Tête-à-tête

Thought of the week:
"" Even to-day those who really control and order their thoughts are but a small minority of the mankind; most of the world still lives by imagination and passion."-----H.G. >Wells"

Hey all,
Anubis, thanks for your suggestion for the 'Thought of the Week'. Dear readers, you are welcome to share quotes and words of wisdom for our Thought of the Week section. Just mail them to me.

A couple of weeks ago, we ran a cover "Of Real Literature" by Zulquarnain Islam. Our BD Bytes belle, Durdana, has something she wants to share with us:

"Zulquar's write-up was quite well written, well expressed and articulated. I strongly agree with him and want to say a few things in this regard. I am not an omnivorous reader like him and many people. I like a particular type of books and I find no interest in thrillers and detective stories. But I do not know why people will not read what they like to read. The main point of being a reader is that you enjoy what you read and not that you read because you think you should read it. Unfortunately parents have a role in this case.

Many parents force their children to read what they think are good for them. Several months ago a student from English Department (DU) wrote in a letter to DS that he wanted to quit reading Masud Rana because his father did not like it. What a ridiculous thing for a university student to say! Personally, I never found Masud Rana worthy of note. But I really do not know why people will not read Masud Rana if they find it interesting. When I advised him in a letter that he should read whatever he likes one of my elder relatives attacked me personally in a letter saying that I recommended adult magazines for children. The people Zulquar talked about, who think what they are reading is real literature are the victims of this kind of mentality prevailing in our society. People in our society think that they have to recommend what children will read. And most of the times the children think that their parents are right and grow up feeling guilty about their reading habit like that young man from the English Department when they have no reason to feel guilty at all. The last word is: Read only for pleasure"

Moving on from that, we have an ongoing discussion on religion, and this week, we feature a letter by Incognito Soul, who says:
"I would like to thank 'Someone Somewhere' for bringing up the topic of Islam. I am a believer too and think that Islam is not just a religion of a set of rituals as it is often misunderstood to be in Bangladesh, but rather a way of life. It encompasses all sphere of life starting from spiritual to marital matters, and the Quran clearly indicates what one should do in any situation in life. To understand Islam, one only needs to read the Quran and authentic Hadith by Muhammad (PBUH) and one would be captivated by the beauty of this religion. Islam teaches us how to be a perfect human being and how to seek the pleasure of Allah, because without His Grace, we would be nothing. To some people, Islam may seem to be a narrow-minded, constricting religion (for the issues such as Hijaab, not mixing with opposite sex etc.) but if one truly understands Islam and the reasons behind such constrictions, one would feel their necessity and how they actually promote freedom and justice. All in all, I think people should try to learn and know more about Islam, if not for the sake of it, then just for their own sake, i.e. for self-improvement, bringing peace and happiness to their own lives as well as others, and making the world a much nicer place to live in... P.S.- People interested in knowing more about Islam can check out the web-site: www.soundvision.com"

Note: I'm not taking any responsibility for the web-sites you might suggest in this discussion. However, I will request my readers to be very selective in the links they want to share with others. Please don't misuse the forum to play pranks.

Since the topic is on religion as a whole, I'd appreciate it if I got emails about other faiths too. Let's not get typecast here?

I'll leave you this week with my fondest wishes for 1412, Shubho Nobo Borsho, everyone!

Send your polls, love letters, hate mails, and opinions to thegirlnextdoor1@hotmail.com, or mail me at my yahoo address at teteatete_tgnd@yahoo.com

By The Girl Next Door

Oddly Enough…

An surprised to find Narragansett police, fire and ambulence employees not particularly amused by his fake "I'm trapped in my car and dying" 911 April Fools prank

It was an April Fool's prank, and everything went downhill after that. Daniel Sturm of Narragansett was arrested April 1 for providing false information to police.
Police received a 911 from a woman who said his boyfriend

Sturm had called her to say he was in an accident and needed emergency help. Three police cars, an ambulance and fire truck were dispatched, and in vain attempted to locate the site of the accident.

