to the other side of the car and open and close the door five to ten times. This causes a circulating air flow that forces the hot air out of the vehicle and can actually drop the inside temperature as much as ten degrees in just seconds.

HypermileFuel efficiency is one of the easiest ways to save money, and there’s a whole bunch of people who have developed a subculture dedicated to getting the most juice out of every drop of gasoline. This is called ‘hypermiling’ – a set of behavioural changes that keep your car moving as efficiently as possible. A number of tips include leaving adequate space between your car and the car in front of you so you can come to a rolling stop instead of using the brakes, and accelerate slowly over a greater distance to use less fuel than flooring it.

Keep the keychain lightweightWell, this might be hard to believe, but in order to avoid problems with your car’s ignition system, don’t put too many keys on your key chain. This has been proven true on many occasions. The inside of the key barrel on a traditional ignition is remarkably fragile, and when too much pressure is put onto the key inside due to the mass hanging outside, it’s pulled downwards by gravity and thus wearing out the ignition switch. Mind you, this switch doesn’t just start the car; it also runs the electrical circuit, so if it fails while you’re driving your whole car can shut off. It is best if you keep your car key on its own chain.

Nail polish scratch removerWhen you parked a little too close to the car next to you and while you were busy shopping they left a little present for you. The thing is, we can’t fix poor judgement but we can fix that scratch in few minutes with just a nail polish. Obviously it needs to be as close as possible to your car’s colour and in case of a slight scratch, a clear nail polish would do the trick. This is a cheap and easy fix for minor scratches.n

Five driving hacks that will make your life on the road easierTahsin Momin

Car hacks that actually work


Bangladesh Brand Forum’s second Women Professional Network meeting took place on

August 22 at BRAC University Auditorium, with the launch of a mentorship programme for young women.

The Bangladesh Women’s Professional Network (BWPN) was launched in May 2015 by the Women in Leadership (WIL) project of Bangladesh Brand Forum, with the objective of empowering women. It aims to do so by assisting more women to reach leadership positions in their professions. The WPN platform will play the key role in identifying the challenges female professionals encounter, conducting mentoring, lecture series, training and establishing a strong network so that collectively women can design and execute solutions to change the core ecosystem within society for female professionals to realise their potential.

WPM’s newly launched mentorship program pairs up young female professionals (mentee) with a more established female

professional (mentor) for a 1 year period to aid them break the corporate glass ceiling. “Mentoring is going to play a key role at BWPN. We plan to bring back the ‘Guru Shishya’ concept, which was a core part of development in our society in the past,” said Nazia Andaleeb Preema, President of the BWPN. The mentorship program of BWPN designed to assist in psychological and aptitude level of female professionals. Iftekharul Islam Dastagir, Brand Executive of Bangladesh Brand Forum, who was the panel coordinator of the meeting, said. “We anticipated positive responses but we are amazed by the overwhelming response we have received.” WPM currently has 165 enlisted members.

Nusrat Armin, Project Manager of WIL, said in Bangladesh, said there is a stark difference between the percentage of women at entry and management level positions – with many women voluntarily foregoing opportunities for career progression for the sake of family commitments. In this context, with the aim of empowering women to reach leading

positions in their careers across various corporate sectors, the second BWPN meeting covered various issues including whether separate organizational policies are needed for men and women and how women can better manage personal and professional life.

Fatema Rizwana, Head of HR of BRAC Bank Limited, who attended the meeting pointed out that neither discrimination against women that stifles their career opportunities, nor discrimination in favour of women that gives them preferential treatment is conducive to women’s empowerment.

BRAC University has partnered with WPN and is conducting a research to identify the key obstacles for female professionals across different fields. Meeting participants who displaced interest in engaging in the research were given the opportunity to enlist themselves.

BWPN is under the umbrella of the mother project WIL, under which a number of activities take place, including the Women Leadership Summit, Inspiring Women Award recognizing different female role

models and the publication of a bi-monthly magazine which aims to empower women with career insights.

The first BWPN meeting took place earlier this year in May at GP House, where the attendees were given auto membership. The next BWPN meeting is scheduled to take place in September 2015, date TBD. n

at the Bangladesh Brand Forum’s second women’s professional network meetingSohara Mehroze Shachi

women in LeaDership | EvENT 5

Run the worldPhotos: Courtesy


6 OrIGIN STOry | archaeoLogy

Imagine an ambitious raja, after taking over the kingdom from his father, killed his uncle and cousins to rule over a part of

Bangladesh that even to this day is a very hard region to monitor. Thus, the ambitious Pratapaditya and his father Sri Hari or Vikramaditya, ruled over the area called Yasohara that also covered the Sundarbans, for 35 years, until the Mughals came and Pratapaditya meekly surrendered. Add to this, a multitude of ancient ponds, a derelict Naubat khana or reception area for guests, an old temple and a hammam khana or bathing house, which leaves much to the imagination and voila! You have a Satkhira that seems much more glamorous and mysterious than ever before!

After the last Pathan Sultan of Bengal, Daud Karrani was killed by the Mughals, Sri Hari established a kingdom using the flamboyant title of Vikramaditya, which was possibly given to him by Daud himself. His brother, Basanta Roy aided as Minister and together they built a fort called Mukundapur Fort and Palace. The name of their state, Yasohara, (remover of glory) was possibly a pun on the fact that Yasohara was “removing” the glory of a neighbouring ancient city Gauda, found in West Bengal, India today. The remains of the palace have long been neglected, forgotten and then lost to the ravages of the harsh weather.

