:: Tanvier's Time Machine ::

It's Eid Ul Adha in Bangladesh. Eid Mubarak to all. I've got a goat in my toilet and a cow downstairs. This is the best Eid ever!! Then goat starts crying if it doesnt see anyone, so i had to put it in the toilet. I've left the toilet door open so that it can see me while I try to sleep in my room. It's the first day of 2007. Hope it goes well.

I have found this video on google video. This video may not be suitable for people with weak heart. In the video, Saddam is shown as defiant as ever on the gallow, contray to what the Iraqi government officials said. He was hanged while declaring Shahadah.

We bought a cow today for the Qurbani. That’s not what this blog is about. It’s about how we brought the cow from the cattle market to our house. I’ll remember this day for rest of my life. Let’s jump into the journey from cattle market to home then.. Me, my dad, Bindi, Towhid and Nuru went to cattle market this evening. We bought the cow from the cattle market of sector 6, Uttara. After we bought the cow, while we were waiting to end the formalities of the buying, the cow scared a boy and the boy dropped about 50 notes of 500 taka. They were all in the mud. We were all laughing at him, little did we know about our imminent future! We had to cross a dual carriageway to get home. The dual carriageway is about a mile away from our house. We managed to cross the dual carriageway with some difficulties, as soon as we went on the pavement, a taxi cab beeped at the cow and the cow went erratic. It pulled all three of its strings and ran away from us. In the process it dragged Bindi to the gr...

It's Eid - Ul - Adha in UK. Eid Mubarak to all my friends and family in UK and the Arab world. Woke up with the news of the death of Saddam Hussein. While I fully understand that Saddam Hussein deserved the punishment, I can't but stop thinking about the western leaders who had been backing him throughout his brutal rule in Iraq. They have escaped without even their names being mentioned in the court proceedings. Saddam got the punishment he deserved, but I don't think the court proceedings were fair enough. Anyway, it's not my call. I am waiting to see how the Iraqi people react to this execution. What really surprises me is that, how Saddam kept the integrity of Iraq. The Shia , Sunni and Kurdish people all lived more or less harmoniously under his regime. Now the US led Iraqi government is failing to stabilize the country. Another thing is, most of Saddam's alleged crimes were done when Saddam was a friend of the West. Why didn't they say anything then? The...

Bangladesh was 3rd in the corrupted countries index published by Transparency International in 2006. Corruption in Bangladesh is deeply rooted in the development and administrative works undertaken by the Bangladesh government. The main incentive for the politicians to get engaged in the development of infrastructure of Bangladesh lies within the tender culture. From the student activists to the top level politicians, everyone gets a fair share of money from the administrative and development works undertaken by the government. The other day, I was speaking to some of the government officials who have served at the Bangladesh government secretariat. One of them told me that, whenever a tender is called, the corrupted officials and the politicians keep at least 30% of the money in their own pocket. Therefore, the contractors do substandard work due to lack of fund. We see that, every year in rainy season how the holes become evident in the streets due to the lack of proper ingredients i...

Merry Christmas to all my celebrating folks in UK. I went to the wedding of my mum's cousin in Mirpur, Dhaka. I haven't been to a wedding in Bangladesh in a long time, so it was a welcome experience. Had a good time with all the family members. And met some newfound family members too!!

Awami League led14-alliance have agreed to participate in the election with the current voter list. This is amazing to the people who know the Awami League style of politics. I am really surprised!! I am becoming a fan of Awami League now. They have learnt a lot since the last election! The people of Bangladesh now know that whoever rules the country is going to be corrupted, and they accept it. Awami League now also understand that people aren't so much bothered who rules the country as long as they can feel safe when they go to bed after hard work of the day. I congratulate 14-alliance for making such a wise decision. In future Awami League should learn from this lesson and avoid violent protests in the street. It will do them a world of good. People don't like hortals (strike) anymore. Another encouraging news is, Bangladesh Bank today forecast the economy would grow 7.1 percent in the current fiscal year through June, a record projection for Bangladesh. I think this is a re...

Bangladesh politics has again dived in uncertainty as the 14-party alliance has refused to hand in their nominations without the correction of voter list. I have never been an ardent supporter of Awami League lead 14-party alliance. But I agree with them on this issue. Reason being, for the first time in my lifetime I have seen Awami League coming up with a constructive idea which they are not following up with street violence and hortals (strike). The voter list of Bangladesh is largely inaccurate. It has been inaccurate since the inception of the country. The country doesn’t have an ID card system like Pakistan or India. Bangladeshi citizens aren’t issued with social security numbers either. So it’s really hard to keep count of the actual population. Moreover, 60% of the population are illiterate, which doesn’t help when it comes to census. Most of the population don’t even understand the need of a census. Some of the rural areas are always left untouched during the census. I have ne...

