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We miss you, Mintu Bhai
Anisur Rahman
Mintu Bhai, the nickname for late journalist Enayetullah Khan, sailed the boat of New Age with mostly young journalists in 2003. I got the opportunity of being a part of that journey at the very beginning thanks to Badrul Bhai, Kabir Bhai and Farid Bhai, who made the way for me.
I had a fascination to come in touch with a journalist of great stature like Mintu Bhai as he was the most revered journalist in Bangladesh and noted columnist frequently quoted in the foreign media. Before joining New Age, I felt greatly attracted to Mintu Bhai for his smart and impressive presence on television.
Mintu Bhai was very cool. He used to be in his office mostly by around 9:00 am. We all his editorial subordinates generally came to the office at around 1:00pm. He would finish his works and often left message, if necessary, for us in case of his absence.
Sometimes coming out of his office room exhausted, he said, 'Naa Aar Parchhina, Jaanta berie gelo', [No, I cannot continue, I have been bored enough]. Then we could realise that Mintu Bhai is very tired after editing a number of copies for editorial pages or for features or news items.
If he needed to call some one, he used to do it through intercom in such way, 'I am Enayetullah Khan saying.... Or 'Ke aache ekhane?' [Who is over there?] He used to look for someone in most cases for his troubles with his computer. Very often he would face difficulties in finding a file on his PC. We, notably Munir Bhai, Hasan Bhai, Sarker Bhai, Marcel Bhai. Robab Bhai or I myself stayed ready for his call. After recovering the file, he offered an innocent smile and said Ki kore holo? -- How could it happen?
On many days, he stood on the concrete staircase between ground and first floors of the office building, and after a look over all sides of the ground floor, he said, Kabir Kothay? Or Almer Kothay? Or Farid Kothay? [Where is Kabir? Or Almer? Or Farid? [now editor, deputy editor and news editor respectively of New Age]. We enjoyed his royal style of standing on the staircase.
The first floor is for features and editorial sections. Except few editorial staff, most of people sitting on the first floor were very young. The younger staff made cheerful noise or sound. Mintu Bhai pulling his head from computer or from his table would want to know eagerly saying Ki holo? [What happened?] Sometimes, he joined his young colleagues, some still in their teens, to share the cheers.
We, young colleagues, liked to talk about his fashion consciousness. We envied him. We envied his simplicity with fascinating dress-up. He looked like a fashion model while he is dressed in punjabi.
He had the courage to accept all criticism about him. Once, a reader sent a letter for publishing it in feedback column. The letter criticised Mintu Bhai over political belief. Fattah Bhai, our senior colleague, told me not to publish it. Being informed, Mintu Bhai said, 'It is okay, publish the letter as it is.'
Once we published an editorial twice on the successive two days due to computer glitch. We all in the editorial team were worried. Fattah Bhai brought the matter to Mintu Bhai's notice. He said, 'all right and just give a corrigendum.'
Mintu Bhai was very much careful about a mistake or error in language in New Age or Holiday. He advised all of us to check and recheck to avoid mistakes. If a mistake or error was found, he regretted to the readers.
He was a man of integrity and liberty. He enjoyed these qualities and at the same time he felt the need of theses qualities among the people all around him - either a senior staff or a peon. This is Mintu Bhai. He had trust on all.
He had a lion's heart. He had the courage to trust his people. He signed any paper without raising any question.
In the last series article 'Jamaat: the enemy within' in his regular weekly column EditorSpeak, he showed all the details of troubles Jamaat could make in the politics of Bangladesh. He warned all to be aware of the possible dangers from Jamaat. Now we are facing such dangers what Mintu Bhai predicted before his death in 2005.
We always miss Mintu Bhai in our office. We miss his analytical columns in the newspapers or speeches on contemporary issues on television. But, we particularly miss him as a courageous voice of the freedom of expression during the state of emergency in the country. Mintu Bhai's voice was always significant for his bold stand as he was easily recognisable in the crowd for his tall figure that could easily made him a hero if he were in the film industry.
He could sing well and play instruments like guitar. He had all the talents to shine in performing arts. But Mintu Bhai believed that journalism is the best career in the world.
His door was open for all. Anyone could call and reach him easily. He had his own political belief, but it did not matter in his personal life or his making relations with people of opposite political beliefs. However, he maintained safe distance from Jamaat.
He had all charisma to influence young generation. One could be fascinated to him at first sight. He will ever be remembered as Mintu Bhai, a great name in the country's fourth e'state. We miss you, Mintu Bhai. We miss you.
