Dhrubo

Amay proshno kore neel dhrubo taara
Ar kotokaal ami, robo dishahara...
- Hemonto

SOME of you have probably heard that song. Some of you may have heard of Dhrubo Esh, the famous artist who designs the cover of books. Others may know of the phrase dhruboshotto, which signifies a constant, irrefutable truth. If you have heard of none of the above, *shakes head* what's the world coming to?

Once upon a time, there was a king called Uttanpad [I can hear people commenting in the background about the gas crisis and possible solutions]. He had two wives [lucky sonofa-!], Suniti, the nice one, and Suruchi, the not-so-nice one. The King loved Suruchi more, so she poisoned his mind against Suniti, and the King sent Suniti away. The queen went to live with the sages and there she gave birth to her son, Dhrubo. Here's a question: how big of a prick do you have to be to send your pregnant wife away?

Anyways, under the influence of the serenity at the sages' camp, Dhrubo grew up and developed a strong respect for God. When he was about five years old, he went to see his dad, the king. The king was sitting on the throne with Suruchi's son, Uttam, on his lap. What would any normal kid do? Dhrubo wanted to get up there as well. But when he raised his arms towards his father, Suruchi went, “that place is not for you. That place is for my son. It's your bad luck you were born from Suniti.” Talk about a woman who can't hold her own. She has to pick on five-year-old boys.

So, Dhrubo went home crying and his mother stroked his hair and asked him what happened and Dhrubo explained. Imagine her reaction for a second. You would totally think she'd go marching up to the palace and lob Suruchi's head straight off with big sword. At least, that's what any mother at today's kindergartens would do. But Suniti just held back her tears and told Dhrubo that he was just unfortunate to be born to such an ill-fated mother and that Uttam will get the throne and sit on his father's lap. Then Dhrubo wiped his tears and told his mother, “Uttam can have dad's throne and all that it entails. I don't want any bit of it. I'm going to carve my own place. You just watch.”

So Dhrubo went to the forest and met seven sages. He greeted them politely, explained his situation and said, “I want a place above all other places. How can I do that?” The sages told him to call on Hari [Vishnu]. When Dhrubo said he didn't know how, the sages said, “just think of him and say 'you belong to everything. You know everything but none know you. You are the greatest of all. Please hear my call.' And he will come to you. So Dhrubo went to the banks of Jamuna and started meditating.

And what a meditation it was! The Gods got freaked. They are naturally very jealous and protective of their powers and are always afraid of anybody gaining power and challenging them. They tried a lot of ways to dissuade Dhrubo, taking the guise of his mother, of monsters and demons. But Dhrubo would not budge and would not stop. Finally, the Gods went to Hari and told him of Dhrubo and how they were wetting themselves from fear...from a child. Hari smiled and said, “I know why he's here.”

So, when Hari came to Dhrubo, Dhrubo fell on his face. The God asked him what he wanted, and Dhrubo said, “I don't know how to praise you. Tell me how.” So Hari gave him knowledge and Dhrubo sang his praises. Then he told the God about his troubles. “Will you please give me a seat above all other seats? Higher than the highest?” And Hari smiled kindly and said, “You shall have a seat above the sun and the moon, above Jupiter and Venus. And your mother shall accompany you to the sky.”

And thus, Dhrubo became a star. Those few who were left clueless at the intro of this piece: Dhrubo goes by the name North Star in English, the one constant star in the sky that helps guide the sailors. And those seven sages who told him to call Hari, they were the Saptarshi, the Big Dipper. But they belong to another story.

By Dr Who

A Night Of Giving Back

THE much-awaited Jaago charity concert 'A Night of Giving Back' took place on 26th March, Independence Day with great bands volunteering for a good cause. JAAGO has come a very long way since April 07. Recognized to be one of the most dedicated foundations, JAAGO focuses on the betterment of under privileged and poverty-stricken children of Bangladesh.

JAAGO now stands tall, with us and with its members at the heart, who volunteer day in, day out to make this country a better place.

Isn't it great that you can now feel better about yourself by helping others while listening to great music? The first tier of the show featured all the new bands looking for stage experience. We had Minus+2 with some Silverstein, Fountains of Wayne etc followed by the band Heal who butchered their way through 'Tumi Ki Shara Dibe', 'Sweet Child O Mine' and ' Toxicity' along with another number that just sounded like thrashing and off-tune screeching. It could have been Hebrew for all we knew. It was indecipherable.

A band wearing identical Red Hot Chilli Pepper t-shirts came up onstage and did a couple of, you guessed it, RHCP tracks (Cant Stop, Californication, By The Way, Dani California)! Will wonders never cease? It wasn't a good cover band either. The music and the vocals were heading in two completely different directions.

Next up was Absent Element, a last minute replacement, who seemed to pick things up a little bit. The vocalist was pretty good and the music was in synch to the lyrics. Alter Messiah followed with a lot of shrieking, 'Slither' by Velvet Revolver and a few other tracks. Defiance was up next with Metallica's 'I Disappear', a Megadeth track and 'Sanitarium' by Vesuvius.

