ক্রন্দনরত শিশু

৪ দিন ছুটির পর স্কুল খুলেছে। মেয়েকে স্কুলে নামিয়ে দিতে এসে অসংখ্য ক্রন্দনরত শিশু দেখলাম। পুরাই শোকাবহ পরিবেশ।

চার দিন আরামে ঘুমানোর পর এত সকালে উঠতেও ওদের কষ্ট হয়েছে, আবার বাবা মা কে ছেড়ে স্কুলে যেতেও ওদের কষ্ট হচ্ছে।

Life is tough

Thursday

সকালে ঘুম থেকে উঠে বউ আর নিজের জন্য নাস্তা বানাইসি। বউ খায় আটার রুটি, ডিম আর সবজি ভাজি। রুটি বানানো ছিল, শুধু ভেজে দিলাম। ভাজি কপ্রা ছিল, মাইক্রোওয়েভ দিয়ে গরম করে দিলাম। ফ্রাই প্যানে ডিম পোচ করে দিসি।

আমি খাইলাম চিকেন চিজ স্যান্ডুইচ। বেংগল মিট এর চিকেন,  একটা স্লাইসড চিজ আর মেয়োনেজ দিয়ে বানাইলাম। চিজ এর উপরে একক্টু মাস্টার্ড সস।

এইসব করতে গিয়ে অফিস আসতে দেরি হয়ে গেল। পিচ্চির জ্বর তাই স্কুলে যায় নাই, বউ ও ছুটি নিসে অফিস থেকে। অফিস যেতে ভাল লাগে না।

The First Cup

I was never a very big fan of coffee. But once I started drinking, I became a big fan of this drink. Then I read about Starbucks. I am not hundred percent sure how, but I think it was from a case study. The story was about how Starbucks, despite of being a globally recognized coffee chain struggled to open stores and compete against local brands in places like Rome.

My first cup was probably a drink of Machiato. I ordered it simply because I have never heard of it before. Some people might laugh, but the first sip really tasted like ambrosia to me. It was as if some heavenly drink has ascended from above and we were allowed to taste a bit of it.

The rest is history. From a totally caffeine averse person, I turned in to someone who simply can't live without coffee. Tea is fine; I actually prefer morning tea to coffee--but days are not the same when there's no coffee in them.

Soon enough, Latte became my favorite drink; usually complemented with Hazelnut or Vanilla flavor.

There was a time when I used to pin point Starbucks locations before heading out to some new city. Once I even mailed them when I could not find the exact locations.

But then came North End in Dhaka, and the second part of history started.

Hardly a day passes now without a cup of North End coffee, which is almost as good as Starbucks, if not better.

Many memories and stories regarding North End.

Nayok Raj Razzak

I grew up in Saudi Arabia
There were no Bangla channels
My parents only watched Hindi movies

So no, I don't have any memories of Razzak Kobori or anything and everything related to the fallen actor.

When I hear Razzak, the uninteresting faces of ex-Bangladesh national cricket player Abdur Razzak and that of my high school English teacher Razzak sir comes up in my mind.

So sorry if I have not been politically correct and forgot to post a "mourning" message on facebook.

Ok, bye

Video Gaming--Is it an Escape Route?

I've been playing video games since a very tender age. When my dad bought his first console, I was 6 years old. I got totally hooked in to games like Moon Patrol, River Raid, Gyruss, Pac Man and Qix, Since then, gaming has been one of my top and consistent hobbies.

Now, after 30 years of gaming, I am suddenly confronted with the question. "Did I use video games as a medium to escape from reality?".

There is definitely some truth in to it. Whenever I am playing a video game, I try to get immersed in to the world. , and when I do get immersed, I definitely stop thinking about the real world. 

I play mostly story driven games these days; I try to become the person the player character is. So when I am playing Witcher 3, I start thinking like Geralt of Rivia, and try to respond to situations accordingly. 

But I can always bring myself out of the fantasy world, if and when needed. I don't keep thinking about video games all day long. I can play a game for 6-7 hours, and then totally ignore it for 30 days or more. 

Video games are a part of my life. The longest time I've stayed away from video games in my entire life would be a one year period during my school years, and another six month period when I couldn't stand playing any video game.

No matter what went on with my life, I kept coming back to gaming in one way or another, but there weren't too many occasions when gaming seemed like an escape route to me.

The Witcher -- A Conquest Finally Completed

Year 2009 was memorable to me for several reasons. It was the year I got married, and it was also the year when I started playing role playing video games seriously. Both are totally unrelated, and yet, highly significant events in my life. 

I don't ever deny the importance of video games in my life. Simply put, I love playing video games, and I don't see any good reason to quit playing. I have playing since my childhood, and I still enjoy the odd hour of beating up random foes. 

So Witcher, the video game, was an "unfinished business" for me. If memory serves me well, I started playing the game back when it got released--this is 2008 we are talking about. I tried playing it like an action game, but failed miserably. I would skip most dialogues and only look for action, but unfortunately, I could not get the hang of the very cleverly designed, intricate fighting mechanisms. 

Fast forward 9 years, and here I am now, well equipped with life experience that gives me more patience and endurance, and RPG experience that made most of the doables much easier than they seemed. 

People who follow the Witcher sage (there are 3 games out now), knows how different this game is from other games. In addition to fighting and talking, Geralt of Rivia, the hero of the game also brews potions and uses different magical abilities. 

I actually started playing Witcher 3 on my PS4 and after a while, I thought I should really revisit the first game to get a better idea on the characters and lore of the game. NPCs and allies kept no referring to events from the past, of which I had little idea. 

So I got myself a copy of the first game, and did not repeat the mistakes I did the first time. I learnt the fight mechanism, and now that I've beaten the game, I must say it is one of the best swordplay mechanics in any game. Also, I learned which potions are important and how to make them before major fights. 

It took me almost a whole month to finish the game, and I loved most of it. There are some annoying battles and problematic level designs, but overall, the game was enjoyable, despite of being almost a decade old. 

It was a joyride, and loved every bit of it. 

Anyone who skipped Witcher 1 and went directly to 2 or 3 is missing a lot. Everyone should play the game. A DRM free version can be purchased from GoG.com at a very cheap price. 

This is highly recommended for all RPG fans.