Pratapaditya took over from his father Vikramaditya and

an ancient past of more illustrious times and the legend of a revered temple, satkhira has a lot more to offer in terms of archaeology and its history than meets the eye. allow me to take you down a crash course of some of its history with a few sites mentioned that can only irk your imagination and hopefully inspire you to visit this ancient part of our history which is often forgottenReema Islam

Ancient Satkhira: of lost Rajas and their sprawling kingdoms

Ancient Satkhira: of lost Rajas and their sprawling kingdoms

Jessoreshwari Temple


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Photos: Reema IslamInteriors of the Hammam illuminated by a circular pool of light

subsequently killed his uncle and cousins to ensure he got all the land. Pratap has been mentioned in numerous ballads and songs, being hailed by many for his bravery since he was an independent ruler of a part of Bengal which included the Sundarbans, extended up to Bhola, Barisala and even the 24 Parganas in West Bengal, including Kushtia and of course Jessore, while defying the Mughals. Pratap and his father were part of the baro bhuiyans or the 12 independent Bengali rulers who offered the Mughal invaders ample resistance.

According to the story, a ray of light flickered through the grass and a General in Pratap’s army discovered a stone hand. This was the sign of one of the Shakti Peethas or body parts of Sati which had fallen when Shiv performed his tandav. The area was marked by the General and Pratap later built a Kali temple here in honour of this blessed spot. However, another story relates how the Kali statue was found embedded so deep into the forest floor that it could not be extracted hence a temple was built around it. Later however the statue was stolen but that’s another story and we will try to stick to the starry eyed legends

for now. This temple is now called Jeshoreshwari, and much like Dhakeshwari and the legend of the Shakti peetha, this temple is much revered by Hindus. The surrounding area shows ruins of an older building which were possibly the baraduari (12 doors) that housed the Darbargah (audience hall) of Pratap’s era, close to his fort called Rajbasi. A derelict pond can be seen closeby which was one of the many that surrounded this area. Pratap based himself here instead of at his father’s Mukhundpur fort and the Jamuna and Icchamoti confluence leant a more fertile area for this raja’s rule.

A domed enclosure and no proper entrance except a high jump with a longer jump and an expert balancing act to reach the inner parts, the hammam khana is an adventure within itself. One of the better kept ruins of this area, we are not sure who built this bathing house. It could have been one of the wealthy Mughals that stayed back after Pratap was defeated but the interiors have rounded off ceilings, with alcoves for keeping things, circular holes in the ceiling to let shards of light in and a preliminary washing area. There are smaller cubicles with holes for drainage in

the floor and water flushed out into the Jamuna-Icchamoti confluence that flowed a few yards away. Today, there is only a tiny drain that gurgles by and the hammam rings empty, with only round pools of light illuminating its interiors. It is locally known as Habshikhana so people actually think this is where prisoners were executed. Visitors are sold a fantastic story of how the heads rolled through those holes into the Jamuna-Icchamoti confluence at the back...

Pratap was an enterprising leader and understood the need to invite foreign vagrants into his army to fight against the Mughals thus the Portuguese were warmly welcomed. He tapped into their

resilience as the Portuguese had lead adventurous lives as pirates of the seas and traversed the arduous journey through the Sundarabans to reach the Raja. They built the first Jesuit church near the Jessoreshwari temple, in an area often referred to as Chandecan by the Portuguese. This was a twisted form of the name Chand Khan, who was possibly the previous owner of the land which was given to Sri Hari by Daud Karrani.

Today, only the remains of a vibrant history give us a flashing image of a Satkhira bygone. Amidst the dust and the bustling crowds of humanity, an ancient Satkhira peeps out now and then. n

Jessoreshwari Temple

The Nypa palm or Golpata of the Sundarbans Palm fruit buds The palm fruit of golphol A cracked open golphol


8 FEaTurE | chiLDren’s games

It is difficult to pin point the time when traditional children’s games started to ebb away from our consciousness

and we could no longer remember what they were and how we played them. One of the reasons behind this, is of course the fact that these games are not being played as much as they used to.

Ever since people started playing games in the virtual world, it restricted children from engaging in traditional games. Traditional children’s games are generally understood to be played with minimal or no equipments, and that children can learn from each other by example.

All cultures in the world have these games. In Bangladesh many of these traditional games are now dwindling because children are more inclined towards different gadgets and virtual reality games. Video games may be very exciting but they lack almost all of the humanising elements that are present in traditional games. Here we list five of our traditional games that children in the 80s and 90s frequently played:

Borof paniBorof pani (literally meaning ‘ice

water’) is a slightly evolved version of the most basic tag game. In this game a chor (thief) chases the other participants in the game and tries to tag them. The tagged person immediately has to assume immobility until someone else other than the thief touches the tagged player and “unfreezes” him. Once a player is “frozen” (tagged) three times, he becomes the thief and the game continues. There are also bases where the players can stay and where they cannot be tagged. Many people will perhaps be able to remember the ensuing disputes over which area was or wasn’t a base. Being a chor was tough in borof pani.

Elon di LondonA player is selected to be the chor (the thief is the eternal image of villain in the Bengali psyche). Then he/she will face a wall and recite “Elon di London, ghori baaje ton ton”. The other players will stand behind in the distance and will start walking towards the chor as she/he starts to recite, but as soon as the chor finishes saying it, she/he can turn around and look, at which point the other players must stand frozen in whatever position they were in. If the thief catches anyone

moving that disqualifies that player. The goal of the game is to approach the chor unseen and tag him/her. Whoever tags the thief will be chased by him/her until the chased player can reach the base line. If the chor manages to tag then she is no longer the thief and the tagged player will be the new one.

