You who loved to love and believed we can never give enough.

It wakes me every single night, thinking through the day
did you stop at any time – have doubts at any stage
and were you calm or were you numb or happy just to get it done
I’ve lived my life without regret until today.

You who love to love and believed we can never give enough.

I didn’t get to say goodbye, the day before the day
was trying to get to work on time, that’s why I turned away
and missed the most important thing, you ever tried to say
I’ve lived my life without regret until today…

And you who love to love and believed we can never give enough
and you who hoped that underneath, we all felt the same
that was until the day before the day
the day before the day
the day before the day
ooh, the day before the day
the day before the day
ooh, the day before the day
ooh, the day before the day
ooh, the day before the day

Artist: Dido
Album: Safe Trip Home
Track: The Day Before The Day

Happy New Year Everyone :)

আমি জানি আমি হয়ত একটু বাড়িয়ে বলছি, কিন্তু আসলেও ইদানীং নাটক দেখে অনেক মজা পাই। ‘হাউস-ফুল’ একটা নাটক, সেটার সাথে-তো আমি একদম গেঁথে আছি গত কদিন ধরে। ছেলে লেখাপড়া করছে না, মা এসে কান ধরে গদাম করে এক চড় বসালেন, দেখেই ভালো লাগায় মনটা ভরে যায় আমার, কারণ এই চড়টা আমিও খেয়েছি, মায়ের এই রণমুর্তী আমাকেও দেখতে হয়েছে। আমি বলছি না লেখাপড়া না করলে শিশুদের চড়-থাপ্পড় মারা উচিত, তবে শিশুদের চড় দেয়ার প্রচলন থাকলে নাটকেও সেটা দেখানোর সাহস থাকা উচিত। আমরা যেই ভাবে কথা বলি, এখনকার অনেক নাটক সেইভাবে কথা বলে। আমাদের ভাল লাগে। নাটক কেন সব সময় শুদ্ধ, পরিমেয়, উন্নত-রুচির হতে হবে, যেখানে আমাদের আশেপাশে তথাকথিত সেইসব উন্নত রুচির মানুষ মাত্র হাতে গোনা ক’জন এবং যারা জ্ঞানের কচকচানি ছাড়া আমাদের বিশেষ আর কিবা দিতে পেরেছেন! অর্থহীন কিছু, “এটা করো না, ওটা করো না, এটা সুস্থ, ওটা অসুস্থ, তোমরা বুঝ না, আমরা বুঝি, তোমরা জান না, আমরা জানি” এই মায়াজালে আটকে রাখতে চেয়েছেন আমাদের সারা-বেলা। সবাই অসভ্য হয়ে যাক এটা আমাদের কাম্য না, তবে সবাই স্বাভাবিক হউক, এটা আমরা অবশ্যই চাইতে পারি।

সব থেকে বিরক্ত লাগে গ্রামের নাটক দেখতে। গ্রামের নাটক মানেই একদল সহজ-সরল মানুষ, যারা খুব গুছিয়ে কোন একটা বিশেষ আঞ্চলিক ভাষায় টেনে টেনে বিরাট বিরাট সব ভাবের কথা বলেন। একজন থাকেন চেয়ারম্যান সাব, যিনি একাই দুষ্টের শিরোমণি লঙ্কার রাজা সেজে সবাইকে যন্ত্রণা করেন, উনার সাথে আবার সবসময় একটাই চামচা থাকে! একি ঘটনা, একি ব্যাপার, সেই ঘুরেফিরে। সেই দিনতো এখন আর নেই, এখন গ্রামের মানুষ মোবাইল ফোন দিয়ে কথা বলে দিন-রাত, অনলাইনে বসে বসে হয়তো এই ব্লগ-ও পড়ছে, কে জানে! গ্রামের মানুষ এখন শার্ট প্যান্ট পরে বাজারে যায়। একটা গ্রামে এখন শুধু একজনই শিক্ষিত ছেলে থাকে না, আরও অনেক বেশী থাকে। সবকিছু বদলাচ্ছে, আমাদের নাটক কেন বদলাবে না? অবশ্যই গ্রাম নিয়ে চমৎকার কিছু নাটক হয় মাঝে মাঝে, কিন্তু তার সংখ্যা খুবই কম আর না হয় সেসব আমার রাডারে ধরা পড়ে না। অনেকদিন আগে একটা নাটকে দেখেছিলাম গ্রামের একজন দরিদ্র স্কুল শিক্ষককে নিয়ে, যার আদতে কোন স্কুলই ছিল না। তিনি গাছের নিচে ছাত্র পড়াতেন আর স্বপ্ন দেখতেন তিনি একদিন একটা স্কুল গড়বেন। তার সেই স্বপ্ন কোনদিনও পূরণ হয়নি। স্কুল হয়েছিলো ঠিকই, কিন্তু তার শিক্ষাগত যোগ্যতার অভাব থাকার কারণে তিনি সেই স্কুলের শিক্ষক হতে পারেন নি। কাগজের সার্টিফিকেটের কাছে তার আন্তরিক ইচ্ছা হেরে গিয়েছিলো।