Anisur Rahman, a young poet and journalist, works for New Age. E-mail: anisbangla@yahoo.com
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Taking care of stroke victims
Dr. Turin Chowdhury
Stroke is characterised as a group of signs and symptoms related to sudden loss of body controlling functions by brain due to problem in the blood supply to the brain. These signs and symptoms should be present for at least more than 24 hours. Stroke is sometimes called a brain attack.
Symptoms
Stroke symptoms generally appear suddenly and they are quite distinctive. The most common symptoms of stroke are:
Sudden weakness or feeling of numbness in the face, arms, legs. This happens mainly on one side of the body.
Sudden development of confusion or understanding speech, or difficulty in speaking.
Sudden development of vision problems, such as blurry vision or a partial or complete loss of vision in one or both eyes.
Sudden development of faintness, dizziness, difficulty in walking due to loss of balance, control, coordination and strength.
Sudden appearance of severe headache without any apparent known cause.
There are some other symptoms that are less common, but still important, such as; sudden nausea, vomiting, decreased or brief loss of consciousness, fainting and convulsions.
Effects
Although stroke is a disease of the brain, it can affect the entire body. The effects of a stroke depend on which area of the brain is affected and how extensive the damage is. Stroke effects should be considered in two aspects. Different areas of brain work as the control point for different parts and function of the body. So the occurrence of stroke area dictates what type of effect will happen in the body. One simple example is that, one side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body. So stroke on the right side of the brain affects function on the left side of the body and vice versa.
Short-term effect
These effects are mainly the physical manifestations seen for an acute onset. If the stroke patient survives the initial blow then these conditions generally improves with proper management.
Long-term effect
These effects generally surface after the initial situation are over.
A common disability that results from stroke is complete paralysis on one side of the body. Patient may also have numbness or abnormal pain sensations.
Apart from the physical effect stroke may cause problems with thinking, awareness, attention, learning, judgment, understanding or forming speech and memory. Stroke can lead to emotional problems, such as difficulty in controlling emotions or may express inappropriate emotions or experience depression.
Treatment
In general there are three treatment stages for a stroke attack: therapy immediately after the stroke, post-stroke rehabilitation and preventing recurrent attack.
Acute treatment
Emergency management of the event: It is very important to treat stroke immediately. And treatment is most effective when given promptly.
The longer blood flow is cut off, the more likely it is that the patient will suffer permanent damage. Thus the longer treatment is delayed the dimmer is the prognosis.
Acute stroke therapies aim to stop a stroke while it is happening by quickly managing the mechanical cause such as dissolving the blood clot in case of an ischemic stroke or by stopping the bleeding in case of a hemorrhagic stroke. These emergency managements take place in health facilities by health professionals. So it is very important to take the stroke patient to the hospitals as soon as possible.
Long term treatment
Recovery and rehabilitation: Post-stroke rehabilitation helps individuals overcome disabilities that result from stroke related brain damage. The goal of rehabilitation is to help the patient recover as much of independence and functioning as possible. Much of rehabilitation involves relearning skills that may have lost, such as walking or communicating.
Gaining back the lost strength of the control is also an important aspect of the rehabilitation. This is mainly done by physiotherapy.
Preventing recurrence: Recurrent stroke is quite frequent; about 25 per cent of people who recover from their first stroke have another stroke within 5 years. Strategies to prevent recurrent stroke are based on treating a patient's health condition, underlying risk factors for recurrent stroke attack, such as hypertension, diabetes, etc.
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CAMPUS CAPERS
Facebook
Rayyan Kamal
On it, you can make your own profile, poke your friends, post your photos, let everyone know how you're feeling, and, most importantly, spy on others. You can list the causes you support, the songs you're listening to at this very moment, and the parties you will be attending. Soon after it was first created, it took college campuses by storm. But now, after having relaxed restrictions on who can join, it is slowly but surely taking over the virtual world. Only the really old or the really out-of-touch are still wondering what I am talking about.
Facebook, along with mySpace, Hi5, and many others, is an online social networking application. It gets its name from the printed directory traditionally handed out to college freshmen in the US Why it is biting chunks off its competitors' market shares is not clear. Perhaps it's the snob effect - for the first few years after it was created, it allowed only those with college e-mail addresses to join. It has also been described as being less garish than its rivals. Whatever the case, Facebook is gaining momentum. I hear that my aunt is thinking of joining.
