The New Nation - Internet Edition

Rotten eggs in rotten meat

M Zahidul Haque

NOW we are going to announce the name of the winner of this cooking competition, the anchor lady dressed party in English style and partly in Hindi declared - the first prize goes to Mr. Gedu Mia for his terrific recipe "Poncha Dim in Poncha Keema" (Rotten Egg in Rotten Force-meat). Popular TV channel 'Desert Tide' was telecasting this cooking competition's grand finale! It may be mentioned here that some Bangladeshis who worked in a pharmaceutical company's packaging department in the Middle East had actually set up the 'Desert Tide' TV channel through investing all the money they had so far earned in Middle East.

Mr. Chan Chaklader, the Managing Director of the 'Desert Tide' was suddenly appeared on the screen. By stopping the anchor lady he asked Mr. Gedu to describe his wonderful recipe, i.e. Poncha Dim in Poncha Keema, which received a huge appreciation and acclamation from all the judges. Gedu took the microphone and addressed - Dear viewers, my recipe is not an exceptional one. Of course there is a story behind the invention of this exceptional recipe. A few months back I was eating tea in a restaurant at Chankhar Pool. I saw that a little portion of Dim and Keema left unused after the Aluchop and Keemapuri maker had finished his preparations. It was then the idea poured into my fertile brain - why not make a delicious dish by using the leftover keema and dim.

Well one thing I wish to make clear that although I have named my recipe as Poncha Dim in Poncha Keema but in reality neither the eggs nor the force-meat used in preparing this dish are rotten. I just framed the name to make it attractive and super! To get back, I purchased all the leftovers for a few Rials (sorry, Takas) and brought to my home. I took a piece of onion and some green chilies and fried all the stuff at 100 degree centigrade temperature on my kerosene stove. After I finished preparing the Poncha Dim in Poncha Keema I served it to my house servant Abdul to taste. He profusely praised my dish calling it a superb food item. It was then I decided to file my recipe in this competition. The audiences present inside the studio congratulated Gedu Mia with a big and long applause. The anchor lady requested Gedu Mia to demonstrate the preparation of his Poncha Dim in Poncha Keema before the viewers. While Gedu Mia proceeded with his preparation, the anchor lady in a new edition of the old fashioned BOAC smile requested - Mr.Gedu, couldn't you please sing a song in between your cooking process? Oh, yes, Bhabi, how can I defy your request after all you are my partner's wife. But you know, I am not a singer and while we used to work in the Middle East, we had hardly got time to listen to music or sing a song. Still I will sing an old ad jingle which was very favorite to me but don't mind, it is in urdut

"Chaye chaji-ye

Kaun si Janab

Lipton hi to hai

Lipton diji-ye

Lipton liji-ye"

(Need tea

Which one Sir

Lipton of course available

Give Lipton

Have Lipton")

As the dish preparation was progressing suddenly the program was interrupted and a 'Breaking News" sign appeared on the TV screen - "Kitchen Minister's car hit by Unidentified Flying Object' (UFO), Minister escaped unhurt!" An announcement followed - Dear viewers, we are extremely sorry to inform that we are constrained to continue our cooking program any further as the Hon'ble Minister for Kitchen Affairs and one of our Share-holders together with his protocol team hurt in a road accident. We express our deepest regret as we cannot present the details of the accident because the Ministry of Information have issued a 'D-note' blocking dissemination of all information pertaining to the accident. After all this a state security matter because of the involvement of an UFO!

Meanwhile the next morning, the daily "Angle Times" which is regarded as a govt. gazette published a PID handout stating that the previous day's accident occurred not due to a collision of the Minister's car with an UFO but with a cow and a goat which were sitting on the highway. The accident took place when the cow that was taking rest on the highway felt seriously disturbed as the Kitchen Minister's motorcade was coming with a tremendous speed.

To encounter, the cow under reference tried to resist Minister's car with horns while the goat sitting on the same place ran fearlessly through the roadtthe Kitchen Minister was greatly ted up and instantly constituted an inter-ministry action committee to formulate a policy to punish all those people who would tie their cows with rope by the side of the highway and would be apprehended for bringing and allowing their goats to gaze, to sit by the side and on the highway.

The Minister strongly opined that this is one of the major reasons for highway accidents. Quoting the Kitchen Minister, the handout further said that the Minister seeks 'Dua' from the countrymen so that he might not fall into such terrible situation again in the future. The Kitchen Minister also wished a healthy and happy life and living for the country's cows and goats and expressed his firm hope that they (cows and goats) and their masters will abide by the highway traffic rules!