নাটক এমন হওয়া উচিত যেটা আমাদের ভাবতে শেখায়, যেটা আমাদের পাশ কাটিয়ে চলে যেতে শেখায় না। আমরা সাধারণ দর্শকরা যদি নাটকের সাথে নিজেদের জীবন সম্পৃক্ত করতে নাই পারি, তাহলে নাটকের সেই গোপন এবং মহান জ্ঞানের বানী (যেসব নাট্যকাররা আমাদের ঠেসে ধরে গেলাতে চান) কোনদিনও আমাদের কানে এসে ঢুকবে না। আমরাতো ভেবে নিবো, “হেহ! ধুরও এইটা তো নাটক, নাটকতো নাটকই, নাটকে কিনা বলে ছাগলে কিনা খায়”।

আমি আস্তে আস্তে শ্যাম্পু হয়ে যাচ্ছি। এক চামচ শ্যাম্পু দিয়ে যেমন এক বালতি ফেনা হয়, আমিও একটা কথা বলতে গিয়ে তেত্রিশটা কথা বলে ফেলি। শুধু একটা গান পোস্ট করতে এসেছিলাম, কত কিছু লিখে ফেললাম হুড়মুড় করে। যাই হোক, গানের কথায় আসি। ‘উপসংহার’ নাটকের গান। উপসংহার নাটকটা দেখে খুবই ভালো লেগেছিল। স্বাভাবিক এবং স্বার্থপর মানুষের গল্প নিয়ে নাটক। নাটক আমার খুব একটা মনে থাকে না, দেখি আবার ভুলে যাই। তবে এই নাটকের কাহিনী আমি এখনও মনে করতে পারি, নামটাও মনে আছে। নাটকের শেষে এই গানটা ছিল, “মুছে গেছে সব দেনা-পাওনার স্মৃতি”। গানটা আসলেও দারুণ নাকি নাটকের জন্যই গানটা দারুণ লেগেছিল জানি না। হুট করে শুনলে অতটা ভালো নাও লাগতে পারে। আজ অনেকদিন পর YouTube-এ গানটা পেলাম। ছেপে দিলাম।

দ্বিতীয় গানটা একটা বিখ্যাত লালনগীতি। দুটো গানই ‘লালন’ ব্যান্ডের।

Band: Lalon
Album: Biprotip
Track: Biprotip 2003

Download mp3, Download slow version (Biprotip 2007 mp3)

Band: Lalon
Album: Birotip
Track: Jaat Gelo Download Mp3

Democrats failings = Affairs and lying about them (Clinton, Mahoney, Spitzer, etc)
Results: At most, a failed marriage and another pissed off individual.

Republicans failings = Misuse of their elected official power (G W Bush, Palin, Stevens, etc)
Results: $300+ billion war, thousands of dead soldiers, oil companies making record profits with $4.00+ gasoline, etc.

Whom would you rather elect?