FultokkaFultoka requires at least six players who can be divided equally into two teams. But it is most fun when there are lots of players. There are various versions of the game, but in its most basic form each team has a leader. The players in the teams squat on the ground facing each other. The team leaders name each members of their own team after different flowers. After they are done naming the members, the team leaders would go to the other team and place the palms of the hands over a randomly chosen player’s eyes to obstruct view. She then calls out to a member of her team by the flower name to come forward and lightly flick the forehead of the vision-obstructed player of the opposite team. The player will then be free to open his eyes and the game is to guess who it was that flicked him. If guessed accurately then that will

eliminate the player who flicked. Whichever team could eliminate all players first, won.

Pukur par Played both indoors and outdoors, pukur par is the most giggle-inducing game ever invented. The rules are very simple. There will be an instructor who will command the players to be in the imaginary pukur (pond) or on the par (banks) divided by a line on the ground. Often children indoors would use the dividing lines of floor tiles or when outdoors, they would draw a line with a piece of broken brick. The commands will be mixed up to confuse the players. Consecutively commanding pukur or par and alternating between them hastily will cause the players to step on the wrong side of the line and eventually they will get eliminated from the game.

ShatcharaShatchara is probably a game

mostly played by boys. It’s a mixture of ball and tag game, in which a player will throw a tennis ball to dismantle seven slides of broken bricks stacked up together. The thrower may or may not dislodge all of the pieces. But as long as any of the pieces are toppled from the stack the game starts. The next part of the game may become a little dangerous, because it involves pelting players with the tennis ball as they try to re-stack the pieces back. There are different variations but normally the game is completed once the pieces are put back together in stack. Being the thief depends on which variation of the game is being played (like everything else in life). n

child’s playwell-loved traditional children’s games in Bangladesh, which used to be the centre of attraction on summer holidays to nanu’s or dadu’s bari, are now fast becoming endangered

Saqib Sarker

Photo: Bigstock


Dhamrai brass inDusTry | PhOTO STOry 9

the nearly 200 years old traditional brass industry of Bangladesh is now on its way to slow extinction. a handful of ardent metalworkers in savar, dhamrai still nourish this industry through their undying passion towards this form of art and trade. through their deft skills and workmanship, melted copper and

brass is turned into different types of utensils, religious idols, historical figures, aesthetic show pieces and many more.

this week’s photo story features images of the craftsmen at work and their products in various stages of production.

Photos: Sabrina Munni

The brass brigade


10 PhOTO STOry | Dhamrai brass inDusTry


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12 TEa WITh WT | naDim rahman

the apple doesn’t fall far from the treeFaisal Mahmud

It’s not an easy task to interview someone over Skype but Nadim Rahman would make that a cakewalk for you. This Canada

based Bangladeshi IT entrepreneur is not only a very pleasant person to talk with but also he leads you to come up with more questions when you feel you are out of them.

A true leader indeed in every sense! His leadership however becomes evident when it comes to establishing IT entrepreneurship. He is one of the main people behind bringing world renowned payment getaway Payza to Bangladesh, aside from being the founders of several other IT companies.

This 53 year old, however, wasn’t into the world of bits and bytes from his early days. In fact, he was very much into music and dreamed of becoming a world famous drummer.

“I was in a band for many years in Canada. It was a magical time. All the members of my band are around my age now. But when we get together, we still talk about those beautiful years of playing together in the jamming sessions and in different concerts,” he reminisces.

“I was so into music. I had it within me. Even now, I have the desire to learn new musical instruments whenever I can,” he said.

It is pretty obvious though, that a person like Nadim Rahman has his knack for fine arts. After all, he is the son of the late Hamidur

Rahman, the architect of the Shaheed Minar, one of the most renowned national monuments in Bangladesh.

Fondness for the fine arts“Though my father will always be remembered as the architect of Shaheed Minar, he was one of the most famous painters and sculptors of the country too,” Rahman said.

“My father was a very famous abstract artist. Essentially cubist in conception, his approach to art, nevertheless, steered clear of any recognised exercises – cubist or otherwise. His style blends elements from different traditions, but all the while he attempted to radically locate both himself and his art in their constantly evolving contexts,” he proudly stated.

“He also did a whole series of paintings of the struggle of Bangladesh during the liberation war of 1971 and that exhibition went to many places in the world.”

“His was a pioneering voice that talked about the sufferings of the Bangladeshi people before the liberation war into the global stage.”

Rahman said that he used to visit many exhibitions with him. “My fondness for art grew at that time.

“I have great admiration for paintings as an art form. Aside from my father, my favourite painters are Picasso and Van Gogh. I have visited many galleries across the world and have seen the works of renowned artists, but the works of these two have always fascinated me”.

“I also love the work of Impressionist artists,” he added.

He also said that one of the main reasons he choose to live in Montreal is because this is the most art-inclined city in North America.

Structural affectionNadim Rahman said that he too wanted to get into the field of architecture in the early years of his life. He was mesmerised by the structural wonders of the world. Whenever he saw the pictures of a world-renowned monument or of a nice building, he started to think about how it had been built.

“But as I got older, my interest shifted towards technology. But still architecture, art and music are big parts of my life.”

Rahman said that his childhood memories are comprised of events and incidences with famous artists, architects and sculptors of the country. “Jainul Abedin was a frequent visitor in our home and I used to call him my uncle.”

“To me, it’s important to be creative in one way or the other. In this era of the digital world, an engineer has the option to be creative in many ways. I love engineering, that’s why I studied it (electrical engineering) and wanted to become creative in my own way,” he said.

