Hurting our pride

Ever had one of those moments when you felt like sinking through the floors and disappearing from the face of the planet? If you have ever had one of those excruciatingly embarrassing moments, then you will know exactly what I am talking about.

Men were born to blunder and "goof-up". All of us have moments when we wish our mouth wasn't so big and our brain wasn't so small. Picture this. You are at a party and in a somewhat mean and criticizing mood. You comment to your friend, "Look at that dress, it's so bright and ugly at the same time." And to your utter shock and disbelief the person on your other side says, "Umm…
that's my mother." Talk about embarrassing! You stutter, apologize and try to mumble out some lame excuse but all along you know that it's a lost battle! Once again, you have managed to make a fool of yourself. Moments like these are pretty common in our lives. Saying the wrong thing, at the wrong time, to the wrong person is a very common blunder. Then there are those times when you start saying something about a certain person. Your friend starts poking you, but you ignore it, thinking that your friend is being annoying as usual. And then you get the shock of your life when you look back and discover the subject of your comments standing right behind you. Moral of the story- you should not have been backbiting in the first place! Honestly, how many of you can say that, that has never happened to you?

Falling in front of people is always an embarrassing situation. You are walking down a street, with your head high, arms swinging and a slight tune coming out of your mouth. But all of a sudden you find yourself flat on the ground with a whole bunch of interested onlookers on your side and to your surprise some of them actually have a slight smirk on their faces! Wait a second, some of the are actually laughing! All you can do is secretly curse the person responsible for the banana peel lying on the footpath. Actually, I think, tripping in front of people you know is even more embarrassing especially when you are trying to impress someone.

Ever felt that some stranger was waving at you? You look up to see a smiling person waving at you excitedly. You search your mind desperately, trying to associate a name with the smiling person waving at you, but to no avail. None the less you return the smile and wave back. And then you get that horrible sinking feeling in the stomach, when you realize that the person was actually waving to someone sitting behind you! All you can do is look around sheepishly and try your best to act as if nothing has happened. Then again, sometimes, the opposite happens. Someone greets you warmly but you cannot remember the person's identity at all. No matter how much you will your gray cells to co-operate, you just cannot recall the person's name. Then the comes the feared question, "You do remember me, right?" You nod your head meekly and try to stare at your feet for a while. But deep down you know that you will be caught soon and when that happens it will not be a happy ending! Sounds familiar? That has happened to almost all of us at least once and contrary to popular belief it has nothing to do with old age.

We all have embarrassing stories in our lives, moments we wish had never happened and would love to forget. But like it or not, embarrassing moments add that touch of spice in our lives and provide some much needed comic relief. So the next time you decide to make a fool of yourself, do it with your head held high and try to not to get too upset when people around you are laughing their heads off!
By Ayesha S. Mahmud

EURO 2004: Greece's odyssey

It is a good thing that I am not a punter. After all, had I been one then I would have betted all my money against Greece winning the tournament, and consequently instead of writing this article in the comfort of my air-conditioned bedroom, I would have ended up as a beggar on Farmgate bridge!

Yes, believe it or not, Greece have won the Euro 2004 tournament, and by doing so they have not only surprised me but numerous experts also. The question in everybody's mind now is: "How did Greece manage to pull off such a great surprise?" Well, I do not know the answer to this question, but to find a possible answer let us refresh our memories about the tournament.

Sixteen teams participated in the tournament and they were divided into groups of four. The groups were as follows:

Group A: Portugal, Greece, Spain and Russia
Group B: France, England, Croatia and Switzerland
Group C: Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Bulgaria
Group D: Czech Republic, Netherlands, Germany and Latvia

Each team met their group opponents once, and they were awarded 3 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The top two teams of each group progressed to the quarterfinals. After the group stages the teams that were eliminated were: Spain, Russia, Croatia, Switzerland, Italy, Bulgaria, Germany and Latvia. It is worth mentioning that out of all the eliminated teams, the vast majority of Bangladeshi women were deeply saddened by the elimination of Italy, as it was the team that had numerous hunks!

Quarterfinal matches were held between Portugal & England, Sweden & Netherlands, France & Greece and Czech Republic & Denmark. All the quarterfinals went more or less as expected, except the match between France & Greece. It was widely believed that the French would overpower the Greeks, but instead the opposite happened and the Greeks won the match by a solitary goal. Oh, the quarterfinals also provided heartbreak for Man. U buffs as their beloved David Beckham missed a penalty against Portugal, and consequently he had to catch a flight home instead of taking further part in the tournament.

The first semi-final was held between Portugal & Netherlands, and after a hard fought match the Portuguese managed to qualify for the final. This came as a huge relief to women as the result meant that the last remaining hunk of the tournament, Figo, would be playing in the final. On the other hand, the second semi-final was played between Greece & Czech Republic, and Greece again surprised everybody by defeating the Czechs and thus qualified for the final.