The Eid Ul Adha will be observed on 1st January 2007 in Bangladesh. The first day of the gregorian calender is Eid!! I think the New Years Eve is going to be a bit different in Bangladesh this year. In UK the Eid Ul Adha will be observed on 30 December 2006 Inshallah. It's the festive season in the Christian world. I have been missing the festive season as I am now in Bangladesh. I wish all my colleagues and friends in UK a very merry christmas and a very happy new year. Specially to Fai Wan who starts new job on 5th January!! All the best to you Fai! You have been an outstanding colleague at work, and it was an absolute pleasure to work with you!! New year and new job, I bet you couldn't wish for more!!! Ferdous apu, Pervez bhai, Brishti and Farabih came to our house today. It was really nice to see them after a long time. Ferdous apu hasn't changed a bit. Still really fun to talk to. My mum's cousin's wedding is going to take place on 25 December Inshallah. My mum...

I watched " Where's the Party Yaar? "this afternoon on TV. The film is about an Indian guy who goes to USA as a student. Then he gets into all sorts of trouble including falling in love with an American born and raised Indian girl. Obviously, being a FOB (Fresh off the boat) he was prejudiced everywhere he went. In the mean time he had to leave his uncle's house as he didn't get on with his cousin who was also raised in America. The film shows the culture of the American Desis. And how someone from India tries to get on with the US culture. The whole film was shot in the USA apart from few minutes at the beginning. Most of the crew were American born South-Asians so the film had a flavour of originality. The whole film was in English. I think the film had a very good touch of reality which matched my personal experience in UK to some extent. I would ask all the students who are planning to go to a western country from South-Asian countries to watch the movie. The ...

Today I went to Dhaka University to meet my friend Miraz Ahmed. With him, I decided to go to Old Dhaka by rickshaw. It didn’t take long to get to Old Dhaka. We first went to Agamasi Lane and got caught up in huge rickshaw traffic. The traffic was literally static so we had to leave the rickshaw and take a walk to through the lanes of Old Dhaka. Now let me describe Old Dhaka. The widths of roads have been same for last 200 years, but the population of Old Dhaka have increased tenfold. Therefore, there is always a traffic chaos. Rickshaws are the only means of travelling through the narrow roads there. No traffic lights, no signal, no presence of traffic law. Everyone tries to squeeze through the lanes however they can. We first went to Bongshal, then went to Nababpur Road. We decided to taste Falooda at the Star Hotel. It was delicious. We then walked around Old Dhaka for an hour. To me, the Old Dhaka looked like a filthy place. Rubbishes were scattered everywhere, non-existence of side...

Me and Towhid went to watch cricket match between Bangladesh V. Zimbabwe at Mirpur Shere-E-Bangla stadium today. Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 3 wickets as usual. I was disappointed at the performance of the Bangladeshi top order batsmen, though. In the evening watched the Manchester derby between Man U and Man City. Man U won 3-1. I was still disappointed at the United’s performance. City only lost because of their poor defending. After watching the game, I managed to catch the move ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ on Star Movies. The movie was good. Like the lips of AJ.

Bought tickets for Bangladesh V. Zimbabwe 5th One Day International Cricket match yesterday. After that went to Baridhara, then went to Dhanmondi. Me, Rajib, Rana, Salim and Sabbir were there. Went to Gulshan today. Just did some window shopping with Sabbir, Salim and Rana. Looking forward to the ODI cricket match tomorrow. Me and Towhid are going to watch the match Inshallah.

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Went to Dhaka International Trade Fair 2006 with Sabbir, Rajib and Salim. It was quite a hectic day. DITF 2006 is a huge initiative by Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau which is held in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka. Lot of foreign and local companies took part in the fair. The facilities in the fair was okay. I think there are still scopes for improvement to reduce the dust level in the fair. Also the Entry, exit, toilets and the mosque should be signposted in a better way. It was a good experience overall.

England have lost the second Ashes test in adelaide. The way they lost the match hurts me a lot. For first two days of the test England was hoping to win, then when they couldn't get OZs out in the first innings, they were hoping to manage at least a draw. But a collapse in the 2nd innings saw them lose the test. I know that Trescothik and Vaughan are out of team but still this kind of demoralising loss will not help England keeping the Ashes. Now,I don't think England have a chance to keep Ashes this year. Apart from Bell and Pietersen, most of the English batsmen are playing carelessly, and the bowlers can't bowl at all. Hoggard isn't the best of the pace bowlers, Harmison forgot how to bowl, Giles can't spin so Flintoff is taking most of the pressure with the ball. I think Panesar should be included in the team, Giles has never been a test standard bowler. Even Bangladeshi first class tournaments have better bowler than him. On the other hand, Bangladesh beat Zim...

Last few days have been monotonous to say the least. I spent the days just watching movies and cricket on TV thanks to our beloved polititians of Bangladesh. The two day long blockade has been called off, so I am hoping for a more eventful day tomorrow Inshallah. I watched few movies along with Ashes and Bangladesh V. Zimbabwe cricket series over last few days. I watched nearly all of the James Bond movies ever produced. I also watched Alexander . Thought the movie was bullshit. I also bought all of 4 Harry Potter movies, and tried to watch them all.