1. The average person has at least 5 dreams each night.

2. Most dreams are 5 to 20 minutes in duration.

3. Over a lifetime, you’ll spend approximately 6 years dreaming.

4. There are 5 stages of sleep and it’s only during the final stage (called ‘REM sleep’) that you dream.

5. Dreams are an expression of your real life thoughts, feelings, concerns and experiences.

6. Everybody dreams; even those people who can’t remember having any.

7. When you are snoring, you are not dreaming.

8. A full 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. The remaining number dream in full color

9. Toddlers do not dream about themselves until around the age of 3. From the same age, children typically have many more nightmares than adults do until age 7 or 8.

10. Believe it or not, your body is virtually paralyzed during your sleep – most likely to prevent your body from acting out aspects of your dreams.

11. We only dream of what we know. The evil killer in your latest dream may be the guy who pumped petrol in to your Dad’s car when you were just a little kid. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces through our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams.

12. People who become blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion.

13. If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply symbolic language. The unconscious mind tries to compare your dream to something else, which is similar.

14. Men are more likely to dream about other men than they are to dream about women; whereas women dream of women and men equally.

15. A particular dream that recurs and persists over a period of time is a strong indication that an important issue in your life needs to be resolved.

16. Whilst dreaming, some people realize that they’re dreaming and are able to control what happens in it; this is called ‘lucid dreaming’.

17. Before trying to sleep, spend a few minutes thinking about the good and bad points of your day; doing so clears your mind and improves the quality of your dreams.

18. Watching television or reading a book immediately before going to bed increases the likelihood of you dreaming about what you watched / read; such dreams tend not to have hidden meanings.

19. 5 minutes after waking up, people forget 50% of the content of their dreams; 10 minutes after waking up, 90% has been forgotten.

20. Questions you should try to answer about your dreams: who was in it?; where did it occur?; was it day or night?; what did you do?; did any images, items or symbols stand out from the others?; how did you feel?

21. Dreams about your teeth are the most common type of dream.

22. Types of teeth dreams include: teeth falling out; rotting teeth; swallowing teeth; spitting teeth.

23. Teeth dreams may arise as a result of: saying something you regret; hurting someone with your words; gossiping about others.

24. A more direct interpretation of teeth dreams is that you’re concerned about some aspect of your physical appearance (not necessarily your teeth).

25. Dreams that involve being naked in public is that you’ve been hiding something in your life from other people.

26. Wearing no clothes in a dream can also represent you not being prepared (or being prepared but not feeling so) for an upcoming situation such as an exam, presentation, date etc.

27. If you dream that you’re naked, but no-one in the dream realizes that you are, it means that whatever you’re hiding or are worried about is not an issue for other people.

28. If you dream that you’re naked, but you don’t care who sees you, it means that you’re feeling comfortable and relaxed about whatever happens to you in your life.

29. If you’re flying in a dream but feel scared whilst doing so, you may have confidence issues and not feel that you’re up to the challenges that you’re facing in your life.

30. If you have difficulty maintaining flight in your dream, someone or something in real life may be preventing you from having the level of control that you want to have.

31. By identifying what it is in your dream that stops your flight progressing, you can identify what it is in your life that stops you progressing.

32. Many people have reported having dreams in which they’re falling and can’t stop themselves from doing so.

33. Some say that dreams involving falling come at times of loneliness; having no-one to hold on to being represented by having nothing to hold on to.

34. Feeling inferior to other people in your life can also result in falling dreams.

35. It’s been said that you can die in your sleep if you don’t wake up from a falling dream before you hit the ground; however, there’s never been any evidence to support this.

36. Dreams involving drowning are very similar to dreams involving falling and are interpreted the same way.

37. It’s common to have a feeling of being chased in your dreams.

38. The typical chase dream scenario involves being pursued by someone or something that wants to hurt you, whilst you run away or hide.

39. Chase dreams represent the way you’ve been dealing with an issue in your life; running away from and avoiding something rather than confronting it.

40. If you don’t recognize the person pursuing you in a dream, it may be part of yourself (your own feelings of anger, fear, jealousy, stress) that you’re running away from.

41. A more direct interpretation of chase dreams is a literal fear of being physically attacked; this may be based on something that’s actually happened to you in the past.