“Also I studied computer architecture during my student years. There, at least, you have the word ‘architecture’ if you want,” he said with a laugh.

An architect

within


PhotoS: Courtesy

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A man of various dimensionsNadim Rahman enjoyed logical creativity in the engineering field. “I loved machines and their internal mechanical structures. I found beauty in it. That’s why the courses in electrical engineering fascinated me. However, as much as I enjoyed the hardware part of engineering, I enjoyed other parts of it too – the software side, the business model, all of it.”

Rahman was also a professor at a Polytechnic institute in Canada and taught courses there for ten years. “I really enjoyed that role. For me, teaching came very naturally.”

He believes there is a big connection between teaching and entrepreneurship because technology is something that a lot of people find very difficult to understand. So the biggest challenge is to establish technology business successfully.

“In a way, establishing a technology business means hiding all the complexities in the back end and present something very functional, very easy and user friendly in front of the consumers.

It’s sort of like teaching – taking a complex issue and make it easy for the students.”

“I dealt with many types of students, many levels of students and the ability to take complex ideas and make it simple so that people can understand is in the core of both teaching and establishing a technology business.”

The IT entrepreneurNadim caught the entrepreneurial bug early on in his student life, and he’s never looked back since. In 1998 he co-founded Microtips USA whose parent company IPO’d in 2010.

“It was a tech company which produced Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors. We were in partnership with a company in Taiwan. It was a very good business.

“In about 2007, I thought of establishing an IT company in Bangladesh. I have all my cousins in Bangladesh and it was an emerging market. I thought of taking my chances there,” said Rahman.

Then he founded and became the Senior Vice Chairman of Casada Technologies Bangladesh Ltd to

introduce new technologies and champion technology transfers from the West to the East.

“In 2009, I had a talk with Firoz Patel, the key person of Payza and I asked him to bring Payza to Bangladesh. Thus we formed our own partnership. Now, with over 50,000 Bangladeshi users, Payza.com is in position to become the market leader in person-to-person and person-to-merchant online commerce,” said Rahman.

Recently, Payza teamed up with Grameenphone, the largest mobile operator in the country to offer instant online payment solution for its customers. “Introducing the Payza e-wallet payment option for all GP users is of course the beginning of an era for online payments in Bangladesh,” he said.

The challenges aheadNadim Rahman believes that his motherland is in the right direction to make its mark among other countries in the world. “The progress of the this country has caught the attention of everyone.”

“In 2007, when I opened up my laptop, I couldn’t get Wi-Fi

anywhere. Now in 2015, when I do it, I get it in many places. Within 10 years, for an economy like Bangladesh, that is a remarkable achievement.”

He however believes that some things need to be changed to take the country into the fast lane, especially in the area of entrepreneurship.

According to him, the country has immense opportunities and investors in the Western world are aware of that. But taking money out of Bangladesh is very difficult. Many Western entrepreneurs feel reluctant to invest in Bangladesh because of that reason.

“I am a Bangladeshi and I know how to navigate all the processes required to opening a business in the country but for a foreigner, it’s a tough job. Opening a business here is not an easy process. Several rules and regulations have created unnecessary barriers. I know that the government is aware of the situation and I really hope that the existing rules and regulations would be made friendlier for foreign investment.” n


14 FOCuS | inDo-bangLa waTer confLicT

Navigating the woes of distributionPrakash Bhandari

Rarely do two countries, even after negotiating a deal on amicably solving land disputes, execute

a smooth transition of the same. The best part of the Land Boundary Agreement was the way in which West Bengal’s mercurial chief minister Mamata Banerjee kept her composure as this allowed India to hand over a total of 17,160 acres covering 111 enclaves to Bangladesh whereas, in return, we received only 7,110 acres comprising a mere 51 enclaves.

But both India and Bangladesh proved they were not only good neighbours but were also sensitive about each other’s concerns.

Therefore, after peacefully solving land disputes, the river water dispute should now figure prominently in the foreign policy of both nations. The Teesta river dispute has been festering for the last four years, even since then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed on 50-50 water sharing in 2011 and Banerjee threw a spanner in the works, preventing the deal from being executed in letter and spirit.

She did not accompany Singh on his Dhaka trip because she felt the volume of the water in the Teesta was not adequate enough to allow for sharing. In June this year, she went along with Prime Minister Modi to Dhaka, but the water-sharing dispute was not part of the agenda.

However, Modi has initiated a dialogue with Banerjee to settle the issue. But a lot would depend on her stand as it can prove electorally sensitive for West Bengal, which will be poll bound next year. India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km-long border with as many as five Indian states — West Bengal (2,217 km), Assam (262 km), Meghalaya (443

km), Tripura (856 km) and Mizoram (318 km) — having borders with the eastern neighbour.

The Teesta, with its source in Sikkim, flows through West Bengal before entering Bangladesh, where it merges with the Bramhaputra. Banerjee refused to approve the water-sharing treaty fearing that a loss of a higher volume of water to the lower riparian areas would cause problems in the North Bengal. According to the ad hoc water sharing agreement reached between India and Bangladesh, both countries were allocated 39 per cent and 36 per cent of the water flow respectively.

The new bilateral treaty expands upon this agreement by proposing an equal allocation of the Teesta river.

Given that water is a state issue in India, and that Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress is a strong political outfit, the Congress-led government under Singh failed to push the deal through in 2011. Beyond political rhetoric, Bengal’s concerns about water security for its northern region cannot be overlooked and need to be allayed. India is already beginning to feel the strain on its water resources given the ever-rising demands, thanks to a burgeoning population.