"We drove up and down the road looking for him," said the police. Meantime, his girlfriend and two friends were attempting to find Sturm as well. "I was nervous and shaking because I was concerned for my boyfriend's life," she wrote.

And as they were all searching, Sturm called the woman back and told her it was an April Fool's joke. She immediately called the police station. "We went from concerned to annoyed really fast. We went to his house and arrested him," said Randall. - zwire.com

A fingerprint scanner instead of car keys ensures your car cannot be stolen without your finger. Caution: This in no way implies your car will not be stolen

Police in Malaysia are hunting for members of a violent gang who chopped off a car owner's finger to get round the vehicle's hi-tech security system. The car, a Mercedes S-class, was protected by a fingerprint recognition system.

Accountant K Kumaran's ordeal began when he was run down by four men in a small car as he was about to get into his Mercedes in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. The gang, armed with long machetes, demanded the keys to his car. The attackers forced Mr Kumaran to put his finger on the security panel to start the vehicle, bundled him into the back seat and drove off.

But having stripped the car, the thieves became frustrated when they wanted to restart it. They found they again could not bypass the immobiliser, which needs the owner's fingerprint to disarm it. They stripped Mr Kumaran naked and left him by the side of the road - but not before cutting off the end of his index finger with a machete. - news.bbc.co.uk

Attention Iraqi and Iranian boat people: If you convert to Christianity, Australia will reconsider your application to stay

Australia will review the cases of a group of refuge-seekers who converted to Christianity giving refugees who change their religion privileged treatment.

A group of 30 Iranian and Iraqi boatpeople, currently living in detention, who have had their applications to stay in Australia refused, would have their cases reassessed, a government spokesman said. The group had tired all assessment and appeals procedures but would be able to begin the process afresh for a "variety of circumstances" including conversion to Christianity. Iranians who convert to Christianity could face death if they return to Iran. - story.news.yahoo.com

"Be careful with that; it's got a bomb in it" may be the best thing to say about a boxed set of Ben Affleck movies, but not about your bag at the airport

A soldier was arrested at Manchester Airport for making a hoax bomb threat before boarding a flight. The man had just handed in an over-sized bag in a check-in hall and allegedly told a member of staff: "Take care of that. It's got a bomb in it."

When challenged about the remark, the repeated the threat and police were called. He was arrested right there. Later, he was interviewed and released on police bail awaiting further investigation.

The scheduled British Airways flight the soldier departed on time despite the incident. A spokeswoman said: "We take all matters of security very seriously and we cannot tolerate off-the-cuff comments, no matter how light-hearted. We have to take them very, very seriously." - manchesteronline.co.uk

By Niloy

Nasir Gold's Soulful Love Poetries
Poetry, ah! Like human beings they are. They have emotions. They have sentiments. And, they get stuck into the traffic jams, just like we do.
My soulful poetries were supposed to come out on the Valentine's Day, dear readers, but they got stuck into the traffic jam at Moahakhali, and couldn't come out on time. Read them anyways.
Romance in the Public:
Oh, lovers!
I've brought fresh pop-corn.
Start it all over.
Free:
I Love you.
You love me.
I love your younger sister too.
She's for free.
A different kind of love:
My girl friend loves chocolate.
I ice-cream.
Michael Jackson loves kids.
Stay away from him.
Bonus Track (i.e. stolen from the previous collection to make the article bigger)
Love is a joke.
It makes you broke.
It gives you stroke.
Love makes me choke.
frog shall croak.

Nobo Borsho Resolutions
The moment you are in tension
You are sure to lose your attention
Then you are in total confusion
And you feel the irritation.
This will spoil your personal relations
And you will not get any cooperation.
Ultimately you will increase complications
(You might even need medication!)
Instead, understand the situation
And try to think about the solution.
Many problems will be solved by discussion
Which will work out better in your profession.
Don't think this is a free suggestion
It is only for prevention of your tension.

By Sudipto Bari