Perspectives | sevitcepsreP

by - Don and Saria
Published in the Daily Star October 7, 2007



We enter into the realm of two friends, who, whilst on a stroll across the park on a quiet autumn evening, land on a discussion about the existence of good and evil, in other words, the necessity of oppositions and contention. Audy, who is a student of Theosophy, discusses at length to explain keywords such as 'good', and 'bad', 'right' and 'wrong' to the frustrated and agitated Maya, an Anthropology major.

Audy: So in your opinion this hype that the Sky culture has been creating is responsible for the deterioration of our society?

Maya: Yes! I mean look at what they are airing on TV nowadays! They are spoiling us, especially the younger generations. These days we spend more time in front of the TV instead of studying or doing any other productive work. Teenagers are too busy changing their hairstyles and buying westernized clothes to even take a second look at their own culture and heritage. Drugs, sex, violence these are what interests them now thanks to shows such as 'Baywatch' and 'Sex and the City'. Why is it that these young people have made it their life target to be like the Americans instead of embracing their own roots? Is this what our rich culture is losing to? The battle is waging on with no soldiers at our side, and also, this stands against everything our traditional ties have ever stood for!

Audy: Well, to tell you the truth you seem to have many misconceptions concerning the Western media. I mean you say these things are bad and these things are good. So tell me, what criterion does anything have to fulfill to be labeled as 'good' and 'bad'?

Maya: Anything which shows an ounce of disrespect towards our society, towards our elders and is harmful to anyone; that is 'bad'.

Audy: So say, a mosquito bites you, and you kill it that's termed as a 'bad' deed?

Maya: Well, no not that

Audy: Then it is alright on the mosquito's part or the street dog's part to bite us?

Maya: I guess, but

Audy: So you think we should give our parents a piece of our minds when they ground us or hit them back when they hit us? Would that be 'good'?

Maya: But it's not right to insult our parents!

Audy: Then tell me what is 'right' and what is 'wrong'?

Maya: 'Right' is anything which is good and proper; anything that is in conformity with truth, reason, fact and standard principles!

Audy: You just said a 'right' deed is in collaboration with standard principles - nearly all the middle and upper class families in our country have got maid-servants in their homes, right?

Maya: Yes, but what does that have to do with

Audy: Listen, they don't hurt these servants, right? Instead, they try to help them since these poor girls are usually tortured in villages and there is a large scarcity of food in those places, right?

Maya: Right!

Audy: So now you are agreeing that it is 'right' to keep these poor girls as servants, or should I say as “slaves of the 21st century”? If the affluent class truly wants to help them, they should provide these girls with schooling or some form of education, rather than keeping them as domestic labor.

Maya: True that, but at least we are better than the Americans; we don't only see females as 'sex objects'!

Audy: Okay, since our culture and society is so important to you, why is it that the majority of our males disgrace our own women? Rape them? Hate our women? If a woman is unable to bear children, her husband should be kind, loving, caring and protective towards her, not shun her or take up mistresses! Why are women being discriminated as 'useless creatures' and being forced to get married at such early ages?

Maya: Uh huh, I'm beginning to get your drift!

Audy: Finally! I think 'right' might be a part of 'good' but what is 'right' might not always be 'good' and vice versa.

Maya: Care to elaborate, genius?

Audy: You just lend your ears, Watson! See, it might be 'right' for you to buy a shoe made of crocodile skin, but it is not 'right' to kill these animals since that will result in their extinction. Similarly, an alcoholic may feel 'good' drinking alcohol everyday, but it is definitely not 'good' for his health!

Maya: I can't say I disagree with you but I can see some questionable issues in there. In fact, I still think some of your words are not true.

Audy: Define 'truth' then.

Maya: Anything which you identify and observe making use of your five senses.

Audy: So you are saying that anything tangible is true? You are saying that what one sees as black is in reality black, and what one sees as white is in truth, white? Thus, when you see a color as black, you know that in 'truth' it is black? And also, that which you observe as round is also round right?

Maya: Yes!

Audy: [Smirks] I was surfing through TV that day when my eye caught an interesting documentary which showed this rare species of bugs which see everything in the form of either a square or an octagonal, and the only color they see is blue. So what you see as black, the bug sees as blue.