We are after all music species

Maswood Alam Khan

For those in America who don't own or drive a car, subway is their best mode of transportation. Subway, an underground railway system, is very popular in a megacity. As a visitor with a backpack you can buy a week's subway pass and move anywhere inside the city as many times as you wish. For anyone, especially for a tourist, New York subway is an excellent hauler for avoiding traffic congestion while roaming around places of interest. So is in Washington where subway is known as metro.

Life in America, however arduous and backbreaking, goes like clockwork. People don't have time to look back over their shoulders as they run for their work and their living. Many of them bomb in and out of the town every weekday commuting in subways. Commuting takes even an hour in super-fast subway trains in cases where a commuter chooses to live in a far flung bedroom community, or dormitory town in American jargon, a town where rentals are cheaper and from where he travels a long distance to work in a bigger city.

A few days back I was strolling on a sidewalk near the Civic Centre subway station of the city of San Francisco. A sweet tone of a violin alighted upon my ears. I paused near an octogenarian white American. Bowed down because of his old age the little bent man was playing a melody line executing rapid and difficult sequences of notes holding the violin with the left side of his jaw. I couldn't see his face as he was too stooped and too engrossed. A basket was before him where I could find some dollar bills. He would continue playing his violin in the expectation that a passerby would smile hearing his bonbon melody and throw a bill into the basket that he needs to eke out the last dreary phase of his existence.

The truth is that we humans are basically music species. Does music have a biological function? Has musicality mattered in the evolution of our species? Answers to these heavy questions are being fine-tuned by scientists. But, it is true that among many stress relievers like breathing exercises, meditation, guided imagery, self-hypnosis, yoga etc. music therapy is perhaps the best to melt our anxieties away.

Music entertains us in different manners. While listening to a melody one may muse the tone, as if, were rising and falling like a wave breaking on a beach or like a bird soaring into the sky and then diving down to catch a fish. Music enamours our souls. Music is a panacea that fights against our diseases and lifts our mood. Players and listeners of music are both blessed with numerous health benefits. When dealing with stress, the right music can actually lower our blood pressure, relax our body and calm our mind.

Not many Americans can really afford to relax and listen to music even on holidays when they have their other pending chores like laundry and shopping to do. For those who cannot afford an escape for recreation on weekends a charming piece of music wafting from a fiddler on the street is like a cool breeze punctuating their frenetic rush towards their office or home.

In my childhood the street musician that used to beguile me was a snake charmer playing his pipe and swinging it backward and forward before a cobra that used to raise its head and move in the rhythm of the music. Given the knowledge I gathered from my mother that a snake loves music I used to get lost listening to pipe music that also charmed the snake, unmindful of a scolding I would get from my mother for being late. Later, as I grew older, I learnt that a snake cannot hear sounds in air; it reacts only to vibrations. The snake I saw in my childhood moved its body only to keep an eye on the snake charmer's moving pipe.

Street musicians are quite visible near subway stations. Most of them are black Americans. In Bangladesh we come across snake charmers who play music to attract pity from people. Here too in America the street musicians evoke emotions among the onlookers who enjoy listening to their country songs and rock music. Most of such musicians are poor, no doubt. But, they are proud of their mastery over music. Playing music on the streets is their passion and a decent way of earning their bread and butter. They are not exactly beggars like those drunkards who spread out their hats on the streets and vexingly beg alms from passersby.

When it is a long commute, a book to read is the best companion to while away an hour or so inside the air-conditioned environment of a commuter train. A commuter, young or old, carries a book, a novel or any reading material, or a laptop to best utilize the idle time. Engrossed in reading or with works in his laptop a commuter can easily detach himself from the imprisonment of counting time having nothing else to do.

As an alternative to a book, as a filler of a vacuum, as a charming capsule to escape from the maddening crowd, and as a therapeutic instrument to relieve mental stress, a new craze is nowadays sweeping the whole world. iPod is the latest craze captivating the young and the old, the rich and the poor, and in America as well as in Bangladesh.

You see this tiny gismo with people everywhere---on the way to work, at the mall, at the gym. The iPod is seemingly everywhere, signature white cords dangling from the ears of riders on buses and trains, students at schools and people walking down the sidewalk; iPods are gaining popularity at an amazing speed.

iPods fit into our busy lifestyles. An iPod allows its user to mix his/her favourites---his/her favourite movies, songs and audio books---in full control of what goes in the memory. No longer has one to listen to only one type of music from one radio station when he is in the car. iPod itself senses its user's tastes by the number of repetitions of a song or a movie played and sets aside those very favourites so the next time the user randomly touches the dial the favourites pop up on the screen ready for entertainment. Not even a satellite radio can offer such variety at once. An iPod is a personalized entertainment tool---a fad that makes you stick out from everyone else.