India is facing a serious water resource problem and, as trends suggest, it is expected to become “water stressed” by 2025 and “water scarce” by 2050. According to Faridul Islam, a Teesta water activist in Bangladesh, the mighty river does not flow with the same vigour as it

did a couple of decades ago when it would sustain the lives of the people — there are no fish and the river has silted up. People in the 5,427 villages on the banks of the Teesta are dependent on the river for irrigating their fields and for allied livelihoods such as fishing.

Bangladesh has been receiving the minimum quantity of Teesta water this year and farmers along the basin in Lalmonirhaat district had an unproductive yield between January and March, a time that accounts for two-thirds of the country’s production.

The Indo-Bangladesh Joint River Commission was set up in 1973 to anchor talks on sharing water of 54 trans-boundary rivers. So far, the two countries have only signed one


15

treaty — on sharing Ganges water — in 1996. According to JRC member Mir Sajjad Hussain, the Teesta’s flow was its lowest ever this year — 232 cubic feet per second.

Farmers have started thinking that depending on the Teesta will be dangerous as the water flow at Gajoldoba point, where India built a barrage in 1977, has been extremely thin. As is apparent, India has used up the entire supply of water on its side of the barrage, causing severe irrigation problems for Bangladeshi farmers downstream.

The river flows along nearly 1,963 million hectares, out of which only 749,000 are in Bangladesh and the remaining 1,214 million in India. Both countries are not pausing to think about the river itself or its ecology.

The Teesta irrigation project on the Bangladeshi side was expected to cover 70,000 hectares but reached only 8,572 hectares and is the lowest coverage area that spans three districts of Bangladesh. But given the reduced flow of water, the project has not been able to cover even half of the land where water-intensive, high-yielding paddy is grown and the crop is the mainstay of Bangladesh.

The Teesta flood plain covers nearly 14% of the total cropped area of Bangladesh and provides direct livelihoods to 9.15 million people in five districts of Rangpur division — 7.3% of the country’s total population. Fishermen, farmers, boatmen and small traders in the area said they were being forced to

change their livelihoods as the river stayed dry for at least six months a year.

To voice their demands and highlight problems, farmers from northern Bangladesh have been taking to the streets of Dhaka. On 9 April, for instance, they joined leaders and activists from left-leaning parties in a march towards the Teesta barrage demanding proper sharing.

“We are getting far less water than last year. It means India has closed all the gates at the Gajoldoba barrage point to hold back all the water,” said Mir Sazzad Hossain, a farmer. In 2014, Bangladesh received 2,500-3,000 cusecs, while this year India released only 10 per cent of the Teesta’s usual dry season flow.

The situation is quite the opposite in the monsoon when India opens all the gates of their barrage and the river floods both banks. After travelling over 400 km through India and Bangladesh, the Teesta merges with the Brahmaputra (Jamuna in Bangladesh) at Teestamukh Ghat. JRC members have continued talks on sharing waters of another seven rivers, including the Teesta, for over two decades.

In 2010, the Teesta water-sharing deal made some headway when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited India and signed a joint communiqué with Manmohan Singh on resolving the Teesta issue immediately. After that, a draft agreement on the river as well as a statement of principles for sharing water in the lean season was prepared. Experts from the two

countries reportedly agreed to share the water available at the Gajoldoba barrage in India equally, keeping 20 per cent for an interim 15-year period. The deal was supposed to have been signed during Singh’s Dhaka visit in September 2011 but it fell through.

In November that year, the West Bengal government asked Indian river expert Kalyan Rudra to find an acceptable solution to the issue. He submitted his report in 2012 in which he said there was a shortage of water in the Teesta as the Indian government had been building hydro-power projects upstream. In December 2012, Bangladesh and India sought statistics of Teesta water available at the upper point of the Gajoldoba and Teesta barrage points respectively. But the issue has stalled since and villagers are being affected.

Both countries, therefore, need to develop a well thought out and balanced treaty that will enable an equitable sharing, thereby enhancing bilateral ties and reducing the possibility of conflict. Talks between India and Bangladesh on the issue have dragged for over two decades and in the meanwhile the Teesta on the Bangladesh side has been reduced to a trickle.

“Since there are no big rivers in the north-western region of the country, people from these districts are dependent on it — the fourth largest trans-boundary river for irrigation and fishing activities. Especially, 111,406 hectares of agricultural land under the Teesta

Barrage Project is extremely reliant on the river for surface water-based irrigation. When the water flow is reduced by India, the livelihood, socio-economic circumstances and ecosystem of the entire region is terribly affected.” said Mohammed Afranuzzaman, a Bangladeshi scholar.

He said the northern part of Bangladesh faced the largest risk due to scarcity of water. There was, he said, abundant water available in the Teesta that could easily meet the irrigation demands in both countries but in the dry season the flow appeared to be quite reduced from India. That, in turn, lowered water availability in the entire Teesta river floodplain and, therefore, agriculture was put in a particularly vulnerable state. “Since India has a barrage upstream, it can withdraw the dry season flow to meet its own demands. Thus, the volume of water received by Bangladesh, after demands are met in the Indian regions, is insufficient as it barely fulfills half the irrigation demands of our country. It should also be mentioned that while India uses Teesta water for agriculture as well as to generate hydropower, Bangladesh uses it only for cultivating crops,” said Afranuzzaman. n

Prakash Bhandari is a prominent Indian journalist who write for Statesman and The Telegraph

Photos: Syed Zakir Hossain


“My husband was a sailor and after his last sail we

unanimously decided to turn his ship into a mobile hospital to help people in the remote rural areas. And we did!” with that said, she rapidly flipped through the pages of our conversation. With each came the different ventures the organisation has been through to help people in need.

