Pet predicaments

We've all had pets some time or the other but in most cases, they die; which is sad, come to think of it, but what the owners go through is sadder. Of course, reactions vary from grief to guilt to (strangely, or not) resentment.

Durdana says, " We had a pair of lovebirds a long time go. One day we went on a trip to Chittagong and left them in the hands of a caretaker. On returning, we heard that the caretaker had fed them one night but forgot to close the latch of the cage, and later discovered that they flew away. We were so angry that after so many days, they had chosen to desert us. Such betrayers!”

Another owner had a tragic story to tell. He had apparently killed his tortoise unbeknownst to himself. This owner had the habit of giving his tortoise a bath in his basin everyday in water that was neither too hot nor too cold but warm nonetheless.; oh, and he used the basin because the bathtub was too big for it and anything else too small. Anyway, he left the tortoise when he heard his mother call for him and when he returned, the tortoise was floating upside down in the basin, drowned and alas, dead; so the poor owner cried (although he had the reputation of never crying) and blamed himself for being so irresponsible and decided never to keep a pet again.

There are some people, however, who never give up. Another crazy owner had a pair of black-and-white bunnies (no, of course not striped like zebras. One was black and the other was white). One died and the other was freed in Gazipur. After this, however, the owner realized that he missed the bunnies terribly and went and bought a pair of bunnies again...and the story repeated itself. One died and the other was freed.

The existence of fish can be difficult to detect, or so asserts our one of sources. Says Tauseef," I had a goldfish who swam around in its pretty little aquarium. I didn't realize anything was wrong until one day, the bua came and asked me, Bhaiya, nore na ken? Of course it took me some time to realize that she was referring to the fish, and when I did I went to investigate. I found it still, and therefore deduced it was dead. No idea when and how, though."

Some people even adopt pets for a few days, and then return them and go back to their lives. Mustakin, a specimen of one such group, had kept his friend's pet for 5 days. Says he, "My friend was not being able to take care of her dog at home because her grandmother was ill. So she asked me to look after it for a few days and I got so attached to it that I couldn't bear to think of parting with it; but I had to because I faced problems at home for keeping the dog, so I finally returned it to its rightful owner. I felt terrible after returning it, though. In the 5 days it had stayed with me, we had become really thick friends.”

Then there are the pets who are killed by other pets. A friend who once lived in farmhouse says, " We had 13 small ducks and a cat in our farmhouse. However, the ducks were slowly decreasing in no. and we found their bodies in the morning. Their heads were torn asunder and eaten. We later found that the cat was killing the ducks- surprisingly it ate only the heads of the ducks. It was a horrendous sight. Sometimes we would also find the ducks lying in the floor with their eyes torn out of their sockets.This was probably done by the bejis who roamed near the farmhouse." Now that's one horrible story!

Karishma talks of her moyna in a nostalgic tone. " We had a moyna but we had no idea that it could talk when we bought it. Our household help was also called Moyna, so when we called for her we would hear a weird screeching sound. One day my mother told this to one of our relatives, who looked at her in an unnerved manner and asked, 'Apa, shorir bhalo toh?' Then we discovered that it was the moyna who did the talking, and we taught it many new words. One day it inevitably died of old age, but we were so upset that I and my sister shut ourselves up in our room for two days and cried for it.”

This is the quandary of keeping pets. Your pets get attached to you and you get attached to your pets, so much so that you have an awful time once they aren't there anymore; but isn't that the whole point of all relationships?

By Anika Tabassum

Teachers are the builders of a civilized nation and in fact, their whole job is dedicated in making good and amiable citizens for a country, and in the whole sense, for this world. They are the pioneers of providing education to the uneducated, illuminating them with the light of education.

The word "Student'' is interconnected with teacher. The quest for education is a joint effort of both teachers and students. The profession of teaching is joined with students as they come to learn in educational institutions. Most of us think that a person of eighty years old can't be truly a student. He is just regarded as an old man not capable of learning something new. But we should all keep in mind that education is for all. It's a vast area without any limits or barriers for anyone. As Sir Isaac Newton said, "I am just a kid playing with the pebbles in the shore while the vast sea lies behind me". A human being must search for education till his death and that is the universal truth we forget to take a look at. So it does not matter what is the age of the student but what really matters is how much the student is learning from the teacher. And, of course, with a friendly relationship between teachers and students, pupils will be eager to learn from their teachers which will result in the outcome of a bright student and a happy teacher.