Most college students, whether they admit it or not, probably spend at least thirty minutes on Facebook everyday. Some are obsessed with making their profile as attractive as possible. They make sure to put up only the very best pictures of themselves on display and are always updating the "About Me" section to ensure that it's as witty and disarming as possible. Most people spend time looking at other people's profiles. Perhaps they're checking up on what a good friend is up to. More often, however, they are stalking crushes or enemies. When stalking, in addition to browsing through the victim's pictures, one can read his/her wall, which is basically an inbox whose contents everyone can see.
It's always interesting to see how many "friends" someone has on Facebook. Some of the shiest people I know are the most popular on Facebook. They will indiscriminately send out friendship requests and present their profile in a way that would make you think they were social butterflies. I, on the other hand, go through five minutes of intense internal debate before sending someone a friendship request.
Facebook is all about choices. You can choose how much of your life you will put up for display and how much you will keep private. You can also choose which of the many applications you can add. Among the hundreds of applications you can add are the "Fortune Cookie" application, which tells you a different fortune everyday, and the "SuperPoke" application, which allows you to give (and receive) punches, kicks and perform even more scandalous actions to your buddies.
The fact that the phrases like "she friended me" and "I'll facebook you" have become a part of the college student's daily vocabulary speaks volumes about Facebook's importance in our lives today. I know a friend who, finally cracking under the pressure during exam week, deactivated his Facebook account. "I can't study!" he moaned. "It's taken over my life."
Rayyan Kamal is a sophomore at Yale University.
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ROAMING RACONTEUR
Clash of Islam and Capitalism
Saad Quasem
Private ownership, Multinational Conglomerates, Large scale investments, soaring interests, big banks, eight figure profits and high salaries are the basics in the capitalistic mode of production in the world today. Today, these trends are highly respected and in demand. Capitalism has spread throughout the world with the magic spell of globalisation. Since the onslaught of 9/11, Islam has been synonymous of extremism, heralded by conservatives. Samuel Huntington notably argued that conflicts like 9/11 would take place because a large gap lies between Civilisations. There are numerous frictions between civilisations, however major conflicts habit between the socio-economic teachings of capitalism and that of the Quran. Therefore, that brings to the table discussions about the differences between Islam which is repeatedly labelled a conservative philosophy and that of the capitalistic mode of production.
Capitalism revolves around the concept that resources are scarce. Therefore, in a capitalistic society an element is always missing, this results in the fair distribution of commodities. On the other hand Islam does not venture such concepts. Since, Islam is primarily a religion (but could easily be interpreted as a political ideology), it represents God. Every human had been created by God Himself who has equally distributed wealth to His creation. Both tangible and intangible commodities have been provided. Since, the beginning the basic norms have been in collision. This is only the beginning.
Inflation has caused prices to peek; therefore ordinary people try to mount up on savings accounts. On the other hand many use credit cards or secure loans to take care of their basic needs. Savings accounts, credit cards and loans all act on an interest principle. While one has to pay the credit card company or loan-disbursing institution with severe interests on top of the principal, many will be relishing on interests they receive from their savings. A capitalist society allows for both. However, in Islam it is a sin to give or receive interest or Riba in any form. Islamic banks function on Shariah Laws. The basic idea is that lower interest equates to lower deficit. With an Islamic policy of zero-interest, the overall debt of a society would not constantly grow, but would remain at the principle.
The Quran also cites that when humans are to be testified on the Day of Judgment, they will be severely punished for incurring debt during their lifetime. A higher debt amount results in a more acute punishment. Using this clause, the convenience of credit cards, savings accounts, mortgage, insurance and other basic day to day needs are cut back on. Upscale trading and business by governments and corporations have to cutback on investments and trading procedures due to the lack of interest. The economic superpowers and most of the world today is highly capitalistic and in order to compete in a global market, it is an utmost necessity to ensure guidelines in accordance to capitalism. There lies a clash between the two civilisations of capitalism and Islam. Many Arab countries have become economic powers owing to capitalism. This implicates conservatives to become enraged, hence a lot of problems emerge.
Capitalism and conservatives of all types have clashed at several points. The spar between Islamic conservatives and capitalism has reached a new level, where democracy will not be tolerated. It is quite unfortunate to see traditionalists impeding a world where modern concepts such as globalization are thriving. The Islamic laws regarding banking interests could imply a justified explanation, but today there is a strict necessity for allowing interest. On the other hand, democracy and capitalism are parallel ideas but not dependent. Democracy answers the needs of both the conservatives and the capitalists. The advocates of both the groups will be able to set their agendas on the table and a line can be drawn. Democracy could be the moderation point.
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