During our last conversation with the delightful Runa Khan, we got to know about the different sides of Friendship which not only focuses on mobile hospitals for the poor but also education and social welfare.

The mobile hospital basically consists of ships, turned into fully functioning hospitals that not only house 30 in-house doctors each, but month long supplies of medicine and treatment equipment. These sail from one village to the other in the Char areas and free treatment for villagers. They also provide scheduled training to the local doctors of the villages and also supply them with medicine (only the ones they are authorised to

prescribe). The organisation not only

provides health care and quality medical treatment to the remote areas but also has an education sector. They have institutions to provide the children with proper education and character building lessons/exercises. The institutions also provide job opportunities for many partially-educated villagers. Elaborating on the same, Runa Khan says: “We only hire teachers who are below SSC level, this is just to provide earning opportunities to the ones who, for many reason, could not finish/carry on with their education. With the exception of a few, most of our teachers have not finished SSC level yet.”

But all these involvements have their share of problems. The organisation has a loaning sector similar to micro-financing and that created dispute with the mahajons of the different places. The mahajons loan money to farmers and fishermen so they can cultivate crops or pay for fishing trips and boat repairing. And with loans come dependability and sometimes, oppression. “I sat with them and

spoke directly. I strictly told them that they can carry on their business but they have to pay the farmers and fishermen their due for their crops and fishes, and they have to let them work independently. In most cases these farmers are bound by debt and forced into lives of servitude to repay their loans. The cost of taking daily trips to catch fish and repay their debts, in all kinds of weather, can actually outweigh profits, thus perpetuating a cycle of debt. I simply tried to make this whole biased system stop.”

Communication is a big problem

in these areas. Because the gap that has been created due to the remote location and the lack of proper education and awareness, they are cut off or unnoticed. The different aspects of the organisation focus on the different issues that these people are going through and need help with.

“My drive comes from my passion of helping those who are in grave need of assistance. My dream is to help them and I believe a dream remains only a dream if no one steps forward to make it come true.” she concludes. n

16 INTErvIEW | runa khan

In conversation with runa Khan, Founder and secretary of ngO Friendship Chisty Rahim

Hope floats

... I believe a dream remains only a dream if no one steps forward

to make it come true


learning theatre and performance arts at dhaka universitySaudia Afrin

To know thyself

University degrees are designed to create a useful path into professional life. The ultimate objective is

to achieve a successful and lucrative career for the graduate. So, there is a need for both theory and practical knowledge. The Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at Dhaka University are providing a well-rounded education with a holistic approach towards understanding the society in order to accomplish that goal as well as producing educated citizens.

However, do the local media houses have enough places and resources to accommodate these graduates to apply their expertise?

Performance arts are where artists use their voices and/or the movements of their bodies, often in relation to other objects, to convey artistic expressions. It includes a variety of disciplines but all are intended to be performed in front of a live audience. Theatre is a form of collaborative live art performances based on real or imagined events.

At the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at Dhaka University students assemble at the designated place in the morning. The students are very much into the learning of their craft as is apparent from their enthusiastic participations and engagements. They often end up doing more than attending the classes. They stay much late after classes and work on their performance.

“It seems that we only ever go back home to sleep. When we have plays to stage we have tremendous workload and it’s quite hectic really,” said Nowshin Akhter, a student of theatre and performing arts who believes that she is privileged

to have been able to study in this department. “We love our department despite the hardship that is involved in studying performance arts,” she added.

“I never thought that I could learn about life so much by studying here. While studying with each other, everyone’s life story acts as a platform to learn,” she shared.

The Department has a special auditorium named Natmondal for staging Drama performances in regular manner addressing the needs of the courses. The department also arranges annual drama festival at the Teacher Student Centre (TSC) auditorium.

Sudip Chakroborthy, the Chair of the department, who is also an alumnus of the department, is a very enthusiastic person who is passionate about performance arts and the theatre. He has been fascinated by theatre since his teens. He feels it is a great accomplishment for the nation to have been able to have such facilities for studying and learning the performance arts.

“Considering the entertainment aspect as well educational importance, there is a need for

creating such art platform at the school and college levels,” said Chokroborthy.

It’s been over twenty years since the Department Of Theatre And Performance Studies was designed with a new formation and name. Besides offering a four-year Honours course, the department has two M.A. programmes; one is in Theatre which is a two year course open to students with a B.A. degree and focuses on acting and the other is in Music.

“It is very important for a society to have conscious citizenry. A student at this department needs to know his culture, understand the sociological perspectives, gather anthropological knowledge and should have deep understanding of the artistic values of the content. Where theory only depicts a picture of the life, practical knowledge teaches how to make sense of that knowledge. And Department Of Theatre And Performance Studies is a combination of these two,” said Sudip Chakroborthy.

Sudip Chakroborthy also pointed out the importance of personal attachment of each student with the

department. The students grow and evolve with this department from the time of admission test until the completion of their degree. “In the end we get to know a whole new person,” said Chakroborthy.

Students from this department is currently working in applied theatre, mainstream theatre, NGO, television, even directing and producing even in journalism.

Even with the presence of such a department there is a lack of presence of the artists in the mainstream, Sudip Chakroborthy resents.

There is, however, dissatisfaction among students who think that more modern and time appropriate teaching should be available at the department. “Our views and thoughts on performance is different from the conventional approach,” said a student.