42. Some people dream of either the death of themselves or the death of someone they know.

43. Dreams involving death may occur when you feel emotionally hurt or have a fear that someone or something is about to hurt you emotionally.

44. Death can arise in a dream to signify the end of a phase in your life and the beginning of new one.

45. If it’s you dieing in your dream, there’s likely something within you (typically a strong feeling you have) that you need to let go of so that you can move on with your life.

46. The death of yourself in a dream could also indicate a deep regret of something you’ve done.

47. If it’s someone else dieing in your dream, it may mean that your relationship with that person is suffering and needs attention.

48. The death of someone else in a dream could also signify either a fear of losing them or a desire for them to leave your life.

49. If you experience a disaster in your dreams and find that you’re dealing with it alone, it can indicate that you’re feeling lonely in your real life.

[Source: http://www.universetoday.com/2007/07/25/the-end-of-everything]

When things in your life seem almost to much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar……and the beer.

A Professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the Professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The Professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “Yes.”

The Professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the Professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things – your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else – the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first”, he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house, and fix the disposal. Take care of
the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

When he had finished, there was a profound silence. Then one of the students raised her hand and with a puzzled expression, inquired what the beer represented.

The Professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.”

Ei holo obostha. Not’e gach ti muralo, amar golpo furalo.

Ei gaan ta “Bong Connection” movier gaan, directed by Anjan Dutta.

Music: Anjan Dutta
Artist: Shan
Download

Amar prothom dekha bristir jol’e
Vashiyechi vela khelar chole
Shei jol geche mishe kon nodi te
Geche hariye kon shagore
Majhi re.. o majhi re.. dekhecho ki tumi tarey?
Majhi re.. o majhi re.. dekhecho ki tumi tarey?
Nouko amar, chele belar, kagozer ..kagozer

Amar prothom pawa a’kar khata
Amar prothom lekha kobita
Shei chele belar shopno hazar
Geche hariye kon shagor’e
Majhi re.. o majhi re.. dekhecho ki tumi tarey?
Majhi re.. o majhi re.. dekhecho ki tumi tarey?
Nouko amar, chele belar, kagozer ..kagozer

[hindi part (beyond my understanding) :p]

Ekta zholshe jawa bikel belay
Ekta lalche shagorer joley
Jay veshe jay.. shopno bozhai
Nouko amar kagozer
Majhi re.. o majhi re.. dekha hain keya, tumne usey?
Majhi re.. o majhi re.. dekha hain keya, tumne usey?

[hindi]

(‘Enola Gay’ was the plane that carried ‘Little Boy’. It was named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of Paul Tibbets)

I have done some research on him today and found out that most of the Americans consider him as a hero and are actually proud of him. One patriot even declares in a forum thread that a single American life is worth more than the entire population of Japan and by murdering thousands of innocent children and their mothers in Hiroshima, this guy saved many US soldiers’ lives and took the revenge on Japan for killing 3,000 American soldiers in Pearl Harbor.

I don’t know what to say, ‘General’. I know you were just doing your duty and you didn’t make the call, many others were involved. But I still feel disgraceful for what you did. I wish I could salute you and praise you for murdering 140,000 of my kind.

“I made one great mistake in my life — when I signed a letter to President [Franklin D. Roosevelt] recommending that an atomic bomb be made” – Albert Einstein. [Rabindranath Tagore also signed that letter]

Song: ‘Bhabcho Tumi’
Artist: Lopa Mudra
Album: Mushkil Ahsan
Download

Outlandish is a Denmark based hip-hop band influenced by Moroccan, Pakistani, Latin American music. On the other hand, Sami Yusuf is a British songwriter and singer. I believe this is their first production together. I have viewed few other Sami Yusuf videos (he mostly sings in Arabic and Persian; since he is originally from Iran). Anyway, I won’t say “enjoy this video”. Nothing to enjoy here, that’s just what’s happening around the world. I don’t think you have to be a Muslim to understand this song. This song is about all the people out there whoever are suffering from injustice. This video makes me sad and angry (knowing the fact that, I can’t do anything about the situation other than just hoping for a better one).

More info: wherethehellismatt.com