The week in re(ar)view

Guns n' friends
Never trust your buddies especially when they are buddies. More so, don't trust them with your gun. No one can resist firing off a few shots. Wondering what we are blathering about?

A few days ago, two cops were punished for such a heinous crime where one of them fired off shots accidentally. This happened somewhere in Chapainawabganj where the two cops were suspended. Buddy 1 handed his sub machine gun to Buddy 2. Buddy 2 looked at the trigger and wondered about his lessons from physics classes. He wasn't very good at physics apparently because pressure applied can result in opposite reaction. 12 astounding shots went off ripping the fabrics of time and space.

To make a short story long, intriguing and slightly though provoking, we were just curious as to the nature of the police shots that usually kill people, like the ones that crisscross after firing. No law enforcement official gets punished for those shots. Our guess is that those shots are not accidental, they are intentional. If you go to jail for firing a gun, it must have been accidental.

Ride on, right on!
42 years ago people traveled between Bangladesh and India via train. Now people can do it again. Moreover, we can now continue our tradition of riding on the roof all the way to across borders.

A passenger train from India reached Dhaka on 8 July, on its trial run. The train 'Maitree' with seven coaches reached the Dhaka Cantonment Railway Station at 6:17pm carrying a delegation of 30 Indian officials. It is also the first-ever direct train in the independent Bangladesh from India as the train service between the two countries was snapped in 1965 during the India-Pakistan war.

And that's about all the history lesson we could spare this week.

VIP Prisoners
VIP criminals lived a live of luxury while they were in political power. Now that they have become VIP prisoners, they want to continue their lifestyle. As a result they keep falling sick because they are not used to the harsh non-climate controlled confines of jails. All this illness has raised a wave of sympathy in the government as it has decided to set up sub-jails outside the prisons for the VIP prisoners.

The jail authorities have already started searching for suitable government or non-government houses that can accommodate some 50 to 60 prisoners.

The authorities would take decisions about setting up any such jail after considering the security issues of the place and its distance from the court and hospitals, he added.

Apparently, the jail authorities have been struggling to cope with the situation, the jail authorities said.

Saifur's son got 100 acres land for Tk 500
In our next life we plan to become sons of ministers. More importantly we plan to to become sons of smart ministers who know when to back of. Former finance minister M Saifur Rahman's younger son Shafiur Rahman Babu enjoyed perks unlike anyone any other son. He used his clout to get 100 acres of government land worth Tk 95 lakh in Srimangal upazila for only Tk 500 to establish a tea estate.

By Mood Dude and Gokhra

RS Mailbox

Send in all your queries, suggestions, complaints, praise and even write-ups to risingstars@ thedailystar.net. Everything is subject to editing so no huffing and puffing that material were not printed as originally sent.

Dear rising stars,
I am one of your greatest fans and even though I moved to USA I still cant stop reading it. I really liked the change of the Rising Stars to a more colorful one. I would like to know what are your rules or whether you accept writings from abroad at all or not.
Emma

We receive a lot of mail asking how readers can send in their articles (three this week alone). Just mail it in to our email address. Write-ups need to be original and preferably within 800 words.
- RS Desk

Special days
Hey I liked what you published on last issue on the back about different weird special days of this month. I loved it! Why don't you publish each week a list of special days and what each day is dedicated to. It will be fun!
Riyad

Today is national love RS day - anonymous note from RS desk

Metro woes
Last week a letter in the Mailbox regarding metrosexuals caught my eye. It not only caught them, it tore them right out of their sockets. It seems the writers thinks it's a bad thing to actually want to look good, dress well, appreciate colours and fine wine. His approach sounded as if the term metrosexual is a threat to manhood. Well, if manhood means not shaving, smelling like three-day-old socks and constantly scratching in hidden areas then it should be a threat.