And say, an alien comes on Earth whose eyesight is far more biologically advanced than that of the humans, and he sees colors which are undetected by the human eye; he will see that same object differently as well. So what you think you see as black will be blue for the bug and some other color for the alien. So now tell me, who is telling the truth? Is it black, blue or something else? What then, is the truth?

Maya: Okay, alright I get it! I agree with all that you have just said.

Audy: In conclusion, due to the lack of a measuring scale for 'right' and 'wrong', 'good' and 'bad', and 'truth' and 'false', you just can't assume things. What is 'bad' for you may just be 'good' for the Americans and you just cannot come to the verdict that they or their media is 'bad'. It is our fault if we only take all the 'bad' things from their media and ignore the 'good' like on CNN or Discovery.

Maya: Hmm, looks like you got me there.

Audy: [Laughs] All in an evening's stroll!

The writers are MSJ students of ULAB.

12 Semesters of Love

( published in the Daily Star - August 12, 2007)

“Heaven isn't hard to find....all you need to do is look carefully”

3rd semester
I sat there in the English class, looking at the new girl. She was paying attention to what the teacher was saying while for the first time in my life, my attention was not towards the class. I stared at her long, silky ebony hair which contrasted with her round, creamy fair skin. Her face was like one of those children that when you see them, you feel like pulling their cheeks. I felt the same for her. The eyes were black, nothing mesmerizing, but the kajol that surrounded them, made me stop blinking. Below the kajol guarded circles, a few pink pimples rested on her cheeks like cherries resting on a vanilla cake. The glossy Lakme lips were glistering under the bright tube lights, the suburbs of her hair floating under the noisy fan, her eyes glued at the projector screenings while my eyes were super-glued towards her. My heart was beating so loud that I bet even the teacher could hear it. Is there anything called love at first sight? Or was it just a physical attraction because she was so pretty? I wished if I could talk to her, I wished if she was mine, I wished if I could sit so close to her that I could smell her natural fragrance….but from the first day I knew she could never be mine, never.

6th Semester
So you knew her? Why wouldn't you? She was the type of girl everyone knew, everyone loved and everyone wanted to be friends with. She was popular as she did a lot of clubs, for her smart but yet decent dresses and for her trademark Hugo Boss. She was like a storm in the university; she walked past the corridor and the whole building shook. Comparing me and her is like comparing two parallel lines in geometry. I was the studious scholarship holder type and she was the “lady in red” type. People loved me only when they needed me, for finding books in the library and for helping them with those bogus GED assignments and presentations. But she knew me; in fact I became her so called “Best Friend” after I began to help her with the tiresome World History course. I used to go to her house and always wished that it was empty. I sat beside her, taught her and when occasionally she would touch my hand, my blood would boil, my senses would evaporate, and my eyes would blur. But I knew I could never tell her about my true feelings, I could never be her man, but I wished, I just wished if she was mine.

9th Semester
One day she came running to me and hugged me. She looked at me deeply, as if she could see the inside of me through my sad eyes. As if she could feel that every cell of my body wanted her, my skin wanted her touch and that she was like blood in my veins and soul in my heart. When I was dying to hear the three sweet words, instead, shattering my dreams she said that Masum had proposed her to be his girlfriend and she said “Yes”.

The 9th semester was the only time I got a 'B' in a course. I went through the usual things that all heart-broken guys go through- couldn't eat, sleep or study...you know how it goes. Well, her affair with that idiot didn't last that long. She came to my house one day, hugged me and cried wildly. I became active in soothing her soul after the breakup. Followed by a comedy movie, one pack of Pringles and a Diet Pepsi, I dropped her home in her favorite three wheeled vehicle. In front of her door, she kissed on my cheeks and said “Thanks, you're my bestest best friend, you're my sweet Jaanu!” She was staring at me for a long time. But I could never tell her that I don't want to be just friends, I wanted to be her everything. I wanted to be like water in the soil; no matter how or where you dig, water would always come up.