Boney Prince got up next to thunderous applause that drowned out everything they were saying/singing so their play list couldn't be heard properly over the chaos, al though they probably did a Korn number and then ended with Police's 'Message in a Bottle'. The random screaming from the audience was very annoying especially in a small place with a bad sound system. The music was too loud, and it was drowning out the vocalist while the screaming was drowning out the music.

With Circus Police, the show picked up. It was an amper-upper after all the dreary bands doing the same genre of music. The Police-men showed great taste, starting with Hendrix's 'Purple Haze', 'How I Could Just Kill a Man' by Rage Against The Machines, 'Amader Ei Bangla' and their original track 'Thank You For Not Smoking'. Circus Police is a band to watch for! They've got great stage presence, even bigger talent and certainly are a thrill to listen to. Aftermath started with a Creed number, 'My Sacrifice', and then did an original track as well as James' 'Bangladesh'.

Next came Alternation who was back with their A-Game after their last disastrous performance at Cofi11. They are a band famous for their originality and wonderful stage presence, starting off the show with the theme to 'Captain Planet', then paying homage to two of the greatest khet-awesome women of BD pop music history, Momtaz and Mila, by doing their Nantu Ghotok/Jatrabala medley. They were the second band to do 'Sweet Child O mine' by Guns 'n' Roses and the best version of the night. Their set ended with the original track 'Shomrachorajjo'.

Finally the music was getting good, and it was bound to get even better with awesome bands like Bohemian and Shunno.

Bohemian rocked out to 'Vertigo' and 'Elevation' by U2, an original number and their very own rock version of Nazrul Giti 'Chol Chol Chol'. Shunno followed with original tracks 'Shoto Asha', 'Godhulir Opare' and two others.

The good-music-high the audience was feeling was somewhat shattered by another amateur band, Sideshow, which the audience was not expecting this later on during the show. Especially after good ones like Alternation, Bohemian and Shunno. We were expecting Nemesis, but got a very bad rendition of their song, 'Obocheton', courtesy of Sideshow who also massacred the Beatles 'Hey Jude', GNR's 'Sweet Child O Mine', Muse's 'Time is Running Out' and Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb'. The band weren't necessarily bad musicians, they certainly had good taste in music and a good play list, but they need a lot, A LOT, of practice, the vocalist needs to stop screaming the songs and try to stay in tune.

Nemesis closed the show with their tracks 'Joydhoni', 'Dhushor Bhabna', 'D2', 'Nirbashon' and 'Obocheton'. As always, they brought the house down. Nemesis truly are great musicians even if they have zero variety in their songs. Some big news for Alternation, Aftermath, Old School, Groovetrap etc fans: A new mixed album featuring new singles from them is being released around Pohela Boishakh! Join the Facebook group Aashor [A Mixed Album] to stay posted.

The Organisers would like to thank sponsors AND wifi and ICEL Private LTD for all their help and support. Proceeds from the ticket sales shall go to benefiting underprivileged children.

By Musarrat Rahman

The Woes of Low Rise Pants

WE are under attack. Under attack, I tell you, from fleshy forests of crevices by the excruciatingly hip. Sitting on the furthest table in our colleges lounge, my view is constantly punctured by the skin folds of the lower back. Although the so-called fashion itself is not new to me- my mom has been complaining about it for ages- but I really don't remember myself being constantly mooned back then. I am not square, far from it, but really, is it necessary to show off your butt to the rest of the world?

A quick Googling brings us the story behind this fashion. Apparently, it all started back in the U.S. Prisons (surprise!), where convicts were issued pants, which tended to be several sizes more than the standard. That, combined with belts being banned from the prison (to prevent suicides or from them to be used as a weapon), made pants "sag" down below the waist. Soon, it wormed its way into mainstream through hip-hop artists like Ice-T and Too Short back in the early 90s, were it was adopted by wannabe gangstas thanks to the perceived tough-guy cachet. Several variations of the story exist, with the most popular version claiming showing off buttocks sends a sign to other inmates that the person is ready for an intimate relationship; but we are convinced that our version is correct.

Unlike most fashion statements, this one is pronounced by a physical discomfort. How anyone can walk with pants tied at their knees is beyond me. Some people who sag cite comfort as a reason for following the fashion, but I really don't see how hobbling in a goofy manner is comfortable. Pants worn in this way are propped up by constant hitching, which becomes an integral part of the walking style of the wearer.

The style, though somehow popular, remains controversial. There has been talk of banning the fashion back in the west (without the fashion police, fortunately), but so far it is only a punishable offence in several small town and states. Perhaps more notably, just prior to the 2008 Presidential Election, the then-candidate Barack Obama appeared on MTV and stated that laws banning the practice of wearing low-slung pants that expose one's underwear were "a waste of time". However, he did follow that up with the statement: "Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on. Some people might not want to see your underwear. I'm one of them." Well Barack me Obama dude, we are with you!

By Hussain M Elius