It's all about guys wanting to look their best and making every effort for it. It could get out of hand sometimes but that's a different case. The writer seems to think that being metro is a waste of time that could be spent bettering oneself on a personal level. I think you can do both. Just imagine doing great charity work and looking good at the same time. And if you can “impress the general female population” by being clean, all the better.
Muntasir Rahman
Dhanmondi

On June 4, they put together a modest food sale/concert to raise funds for Streetwise, an NGO that works to provide free education for street children.

Performing at the concert were Farshid Alam from Pentagon, Adnan Islam from Celcius, and there was a special performance by Elita Karim from Raaga. The show featured an eclectic variety of songs, both in Bangla and English, and had the audience toe-tapping throughout.

The sound system for the event had been generously loaned by the Department of Student Affairs (DoSA) at IUB.

The food sale, which ran simultaneously featured home-cooked snacks made by the HOPE members themselves, and there was also a stall where bead jewellery made by the students of Streetwise were also put up for sale.

The entire program, which was organised in around 48 hours, managed to raise some Tk 3000, all of which is going to Streetwise. “I am impressed with the effort that these young students have put into their organisation, and the fact that they're trying to reach out to the less privileged” said Elita, who had been especially invited to perform, the other two performers being students of IUB.

HOPE plans to make a bigger splash in the upcoming semester with a grand festival. Here's wishing them the very best of luck.

By Sabrina F Ahmad

No show is complete without the behind-the-scenes drama, and the Pickles faced their share when they arrived at the venue to find compromised stage space and cramped seating arrangements. Nevertheless the group started off performing in a small space less than a foot away from the audience.

The show kicked off at 5pm to a wonderful start with “Vote for me”, written by Rasalat Khan. A parody of a campaigning politician, Theotonius Gomes delivered the speech to a full house, amazed and made us all laugh heartily at his grinning face and mocking accent, before being pulled away by two youths garbed in all (mostly) black.

Rising Stars' very own Sabhanaz Rashid Diya came up on stage after that with her statement on conformism titled, 'Censored', for which she received a healthy amount of applause. Undoubtedly the best performance was Escaping Paradise, written by Sabrina Binte Masud. Hasan Ameen played Adam, and Maherin Ahmed played Eve, stuck in a box shut tight, with the former trying to think of a way to free her. Preceding and proceeding Escaping Paradise was Theotonius Gomes' Blurred Blue along with Munasir Kamal and Endings & Encounters by Sabrina F. Ahmad, respectively.

And then there was the play. Called 'Of Ruminations and Romances', written by Asif Iqbal, this parody about the Romantic poets was well-received, perhaps more due to the performances than he script, itself. Osama Rahman, another of the RS bunch, made his debut in stage acting as Lord Byron alongside 'Julia' and 'Sultana', both played by Sabrina F. Ahmad, who took on another role as a Judge at the end (talk about multiple personality…).

The show ended with a song called Carnival performed and written by Sabrina (F. Ahmad), composed by Theo. Despite the sound system, which left a lot to be desired, the song came out well enough, with the audience cheering and clapping at the end.

It was an awesome show, despite uncomfortable circumstances, with the stairs used as a 'backstage'. Finally, be sure to look out for their book- Maps and Metaphors.

By Emil

Campus News
South Breeze Science Fair

South Breeze held its annual Science Fair on the 25th of March. All the students, from the Class III to Class IX participated in the program.

The juniors starting from Class III to Class V were refreshingly creative for their age. The Class III students made carvings of ancient Egyptian writings and some even dressed as cavemen. Overall, this was rated the best presentation.

Class V did a project on 'Adaptation of Wildlife' and 'Rocks and Volcanoes', where they showed a volcanic eruption.

Class VII did 'Architecture Through the Times' where they built everything from mammoth bone huts to the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House.

Class VIII had a project on 'Clamatic Changes' where they showed an impressive clip on the projector about global warming. The third and the final project which won first prize in the science fair was the 'Steps to Civilisation'. Apart from the usual models, they made a city of the 41st century, which was amazing.

Overall the science fair, one of the best for South Breeze, had a lot of creativity and brought out the amazing talents in the students.

By Sumaiya Ahmed