Trend de la Creme

Winter is only a month away and it's time to break out the leather jackets and boots! You are probably thinking, boots in Dhaka? Well for the past couple of years even the Bangladeshi winters have become freezing cold - Thank you Global Warming! - and boots and leather don't seem so out of place.

Maybe it's not cold enough for super adorable wool-lined UGG's but certainly splurge on ankle or calf high leather or suede boots. Ankle wrapped ones with cute kitten heels are very “in” right now and quite comfortable to walk in as well. But hey, comfort is hardly a necessity in this city where we zoom away in cars and rarely need to walk to places.

Check out Bashundhara City Mall for some tres tres chic boots available on a range of Tk. 1500 onwards. It is slightly expensive but one cute pair will last you all winter. Elephant road will probably get you cheaper ones. But make sure to grab your best girlfriend or rich boyfriend and head over there with lots of time because you'll have to Indiana Jones your way through all the hundreds and hundreds of pairs of shoes - some of which will make your eyes bleed - until you find a gem. It's not impossible though, so don't lose hope. It's a long hunt, but the results sometimes are absolutely worth it.

Another closet staple for the coming season is jackets. Leather, military, denim, it's all available in our fair city. H&M, ZARA, Max Azria, you name them and Bangladesh has them. Most ready-to-wear brands are mass produced here so the 'rejects' always end up in Doja Market or Bongo Bazaar. You might need to grab your mother for these excursions if you aren't too blessed with bargaining skills. Leather jacket for women might not be easily available here but gorgeous military styles and neon bright jackets and coats are available. What you see at Ecstasy for Tk. 2000, you can get there for Tk. 500. Head over there now and stock up on winter wear!

Leather jackets on the other hand are available at Navana and Bashundhara Mall, although, be warned, they can get a little pricey. But keep in mind it's always wonderful to treat yourself to something gorgeous.

Looking good on the outside, always makes you feel like a million bucks!

By Musarrat Rahman

Tribute to Steve Jobs

Steven Paul Jobs is a man who needs no introduction. Yet, sometimes introductions are called for. So, in short, Steve Jobs is the guy you can thank for having a PC. And your iPhone. He was the founder of Apple Inc. He had a falling out after a while and resigned; from there he went on to create another company called NeXT which was later bought by Apple and thus Jobs was back to his old job (pun intended). He was also a part of Pixar Animation Studios. You know, the guys that made Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Up, and whole lot of other gems.

On October the 5th, Steve Jobs passed away. He had been diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer earlier and it finally took him away that fateful Wednesday. His death was mourned all around the world and is considered one of the greatest losses to the field of innovation. They say three apples changed the world: Adam and Eve's one, Newton's one and Jobs' one. To many this might just be a Facebook status, but in reality, every bit of the statement is true. Jobs' Apple did change the world. He came up with innovations and ideas that one could not even dream of. He took computers from being a hobby to something that can be used in everyday life by everyone. He made it fun to explore and discover and turned the simple cell phone into a powerful machine for entertainment and business.

So instead of telling you about Steve Jobs' childhood or Apple's history, we're going to focus on something else. This article is about how his views can help us change the world someday.

“People with passion can change the world for the better.”
Jobs' philosophy was that if you don't love what you do, then don't waste your time on that. Do what you love best. That's the only way you'll get close to changing the world.

“I want to put a ding in the universe”
Jobs' main purpose in life was to put a dent on the world. He put one dent and then a few more. Just Google 'apple' and check out how much you have to scroll down to get to the links that are about the actual fruit instead of Jobs' company. The impact he's had on the world is phenomenal.

“Sell dreams, not products.”
Jobs' most important attribute was the fact that he could get that message through. You can have the greatest ideas in the world, but without proper delivery and communication they remain ideas and not innovations. To get there you need to understand people and that is the only way you can win them over.

As you can see Jobs was a true visionary. He's taught the world many things, but the greatest of all is the lesson that tells us to be strong, to stand up for ourselves, to believe in ourselves when no one else does, to see genius in seemingly crazy ideas and, most importantly, to stand by our beliefs and defend them with our hearts. So we leave you with one last quote from a great man who will always be remembered as one of the world's greatest visionaries.

“… You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs. We'll miss you.

By Munawar Mobin

On the Eve

“You bought a trench coat?”
“Nice, isn't it?”
“You bought a trench coat!”
“Yes, I bought a trench coat.”
“A trench coat.”
“I think we've already established that.”
“AND you didn't tell me?”
“I'm telling you now!”
“That, woman, does not count. You should've hollered the moment you laid your kitty claws on it!”
“But I didn't know you were a trench coat person!”
“Honey, I spent the last two years moping over this trench coat that I saw in England and forgot to buy!”
“You never told me!”
“Well, I'm telling you now!”

We'd never really talked wardrobe before; never held up random outfits for each other to scrutinise, laugh over, drool over. This was fun, we could get used to this. For, even after twelve years, we still have an endless list of firsts waiting to be discovered. Rickshaw rides through Puran Dhaka, stumbling over sari pleats in high heels at some mela, skimming through coffee table reads.

Not this time though. This first wasn't to be the first of many. And in moments of depressed fancy, our girlish amusement seemed funereal. The trench coat and suits and cute little scarves; provisions that will join her, entombed, in some airline flying her off to an afterlife called college.

* * *

On this side, time passed quietly. No hysteria, no shared struggle to squeeze too many plans into a mere half-year. Leaning against a brick wall of plans differently laid, I watched the tornado-like madness just over there, and wondered how they coped and what would happen once it ended.

Paper planes of evaluations, reports, transcripts flew around, posing questions to anyone who had the time to answer.

“Do you think they'll like this?”
“Do I cut down that?”
“How the heck do I send these in before the deadline?”
“Oh, SATs, apps, papers, papers, papers, why do they never END?”

Last minute essays and personal statements zipped about and sometimes found their way over the wall, for me to send back. At times the planes seemed so inviting, so ready to fly me over too, except that the wall was too high or my feet too firmly rooted in my own course.

Now, though, the whirlwind had died down and open suitcases, three quarters full, came into view amid shreds and scraps, which had served their purpose and were now made redundant. That side was as quiet as this. And through it I made my way over for the goodbye rounds, from a few minutes to too-short hours, to consecrate years of perfectly ordinary moments with the touch of finality.

* * *

Sipping Chocolate Horlicks flavoured coffee and watching “What Happens in Vegas”, it was easy to imagine this was just another one of those days when we watched “Ratatouille”, “Music and Lyrics”, “Serendipity”. Like those days, I couldn't stay past ten. But, although it wasn't really like those days; we didn't say 'it'. We hugged and said, come over again.

There came to mind the other goodbyes missed, prolonged, incomplete; the ones that will dwindle from intermittent IMs to News Feed to… too far ahead to tell. Strings not severed, but fraying, fraying, fraying.

Later, over dinner, Dad told us about the e-mails he'd been receiving. A friend was in San Francisco recently, where he met up with some other old friends and one had the idea of e-mailing whoever they'd kept in touch with from school. So now there are all these messages retracing old ties through cyberspace, drawing in classmates who'd disappeared 30 years ago from here, there and everywhere. It's a nice feeling. The sceptic listened on one side, the optimist on the other. And, in the end, both leaned forward and whispered into my ears, “A girl can hope.”

By Autumn's Daughter