The other day as I was loitering inside an Apple store in San Francisco fondling and playing with a lot of stuffs made by Apple Inc. I could not believe how an electronic gadget could be so smart and intelligent! Completely captivated by those feathery gismos and entirely forgetting that my friends back home could mock at my wearing those earphones I grabbed one sleek iPod branded "Classic" made by Apple that cost me a fortune.

With the iPod packed with hundreds of songs, movies and audio books and strapped to my waist-belt I am now a free man moving here and there and listening to whatever lifts me up. Not an iota of drag I had felt in my seven-hour flight from Auckland in California to Baltimore in Maryland spanning a distance of 3,700 kilometres from west most to east most coast of America as during the long-haul flight I kept my eyes closed and my ears plugged with earphones connected to my newly bought i-Pod while listening to Anton Lesser reading in his metallic voice the whole book: "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens.

A memorable travel

Shah Abdul Halim

(From previous issue)

My mother died on 17 May 2008 and I thought if I could meet Bihari Khala it would like meeting my mother. That was not to be as Allah decided otherwise. It was already 11.30 p.m. Brother Ashraf Ali and the driver were insisting that we must leave. Widows do not normally come in front of others unless waiting period is over. I told Moina to call the wife of Aftab. I am not her brother-in-law but a brother. So the widowed wife of Aftab came. I advised my sister to have patience and Allah will help. I gave some money to the daughters of Aftab which I took for Bihari Khala and handed over a token money to Moina to purchase sweets for the children. I then left with Brother Ashraf Ali although my mind remained with them.

Brother Ashraf Ali with cane in hand now looks older than 20 years before when he was in Dhaka. Only two months back his wife died. His daughters are all married and two sons are also employed, one a school teacher and the other working in an export oriented garment manufacturing industry. Both the sons are married and have children. He has built a moderately good house.

When he was leaving Dhaka, I asked him why you are leaving Dhaka where you are living since the days of your grandfather. Brother Ashraf Ali replied that his family has now got divided into three countries- India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and he wants to see his family settled in one city. The other reasons for which Ashraf Ali decided to leave Dhaka was that he thought he would not be able to get his daughters married to suitable boys being an Urdu speaking Bihari. I realized the depth of his sentiments. Indeed every father wants to see his daughters married to good boys. We therefore arranged to transfer his service from Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Bangladesh to Saudi Consulate Karachi.

In the absence of Bhavi, the daughter-in-law prepared good dishes. I offered Salatul Esha late and in the night Brother Ashraf Ali and I recollected our good old days.

On the morning of 16 July 2008 I moved to the Rest House Qasre Naz in the Garden Area of Karachi. Qasre Naz is the Rest House for Legislators of Pakistan. Others can stay in this Rest House if a request is made by a Legislator and in my case Senator Prof. Khurshid Ahmad did all that was required for my accommodation in Qasre Naz. I stayed in an air-condition room with two beds, big enough.

The first thing I decided to do on the morning of 16 July 2008 is to obtain Exit Permit from Special Branch, Karachi Police. Followed by Protocol Officer Brother Muhammad Raziuddin Khaled Mehanti I went to Special Branch, Karachi Police at 10.00 a.m. The Government Office in Karachi begins at 9.00.a.m. But I had to wait until 11.00 a.m. because the Police officer who signs the Exit Permit did not turn up. Police everywhere is trouble maker. The Islamabad Police for nothing killed my time during registration and now in Karachi they were asking unnecessary questions as to why I did not take the Exit Permit from Islamabad. Anyway after much persuasion by me and later by the Protocol Officer Brother Muhammad Raziuddin Khaled Mehanti I could obtain the Exit Permit to leave Karachi for Dhaka.

I then visited the Office of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Along with Protocol Officer Brother Muhammad Raziuddin Khaled Mehanti I reached PIA Office at about 12.00 a.m. for reconfirmation of the air-ticket. The PIA seems to be well organized and in no time they reconfirmed my ticket and now I have to travel to Dhaka on 18 July 2008.

I met Brother Muhammad Husain Mehanti, my host in Karachi, at about 1.00 p.m. and had a brief discussion. Subsequently I had three hours long meeting with him and other brothers in Karachi, 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. followed by dinner. He is in charge of the movement in Karachi.

