Revisiting the brilliance of a writers block

OK so I was having a writer's block again, almost a year after my last one when I decided to revisit the web page that had pulled me out from the depths of misery once. The site, I shall remind you folks, has topics for writers of all ages. But instead of going for the mature topics, I choose to write on the kiddy ones. So here goes! Wish me luck.

Friendly Places
Friendly places?! Here in Dhaka?? Um…well...uh I guess Dhanmondi is a rather friendly place. The muggers don't always kill you or beat you to death when they come to snatch away your money. Sometimes, they even start off with a conversation, acting like they know you. Such manners they have, to greet their future victims like that. Now that's what I call politeness. I'm sure there's no other country where muggers are so friendly and welcoming.

My favorite family story
Oh oh I love this one! I heard from my parents that my great grandfather was a really famous 'jomidaar'. He was supposedly filthy rich and had hundreds of cows and chickens. He had five wives and got married once every year. He had lots of children. One of them later had an affair with one of his stepmothers. And that's the part where my parents go silent. God knows why. It is an interesting story really. I wonder why my mother always goes like 'You shouldn't tell her that story' to my father. Weird. It's one of my favourites.

Who's at the zoo?
Now what sort of a topic IS that in the first place? Who could be in the zoo? No way… could it be animals? Or maybe they were asking about the security guards (if any). Well if anyone wanted to know about our Zoo, then there's nobody there for sure, unless you count the empty cages of course.

What I know about stars
Stars are bright
They shine at night
I don't fight
'Cause it's not right
Stars are bright
Oh, stars are bright.

If I could fly
The only way I could fly is by being a bird, an angel or Superman. I doubt I can be any of those. Therefore I can never fly, unless being an airplane passenger counts. So since it's not really possible, then why should I waste my time thinking about it in the first place?

Activities for outdoor fun
I remember this friend and I went up to the roof to fly kites. It was just too much fun. Except for the part where my friend fell off the roof and died. Other than that it was a lovely day. But I never got to fly kites again. This other time, another friend and I were playing badminton in the streets when a truck ran him down. Sigh. I never got to play badminton after that. There are so many activities in our city! If only my parents would let me out. What could possibly happen to me?

The site: www.thewritesource.com

By Nayeema Reza

Girl 1: Did you hear what happened today? Some '…'-party cadres beat another guy to a pulp for no reason at all.

Girl 2: Really?

Girl 1: Yeah, kicked him in the ribs first and after he fell down, bashed him hard with hockey-sticks. It was scary…

The walls near the Nilkhet entrance to Dhaka University bear a rather the encouraging graffiti message“We welcome all the newly-enrolled meritorious students to participate in student politics.” Now, given the glorious history of student politics during the liberation war and the key role of students in different national movements this invitation should prove inspiring and worthwhile for us general students. But reality remains that if you randomly question any ten students about their views on student politics, two of them will turn somber as if mortified, three of them will shoot you suspicious frowns and the remaining five will simply run the hell away from you in horror.

Such is the place this topic has come to occupy in our hearts and the primary resolution, almost instinctive, for most students these days has become to avoid campus-politics and those who practice it.

However, that doesn't mean certain political groups have ceased to receive fresh recruits every year. So, why do young people like us sign up for these parties despite having literally zero interest in politics? When asked, one of my classmates and a victim of the similar situation (let's call him Lufrash) complained in frustration, “You think I have a choice? I'm from Jessore and have no place to stay in Dhaka. Hall seats here are like Willy Wonka's gold tickets and the only way I can ever get one is by buttering up all those party 'bhai's and running errands for them. That's all I'm doing, attending late night meetings and processions but other than that, I don't really care which party comes in power or whatever…” But sadly not all people feel so reluctant about their newfound 'power's. A guy from a different department (let's call him Damus), also a recent recruit, has already become quite a campus-villain in DU science faculty bullying anyone he finds displeasing and dhamkifying all the guys who even look at the girl he has a crush on.

Now the aforementioned silly tug-of-'male ego'-war may seem apparently harmless, but considering the violent occurrences in different educational institutions lately, they are not. Students who sign up for politics without thinking straight actually set foot into traps of a vicious cycle. Once you're inside it, there's no way out. You have to be loyal to your party, participate in political processions and sometimes in things like extortion, terrorism etc.

As one of my friends so aptly put it, “This thing is like water. It takes shape according to that of the vessel that contains it.” The practice of student politics started with a noble cause, but in the course of time the idea has become mutilated due to ill handling by certain groups. The collective voice of the students should be raised only in favour of justice, not violence and disruption of proper educational atmosphere.

By Raisa Rafique