According to students, the relationship between a teacher and student should not be very formal. It should be one where the student and the teacher can talk with each other and discuss their Problems easily.

Some students hate their teachers who always misbehave with them for silly reasons and the others hate those who always put on an expression of anger and frightening faces. The pupils feel bored in the classes of those teachers and want to get away from them. So they lose their interest in the subjects those teachers teach and the result it brings is failure and bad results in the examinations. In our country these kinds of teachers are very common. It has been seen that also in outside countries students are complaining about this topic and mostly, those who are the teenagers.

There has been situations where the teacher has beaten a student for being absent in the school for some days or for being late in the class or has physically assaulted the student. Such kinds of harassments are not acceptable. This helpless student from the fear of teachers may never study again. Thus, in this way, a lot of talents are being blown away in the early stage to be fallen in the abyss of ignorance. So, a teacher and a student should be like friends. They should both cooperate with each other so that a healthy relationship exists from both sides. The students should never argue with the teacher as he is elder and must be respected. The teacher should inspire every student not to hesitate to talk to him about their problems relating to studies. He must make them understand that a teacher is the next person after one's mom and dad to educate him for growing up to be a good person in the future.

The motto of teachers should be always to direct the students in the right direction with care and love because that is what the students seek from a good teacher.

By Shatabdi Biswas

History is the study of the past, focused on human activity and leading up to the present day. All that is remembered of the past and preserved in some form is seen as the historical record. Wikipedia

Brings back horrible memories, doesn't it? Memories that involve long hours of studies trying to memorize longer answers to questions of which you have no idea. Most of us went through this process in our school days.

We all remember the way our teachers read from the book in such a bleak tone that we always nearly fell asleep. We also remember our teachers proceeding to write down questions on the whiteboard and marking the answers on our books for us to memorize. We remember sitting for our exams, the answers buzzing like crazy in our heads, and we remember our confidence as we jotted down the answers as if it was nothing… And then it was over. And it really was that. Nothing, that is.

But, we don't remember what happened after that, and we certainly don't always remember exactly when Hitler died, or exactly how many wives one of the Henries had or any of the other more important interesting details. No. We don't remember any of that. They all fell off from our hands during the exam.

And then, years later, all of a sudden, out of nowhere for no good reason, we finally realize that we never learnt any of those things we should have learnt. Things that are more important than the teachers make it seem, and sometimes even our parents make it seem. It wasn't only about the dates when President Nixon died or Thomas Eddison went nuts over a simple light bulb. It's more about the stories, of determination and nerve-wrecking passion that made it all happen.

They say history repeats itself. Does it really? Can history ever teach us more than how many buildings were built in 1200 AD? Does it have a meaning, a purpose? It's strange, but looking back from now; it seems they all had something to say.

Something that brings us where we are today, reminds us of exactly who we are, what we had gone through before today and why we should remember it all. As said, it's not about the dates, it's not about the people it's about the events.

If civilization didn't start with the Mesopotamians and herbal medicine didn't get developed by Egyptians, who knows where we would be today? Science, computers, technology would there have been a progressive development that promises us a luxurious life where we don't have to run around naked in forests foraging for berries? Nothing would be as it is today. Nothing would have been the same.

Wars, battles, deaths they all have a purpose. Everyone and everything has a history. We give them fancy names, such as memories or hurtful pasts; but it's all down to history. It's about the sacrifices, the lessons learnt, the mistakes that don't need to be repeated and choices made for today's world. It all might sound vague from a certain viewpoint, but it's true.

History is about who we are and what we have become. History has all the answers we seek from the future, and all the mistakes that we make for a better life.

History isn't just a textbook, it's the root of all human life and death, and choosing to not care about outside the syllabus is nothing more than ignorance.

By Emil and Diya