Graduation Day
I guess she was happier then me when I was awarded the gold medal. I was acting cheerful, but was terribly sad inside. I knew I can't see her everyday from now on. I had become a sea-shell, very hard from outside but nothing more than a soft sponge inside. But if you place the opening of any silent shell close to your ears, you will find the roaring sound of the sea and its waves, which was like the sound of my broken heart. The trips to Coffee World, the lunches at Boomers and the rooming-arounds at Rifles Square; all these will eventually shrink. It will be summer in my life, when she was the only cool breeze I ever had. I looked at her and thought of asking her to love me, to marry me, to be the light of my blind mind…but I couldn't. I knew she loved me like a friend, and she could never be mine.

The Beginning of an End
I wasn't surprised when finally she decided to get married to a guy named Hasib. During the reception, I did all the hospitality that her “Best Friend” was supposed to do. I cheered up the guests, cracked jokes with Hasib's friends and sometimes quickly paced outside the hall and went near the waters of the Shenakunjo. I had always dreamt of marrying her at that place, but the funny part was that she was getting married, like in my dreams; it's just that the lucky man wasn't me. I let the liquid salt from my eyes mix with the waters of Shenakunjo. She was all that I wanted, she was all that I needed and she was my everything…everything. And when she waved me goodbye through the windows of the flower decorated car, she was finally gone, gone forever, like a runaway train that never comes back, wrong way on a one way track.

What is love if it's unspoken?
Time went on but suddenly came to a stop on the day I got the news of her leaving Bangladesh. I went to the airport, and stood at a distance, watching her in silence. She looked content with her life, still had the compelling personality that she always had. She saw me, came to me and we talked for a while. She didn't pay me much attention and I knew I was nothing important anymore, and it was alright as I was thinking about all the time I had spent with her - the first day, the first smile, the first touch and the final goodbye. Just before leaving, she handed me a dairy of hers from our university days. She left. I sat on one of those airport benches and with blurry eyes, I opened the diary.

“I look into his eyes, wow! What decency he has, what purity and what a charming personality. I love the way he gives those hidden smiles whenever he sees me, the way he gets nervous when I touch his hand and in the sweet way he asks me “Ai lunch korso?” He is so cute!! And such a good student!! Without his love and care, I would've failed in all my courses. I think I love him. No! I'm sure I love him. I think about him all the time. But I know he would never love me, he doesn't notice me like that. He only loves his books, his teachers, the damn library and thinks about his career and dreams only about going to the US with scholarship. I wish if he dreamt about me at least for once. But I still love him, I want him…I wish if he only understood, if he only proposed me. I wish he was mine...”

The writer is a 3rd year student of ULAB, and has dedicated the '12 Semesters of Love' to Star Campus on their 12 months of success!

Rendezvous with Dr. Anis

(published @ Daily Star - July 22, 2007)

Dr. Kazi Anis Ahmed is the Director of Academic Affairs at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). He was born in Dhaka and educated in St. Joseph High School and Notre Dame College. He completed higher studies at Brown, Washington and New York universities in America, receiving a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the last place.
G. Sumdany Don and Feeda Hasan Shahed talks to Dr. Anis about ULAB, its vision and its future.

Dr. Anis believes the reason that the board of directors of Gemcon Group, who also happen to be the members of the board of governors of ULAB, came forward in the higher education sector of this country mainly for their personal passion for education and culture and also because of their strong desire to give back to society.

Dr. Anis cleared out one interesting misunderstanding. Some of us think that the western universities all have huge open spaces and playgrounds whereas the private universities of Dhaka are all confined in buildings. He explained from his personal experience of being a city student of PhD in New York for seven years, and other great cities of the world, that there are 2 kinds of campuses. In abroad, when we talk about a campus we often talk about the rural or at least the suburban setting where it is possible to have huge cracks of land for setting up an idealistic campus. But the truth is, if someone goes to New York or London, he or she will find city universities often do not have any campus! The overwhelming majority of private universities and collages in New York and London are confined in buildings, just like here at Dhaka. So people who have the expectation that Dhaka city should have huge green campuses are confusing the two models.