From early days of theatre people have studied this formally without any prospect of a real professional career. Sudip Chakroborthy strongly believes that it would be very hard for the students of this department to survive without real professional opportunities. n

performance arTs | FEaTurE 17

Photo: Bigstock


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

ACROSS1 Relative new gap surrounds SA currency (7)4 Virgin, for example, makes song and sentence (7) 6 Pamper with independent new glue (7)7 Looks to express best wishes (7)

DOWN1 5 Down after girl ‘s first window fitter (7)2 Harsh atmosphere Air conditioning cleansed (5)3 New sea legs make forever young (7)5 Riled about the less hard working (5)

Last

wee

k’s

solu

tion

s

aCROss1 No scope for fruit (6)6 Found holding on to impressionist (5)7 Street talk warbled about end of April (5) 8 Regarding turned engines without no start (6)

DOwN2 Sheep and wedding attendant run amok (7)3 Shape of horse in the middle of midday (7)4 Confused, I enter unimpaired (6)5 Sank as new US state appears (6)

Clues

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

Mini cryptics

After the first few rounds of Radio Shadhin presents Bongo Open Mic in association with

Dhaka Tribune, with performances from Studio 13 and Amid Hossain Chowdhury, it’s time for you guys to start voting on www.bongobd.com.

Visit the site, become a subscriber (for free!) and give a star rating for your favourite songs. Starting from next week, every Friday, Dhaka Tribune will be featuring a top 5 chart for all the Open Mic videos. The songs will be selected according to their points (out of 10) on the Star

Meter. The top artist that week will be

invited to play a live on-air concert hosted by Radio Shadhin! So if you fans have a favourite artist who you’d like to hear more of, log on to Bongo right now and start casting your votes! n

The Bongo Star Meter Chart


GO OuT 19

When 2:30pm Where Dhanmondi Lake, DhanmondiWhat Bangladesh, the country which was once known as the land of greenery, is now recognised as the ninth-most polluted country in the world, as per the global Environmental Performance Index for 2014. With bottles and plastics, lying everywhere, and the pace with which littering is increasing everyday, it is just time we get crowned for being the most littered country in the world.Aobhan launches an event- ‘Triple R-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ to encourage to do your part to ensure a greener future for yourself, your family and your country.

Aimed to create awareness amongst the ordinary people, regarding the dangers of littering and the benefits of recycling selected volunteers will join

the Aobhan members, to not only promote recycling through posters in the Dhanmondi area, but will also clean the surrounding area.To register yourself as a volunteer or a photographer, please fill up the google form given in this link: http://goo.gl/forms/wY7oMJrAl1 The registration fee for the event, for both the volunteers and photographers, is Tk300. Volunteers taking part in the event, will be given a T-shirt, snacks and a certificate. Photographers will be given a separate certificate, recognising their excellence in photography.

For any queries, contact: 01934001324n

Weekly Planner Aug 31Theatre | Kanthanalite SurjoWhen 7pm Where Studio Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, 14/3 Segunbagicha, RamnaWhat Teerondaz Natyadal’s latest production Kanthanalite Surjo satirises brutal realities of contemporary society through an absurd story portraying the sun being stuck into the throat of a man. The play is written by Mohit Chattopadhyay, directed by Rajib Dey and produced by Teerondaz Natyadal.Visit their page for further information - https://www.facebook.com/events/1717031111862190/

Sep 2-5Expo | Pre Eid-Ul-Azha MelaWhen 10:30am-09:30pmWhere Drik Gallery, House: 58, Road:15A(New), Dhanmondi R/AWhat Exotic Eventz is arranging a 4 days pre Eid-Ul-Azha clothing and ornaments exposition in Drik Gallery. Lots of stalls with sarees, salwar kameez, scarfs of newest trend will exhibit their products. Discount will be offered in every product.For more information please contact: 01673482626, 01776454804 or visit their page – www.exotic-eventz.com

Aug 28Fair | Leadership: Leading For ResultsWhen 9amWhere Lighthouse Bangladesh, 41 Kemal Ataturk Avenue, Banani What Managers at any organisation only go as fast as their ability to lead themselves and their teams. If the various teams in the organisation, such as sales, supply chain, project coordination, IT, are not pulling together, success of managers is on the line. In this workshop, participants will learn tools and techniques to help their teams become cohesive, get motivated and operate smoothly to meet deadlines and fulfill their mission to make the organisation

profitable. Participants will also bolster their overall leadership skills so that they can better lead their teams, increase their effectiveness as managers, enhance their team’s collective potential and improve performance. Whether participants are new to the management role or are already experienced in managing others, this course will help you boost their leading ability and professionalism.For more information, visit their page - https://www.facebook.com/events/1662640383956117/

Aug 28Film Screening | Premiere of short-film ‘’N er golpo’’ and ‘’Neel Choshma’’When 3pm Where Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, 14/3 Segunbagicha, RamnaWhat Moviyana Film Society and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy is jointly organising “New film, new Composer,” a competetive short, feature film, and documentary making contest. Within those, two short films will be premiered. The first one, N er golpo will begin at 3pm and the other one, which is Neel Choshma will be screened at 5pm in Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Aug 26-30Carnival | 5th Bangladesh Fashion Carnival 2015When 10:30am-09:30pmWhere Emmanuelle’s Banquet Hall, House 4, Road 134-135, Gulshan 1What With the association of RedCarpet365 Ltd and Freelancerz, brings the 5th Bangladesh Fashion Carnival 2015. Focusing on participants from entire South and South East Asia, this exhibition is targeted to huge Eid Ul Adha shopping and carries a slogan – Do your Eid shopping with us. This event would project quality fashion products to the visitors from both home and abroad.