The final was held on 4 July between Greece and hosts Portugal. In Bangladesh the match was shown live, and although it continued till the unearthly hour of 3AM, the vast majority of Bangladeshis forgot about sleeping (and mosquitoes spreading dengue fever!), and watched the match. Portugal tried their level best to win, but the dogged defending by the Greeks ensured that they failed to do so. In the whole match, Greece managed to get one corner, and it was from that corner that they scored a goal. In fact, that goal proved to be too much for the Portuguese and the match ended 1-0. Consequently, to the utter surprise of millions of people, Greece became the champions of Euro 2004.

Well, I have given you a review of Euro 2004, but I still cannot explain how Greece managed to win the tournament. Oh, hang on; I think I have come up with a theory. Yes, I have. The secret lies in the famous saying: "Morning shows the day." The fact that Greece won the opening game means that it was only natural for them to win the tournament! In other words, had they lost in the opening game then they would not have won the tournament. Yes, this theory of mine makes plenty of sense! I assure you that the team that will win the opening game of the 2006 World Cup, will go on to win the tournament. Trust me!
By Sayeed Mahmud Nizam

A reward for life

Want to boost up your self-confidence, show off your talent and spice up your social life? Ever wonder how your Curriculum Vitae will stand out from the others who will apply for the same job in the future? The answer is very simple. Join in any extracurricular activity and you will immediately notice the changes in your life and personality.

High School years are the years of your life when you start to discover the passions and talents hidden within you. If you can't explore or even find out what your talent is, then you are no different then those other people in your class. Sure, grades are important but in the end of the day, those who will apply for the same job as yourself will more or less have the same educational qualification. What will make you different and unique will be that extra line of a certain "club" or "organisation" that you were part of. Your Boss will be more interested in looking for an active and involved type of person who manages to speak up and work confidently in a group!

Not a future-planner yet? Then how about living for the moment and living it to the fullest? There is no better way to do it then joining a club, which guarantees you 100% success in making new and interesting friends who will share and dream of the same passion as yourself. This will enable you to be actively involved, encourage you to make your voice be heard and even help you get along with the opposite sex. Who wouldn't want their partner to be exciting, adventurous and interesting outside the classroom?

If you are wondering how to go about it then simply make a list of the extracurricular activities that your school offers. Many schools offer clubs and organisations in aid to inspire and influence their students. Think you can prove a point and stick to it? Then join a debate club. Think you have a lot of metabolism rate and need to sweat it out? Join a sports club. Like to mimic others? How about joining the drama club and making (what some say) that annoying habit come into good use? Perhaps you are the lazy, philosophical type. Then join in the poetry-reading club!

From karate to cultural studies, dancing to science fairs, there are many ways to get involved so why wait? Select the extracurricular activities you want to join in. Talk to the people who are already members of that club and see if it attracts your attention. Sign up and try to nominate yourself for your favourite activities. Once you have joined in, commit yourself to it and not just because you feel that you have to do something extra. This is not just about having fun, but about working on your abilities while enjoying yourself. Dedicate yourself to some extra work while achieving good grades in class. If you start working on many things at the same time from now on then it will make life a lot easier in the future. You will have already trained yourself to work lively under pressure! Whatever your passion may be, make your time useful and perhaps some day you may even be able to boast about it to your grandchildren! After all, who wouldn't want to be the coolest grandfather/grandmother in the neighbourhood?
By Shayera Moula

Achtung! lovers ahead

If, on a given day, this is what you hear from your pal, be sure that you're having a bad day and possibly a couple of even worse weeks to come. These guys (and girls) just love to shout other people's heads off trying to prove a point about their newly made lovers' looks, brains, attitude and what not. If you're the best pal of such a person, I'm afraid you'll have to be the one who's got to listen to all the faltu pachal and the last-night's-dreams. If you're thinking that being rude or not being a good listener is a solution, please keep your hopes down. Because, these people, being blessed (and blinded) by the Love of God, do not really CARE.

Girls are way ahead of guys in expressing their innermost emotions in a systematically stupid manner. They'll just poke you hard on your ribs in the middle of a class and start just like this... "Ooo ... he proposed me ... (he's so handsome) ... and I couldn't possibly say 'no' ... (Ooo ... he's so cute) ... so I said 'yes' ... and I felt kind of ... you know ... blah, blah, blah and blah. Well, guys-in-love are a bit more pleasant to be with as they shout less rubbish, suddenly start to throw more treats to friends and only ask advice from you once a while.

These newly-in-love people are generally nothing but trouble to be with. Life may be a bee-hive full of honey for them, but truly speaking, they don't seem to be aware of life outside love is. If your male friend has an affair with the girlfriend of a ganjambaj, you'll just be asking to be beaten up in the streets (possibly beside NO-PARKING signs). So, mark my words, stay 'Eksho hath' away from these people. If you can't do that, I guess you can always make up a story of an imaginary girl/boyfriend you have and make him/her feel as bad as you do.

N.B. Any indirect reference in this article to any person living or dead is NOT really coincidental.
By Makorsha