On asking about the name Liberal Arts, Dr Anis explained that liberal arts is a very inclusive concept and has its roots in classical education in the renaissance of the Roman period. It was called Artis Liberalis, which means it was the education of liberated and free people whereas the people who were not elite or free, got guild education in the crafts and trades. In modern times this concept of the liberal arts is most developed in America. ULAB has heavily modified this concept for Bangladesh's social realities. What it means is an education in which the students are certainly given the technical and major skills to succeed in today's highly computerized and global economy, but are also given some fundamental skills that will stand the test of time and some foundations in real intellectual practice. The main goal is to enable more than learning in a particular subject, the ability to keep on learning. He gave examples of the computer studies subject, which did not exist as a subject 20 years ago, and plenty of people from other fields have later gone into it and succeeded, but we don't know what other fields are coming in the next 20 years. So somebody who has the ability to learn is more competitive than someone who has just learned one thing and cant learn anything else.

Dr. Anis also shared his views about the biggest problem that nearly all the private universities of Bangladesh are facing the level of English. He is disappointed over the fact that the students who are graduating HSC these days have a foundation in English far below what is needed at any university. It is actually not possible to fix this with just one year of remedial English what has not been done right in 12 years of schooling. However, ULAB has instituted a one year long Basic English program for incoming undergraduates and place them in courses according to their level.

One unique thing about ULAB is the number of clubs it holds. Currently it has 14 different clubs, one of the highest among all the private universities of Bangladesh. It is also known that clubs and extra curricular activities are mandatory for all ULAB students and marks are also allocated on club performance. Dr. Anis explained that he sees co-curricular activities as an integral part of the education that a young man or woman receives at this point of their lives.

ULAB, undoubtedly, is doing a great job in creating future leaders. Dr. Anis looked very positive and has an optimistic view of the future. Ten years from now, he wants to see the ULAB graduates as free, independent and personally fulfilled individuals. In professional and real terms somebody might be an executive of a global company posted in Toronto or Sydney, somebody could be running their own business or an NGO in Bangladesh, and somebody could be a teacher. He would love to see someone becoming an educated farmer! He hopes that someone will go back to their home district and run an organic garden, they would teach at the local school and they would be the happiest citizens of all. He concludes by saying this with a smile, “There is no single destiny for ULAB students, but we hope they will all live by the principles of freedom, creativity and service.”

G. Sumdany Don is a 3rd year student, Dept. of Media Studies and Journalism, ULAB. Feeda Hasan Shahed is one of the members of the Star Campus team.

Rockers @ ULAB

( Daily Star - July 22, 2007)

Hey all, here is the update on the Rockers at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).

Tasneem Hasaine Ami and Eashir Arafat are both third semester BBA students of the university and are the members of the uprising underground band called 'U-Turn.' With Ami's melodious keyboard and vocal skills and Eashir's bass, U- Turn was able to reach the second round of the D Rockstars this year. The farsighted band was also featured in the mixed album Adhar and will soon start recording their first album! Inspired by Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Deep purple and Metallica, the band can be seen performing at different underground concerts, private universities, schools and colleges.

Alok Kumar is an ambitious Media student of ULAB who also happens to be the drummer of a relatively new underground band named 'Fear.' Alok has been playing the instrument from January 2005, and dreams of becoming the best drummer in Bangladesh. The mixed album Adhar 2, which was released in January this year, features Fear including Alok's awe-inspiring drum beats. Though Fear is a new band, it is said to have nearly 30 underground performances. Metallica, Dream Theater and Scorpions are the band's inspirations, while Alok's personal gurus happen to be Mike Portnoy and Kenny Aronoff.

Apart from the undergrounders who someday hope to make it big, there are others like Jonathan Anindya Das and Hassan Nabil who play guitar to explore their inner musical talents and identities. They both are third semester Media students of ULAB. Unlike others, they are self-trained, have no involvements with any bands and are highly influenced by Blues and Jazz! However they have performed at several programs, mostly solos. When asked about music, Nabil simply replied, “Satisfying Thirst....Nothing Else.”

Music might satisfy someone's thirst, it might be just a hobby, or as something that someone does for a living. But for all these rockers of ULAB, it's the music that keeps them alive. What more to say about this ULABians? Guys, just KEEP ON ROCKING!!

(G. Sumdany Don is a 9th Semester student of ULAB and is the President of the ULAB Film Club)