Aug 29Music | Jatra Biroti Live Performance

Aug 31Awareness | Triple R- Reduce, Re-use and Recycle

When 7-11pmWhere Jatra Biroti, 60 Kemal Ataturk Ave, BananiWhat The Armeen Musa Band will be performing at Biroti for the last part of the Simultaneously tour before they will go on sabbatical. They will also be debuting some of the new material from a new

project. After Armeen’s set The Speakeasy Crew, Fahad Zaman, Don Donadoni and more guest musicians will keep the groove alive till the end. Ticket is Tk500 that includes tea and phuckha.

For more information, visit their page - https://www.facebook.com/events/157179087951528/ n


My days were busy arranging and dismantling things for my upcoming

wedding reception and holud. I know that marriage is a big day for many women, and so many of you must have spent countless hours and days (and maybe years) planning the dream wedding. I hadn’t given it much thought before my akth, and assumed that I’d cross that bridge when I got to it. If I were to go big, I’d have had a small, private ceremony at the beach somewhere. There would b e lots of fairy lights, soft breezes blowing through my hair, seafood grilling in the corner and the hand of my beloved in mine.

In reality, I was five months pregnant, cranky, hungry, and plagued with an unending need to relieve myself. Number one folks, number two was still obedient and under my control.

So when it came to choosing the phooler goyna (flower jewellery), picking someone to do my mehndi (henna art), choosing the venue decoration, or even picking the invitation card – I ticked off items like answers in a multiple choice quiz. But hold on, I didn’t make it too easy.

My impatience led to a commendable increase in haggling skills. Most shopkeepers and vendors had to deal with a sullen look, after which I would place a hand on my belly with utter subtlety, and continue with the death stare. This roughly translated to, “Dude, look at me, I’m pregnant and highly uncomfortable, so you better give it up or else I’m unloading this baby right here, right now!”

The pregnancy angle worked like a charm. There’s nothing like putting men in highly uncomfortable situations to make them do what you want. High five, Jellybean!

So busy was I in my manipulative reverie that I hadn’t noticed when a dark line appeared on my

20 ThE BONG MOMMa | TaLes from a firsT-Time mom

lower abdomen, starting from the bellybutton down to the regions beyond. At first I was totally grossed out, but again, Google told me that this was the “Linea Nigra” or “dark line”. It was another common occurrence during pregnancy.

So many weird, odd but totally

amazing things happen during pregnancy, I regret not taking a weekly or monthly picture of my changing body. It’s not that I was embarrassed or ashamed; I was so busy with other stuff during my pregnancy that I never really got around to it. I know Jellybean will ask me about it when she grows up, and there really isn’t any way I can justify it. But I made it up by taking a million pictures of her. There are more pictures of Jellybean’s first three months than there are of The Husband and me in our four years of marriage.

Four years may seem like a short while, but for me it was very, very long. The day our marriage was ‘fixed’, I was totally

clueless as to what was happening; everything went by in a blur. I was sitting in a sofa at my in-laws’ place and wondering what they were going to serve for dinner, and The Husband was looking at something very interesting on the ceiling. The parental units were chatting away

about stuff I wasn’t totally paying attention to, but suddenly they stood up and the dads started hugging and my mum was bawling and I felt extremely incredulous at all the drama. The Husband was staring back at me wide-eyed, and I could tell he was even more clueless than me.

The akth ceremony was set to take place in a week from that day. From what I had seen in other people’s photos, and heard from stories, this was the point my future mom-in-law would place some item of gold

on me. I waited with bated breath but that moment didn’t come. I was slightly perturbed, but I assumed they weren’t really prepared for it that day. Don’t worry; I did receive it a week later during the akth. We ate dinner together and made plans to meet the next day for shopping. On the way home, I texted my friends that I was getting married (yes I know, I somehow always manage to drop the bomb on them). They congratulated me but I didn’t really feel anything emotionally. It all felt so unreal, like a dream I had just woken up from and was trying desperately to remember.

The next day, my mum and I met my (future) in-laws at a popular shopping mall. My father-in-law liked a sari in the first store we went to, and after expressing my indecision, we spent the next two hours walking around. Of course, we bought nothing, and went back to the first store where I green-lighted the first sari my father-in-law liked. Little did I know that my father-in-law hated shopping and was the last person in the world to walk around for hours in a shopping mall. I felt bad for putting him through that, but hey, at least we got the one he liked! Yes, my sheepish smile has helped me survive many a goof-up in life.

After the clothes were done, we went to shop after shop to choose rings, and I couldn’t find the one I liked. So we went to a completely different shopping area, and finally, at the last store, I saw the rings I liked and we bought them. I’m not really into fancy-bauble-boasting jewellery, and I had always wanted a ring I could wear everyday and not have to worry about losing a diamond or two. We got matching plain white gold wedding bands, and I absolutely love them. My ring was a little loose at first, but four years of marriage, a baby and many delicious meals later, I finally ‘grew’ into my ring. Now I can’t remove it even if I wanted to (and neither can The Husband, my darling fatso).

Moral of the story, not everything might fit at first, but eventually they always do. Patience, my dear Watson, patience! n

Minu ahmed is your not-so-average homemaker, norm-shirker and abomination of awesomeness, juggling a career in communication, mother- hood and a fatter half. Questions? Send to [email protected]

Lines and Ringsthe Bong Momma goes on a pre-wedding frenzy!Minu Ahmed

Photo: Bigstock

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Weekend Tribune Vol 3 Issue 19