The people working in the media section, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Saeed Usmani are very friendly and hospitable. I passed with them more than three hours from, from 1.30 p.m. to 4.45 p.m. and in between took lunch and offered Salatul Zahur. I found Saeed Usmani highly informed, analytical, bold enough to express views and a person not ready to give up independence. The people working in the media section are very critical. I sat with brothers of media section several times and we discussed situation in Pakistan and Bangladesh and U.S.-India agenda.

I went to offer Fatiha at the Mazar of Quaid-i-Azam and other leaders at about 5.00 p.m. I also visited the adjacent museum on Quaid-i-Azam. At the Mazar the illiterate and poor man keeping shoes of the visitors of the Mazar against the payment of Pakistani Rs.2.00 asked me whether it was proper to divide the country in 1971. I asked him if he realizes that I love and respect Jinnah and therefore have come offer Fatiha at his Mazar. Then I asked him who has killed innocent people in the Lal Masjid. He said it was President Pervez Musharraf and the army. I told him that this very army killed innocent people of Dhaka on the night of 25 March 1971 and therefore Bangladesh is now an independent country. He said he has now realized the matter.

The monument of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah is indeed a magnificent architectural work. It seems Pakistanis are proud of their leader. I have seen that evening huge number of people, men, women and children, visiting the mausoleum and offering Fatiha. Pakistanis have made a history in modern times by erecting such a huge structure at the Mazar site of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

I reached the Mazar of Abdullah Shah Gazi at Clifton at about 8.20 p.m. just before the Slatul Maghrib. He is considered to be one of the preachers of Islam in this part of the world. I went to the shrine and offered Fatiha. I observed that people are kissing the grave for Baraka- benefits and participating in acts which are considered Shirkh and Biddah in Islam. My reaction on visiting the shrine was that the Islamists must realize how little work they have done and how more yet to be done.

The next day on 17 July 2008 I visited the Quaid-i-Azam Academy at about 11.00 a.m. It is nearby the mausoleum of the Quaid-i-Azam. I had no scheduled meeting and I entered the room of its Director Manzoor Ali Khan, a Joint Secretary of the Government of Pakistan violating all protocols. He was kind enough to receive me. He was warm and hospitable and immediately started speaking Bengali saying he was student of Dhaka Shaheen School and Fauzderhat Cadet College, Chittagong.

Manzoor Ali Khan briefed me on the activities of Quaid-i-Azam Academy and its various publications. One of the issues we discussed is the on going research in Bangladesh by the academicians. I requested Manzoor Ali Khan to explore the possibility of forwarding several sets of Jinnah Papers, in all 15 volumes, edited by Z. H. Zaidi to Bangladesh through Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh. I also requested Manzoor Ali Khan that incase Jinnah Papers are forwarded to Bangladesh, Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh should make some publicity so that academicians and researchers in Bangladesh come to know about it. I also pointed out that a minimum of three sets of Jinnah Papers would be required and that should be handed over to Dhaka University, Public Library Dhaka and Asiatic Society Bangladesh by Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh to which he responded positively.

On coming back to Bangladesh through an email I requested Manzoor Ali Khan to explore the possibility allocating additional three sets of Jinnah Papers for Rajshahi University, Chittagong University and Jahangir Nagar University. During our discussion and later in email communication I requested Manzoor Ali Khan to let me know the cost of Jinnah Papers edited by Z.H. Zaidi [1-15 volumes] in Pakistani currency after deduction of commissions and how much extra Pakistani currency would be required if a set is forwarded to Bangladesh by post or courier. He replied that these 15 volumes would cost Pakistani Rs. 5370.00 and additional Pakistani Rs. 6845.00 for postage. In terms of U.S. Dollars it is 165.00 including postage.

The other thing I mentioned during my discussion with Manzoor Ali Khan was that I was happy to see the Mazar of Quaid-i-Azam and Iqbal Academy Pakistan and expressed my dismay at the pitiable condition of the Quaid-i-Azam Academy. I told Manzoor Ali Khan that Quaid-i-Azam Academy should be as big as Iqbal Academy Pakistan if not bigger. I told Manzoor Ali Khan that being a Joint Secretary of the Government of Pakistan he must be knowing how to convince government and fetch money for a noble cause and requested him to built up a gigantic infrastructure of the Quaid-i-Azam Academy during his tenure as Director of Quaid-i-Azam Academy which I believe an easy job for a bureaucrat but difficult for an academician. I persuaded him to do his part of the job and academicians will later accomplish their part of the job InshaAllah. Manzoor Ali Khan was very courteous and came down to the car porch to see me off.

Later I purchased a CD, a film on Quaid-i-Azam. The film "Jinnah - Akbar Ahmed Presents. A Dehlawi Films Production for Quaid Project Ltd.". It is a wonderful film and people should see it to refresh their memory.

I went to Islamic Research Academy Karachi at about 11.45 a.m. Prof. Ghafor Ahmad was there and he explained me the activities of the Academy. 12 persons work in the Academy. The Academy has its own two-storied building with floor space of 5400 square meters each floor. The Academy has a book selling center. The library of the Academy did not appear to me to have rich and varied collection of books. One of the drawbacks of the Academy is that it has no research fellow.

I went to meet the great humanitarian activist Abdul Sattar Edhi who has dedicated his whole life for the service of mankind at 12.30 p.m. I visited the Mental Hospital run by A. Sattar Edhi Foundation. The Hospital has a capacity to accommodate 200 indoor patients. A. Sattar Edhi Foundation has also established an air-condition mortuary, I was amazed to see, with the capacity to keep 250 dead bodies. Since Abdul Sattar Edhi was not in the Mental Hospital. I therefore rushed to the Karachi office of the A. Sattar Edhi Foundation. He was not there either and was busy with the journalist in another office of the Foundation. I talked to Muhammad Belal, in charge of the Karachi office of the A. Sattar Edhi Foundation. He wanted to take me to Abdul Sattar Edhi, but as I had a scheduled appointment I could not afford to wait further and requested Muhammad Belal to convey my message to Abdul Sattar Edhi that the people of Bangladesh loves him and need his leadership for philanthropic activities and requested Muhammad Belal to tell Abdul Sattar Edhi to open branch of A. Sattar Edhi Foundation in Bangladesh. People of Bangladesh are ready to extend him all assistances including financial assistance by the resourceful persons. Muhammad Belal presented me the autobiography of Abdul Sattar Edhi - 'A Mirror to the Blind'.

I went to meet Zaigham Mahmood Rizvi, Advisor of the State Bank of Pakistan at 1.30 p.m. It was decided that I shall take only tea at his residence. While on the way to his house he phoned Protocol Officer Brother Muhammad Raziuddin Khaled Mehanti to inform that we have to take lunch at his residence and on arrival he took two of us directly to the dinning table. Respected Bhavi within very short time prepared delicious lunch for us. During the lunch we discussed situation in our countries. Protocol Officer Brother Muhammad Raziuddin Khaled Mehanti had some problem with House Building Finance Corporation of which Zaigham Mahmood Rizvi is the Chairman. On my request to help Brother Muhammad Raziuddin Khaled Mehanti in every possible way if admissible under rules Zaigham Mahmood Rizvi solved the problem of loan rescheduling of Brother Muhammad Raziuddin Khaled Mehanti to his entire satisfaction.

Zaigham Mahmood Rizvi presented me a splendid book on calligraphy of ninety-nine name of Allah. The title of the book 'To God Belongs The Names Most Beautiful' authored by writer and painter Neyyar Ehsan Rashid and published jointly by Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University Islamabad and Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University Washington DC. The book costs U.S. Dollar 99.00.This is one of the good works our brothers in Pakistan have done. I promised to Brother Zaigham Mahmood Rizvi to make possible use of the book in Bangladesh. I presented him the Journal of the Bangladesh Institute of Islamic Thought.

(From previous issue)

Poem

The Heaven and The Hell

Sheikh Fazlul Karim

Who says heaven and hell

are far away?

Both heaven and hell, pious and devil

exist among human beings.

Being goaded by infatuation,

when our conscience ceased to function,

we have to be burnt by the hell-fire

of self-remorse.

When we get together

in the sacred bond of love and friendship,

the heaven comes before us

at our humble house.

Translated by M. Mizanur Rahman

Go with the wind

M. Mizanur Rahman

What's in your mind nobody knows.

Sometimes it becomes cold, sometimes hot.

Go with the wind, everywhere it blows

Know everywhere every people of any sort.

The colour of mind seems to be black or red.

You can read it from one's face.

Does it reflect like a shade?

That's creating agony in human race?

My dearest village

A.S.M Babor Ali

Oh my friend

Will you go to my village

Where Water-Lily dances upon the

Water of the tank

Trees ordained with

Beautiful coloured flowers

Grass hoppers play on the grass

Everyone is awaken on hearing the

Twittering songs of

The little birds.

My mother and aunt prepare

Various kinds of cakes in the winter.

Dew drops

On the grass blades

In the autumn

Smell of ripe paddy

Touches my heart

In the rainy season

Bees, bullerfles

And various flowers

Make the environment majestic.

Friend, oh my friend

Will you go there?

Will you go to

My dearest village?