Part II
Serendipity A month later…

“It's a three hour wait ladies. Come back at 4.30," said the host. Andrea and Tai jostled out of the narrow foyer and stepped outside. Their wait was no surprise. This after all was the famous Serendipity. Deciding to investigate the gondola two blocks away, they started walking. They spoke to the stationmaster and discovered that the gondola went to Roosevelt Island and back. With nothing better to do, they boarded. It was a fun trip. The gondola deposited them on Roosevelt Island from where they took a bus. They looked around at the streets of the tiny island that stood between Manhattan and Queens. After the bus made its rounds and stops they got back on the gondola and came back to Lexington Avenue.

A trip to H&M and Dylan's Candy Bar left them with only fifteen minutes to get back to Serendipity for their table. Once they were seated they decided to order the famous Frrrrrrrrozen Hot Chocolate and a Chocolate Blackout Sundae. Tai was still looking at the menu when a waiter came up to take their order. "I'm guessing not a Pena Colada this time?" he asked in a husky voice. Andrea and Tai both looked askance at the waiter. Tai gave a start when she met a pair of black eyes smiling back at her. "You!"

<>Tai heard her name being called from far away and slowly opened her eyes. Her head was still spinning. She saw Tony's hazy face peering at her in worry. "What hap-?" she mumbled. "Sweety you took a spin and almost fell down. This nice gentleman-"Tony stopped and looked around. "Brin he was right here. Where'd he go?" Brin's baffled look was answer enough. "Aww too bad he left. He was so nice and sooooooooo cute," said Tony. "Tony!" exclaimed Brin, Amber and Lyn in unison. Later when they were all in a cab going home Tai told them about the guy who had offered to buy her a drink. "So that's why he thought you didn't like Pena Coladas," said Jessica. "Who?" asked Tai stupidly. "The guy who caught you as you fell silly. The guy who set you down and called us over. Apparently he saw you waving at us," explained Brin. Tai wished the guy hadn't left so that she could thank him.<>

As Tai collected herself she looked at Andrea. She had a puzzled look on her face. "Thank you," said Tai looking at the waiter. "I'm a month overdue." "Don't mention it, " he replied. "So what would you ladies like this afternoon?" Once they were done ordering, he left and Tai explained everything to Andrea. "He is cute you know," remarked Andrea. Tai didn't deign to answer.

After finishing their dessert they paid the bill and got ready to leave. Tai was a little sad deep down that the waiter who brought their bill wasn't the same one as before. Just when they stepped out of the restaurant she heard someone call out. Turning she saw it was the first waiter. She dreaded what she knew was most certainly coming. But it didn't come. Instead he was held something towards her and said, "You dropped this." Tai stared down to find her pocket book in his hand. "Oh, thank you so much," she replied. He grinned revealing a dimple identical to the one she had on her right cheek. With that he turned around and went back in.

That night as Tai sat squat on the floor trying to piece together her term garment she thought about her two encounters with the same guy. What were the odds of her meeting the same random guy twice in New York City? Zero, she thought. But then again how had this happened? Tai was too much of a realist to believe it was as simple as serendipity. She grinned at the pun.

She got up to stretch her legs and grabbed her pocketbook. It was midnight and she like Andrea who had called an hour ago was craving some Rocky Road. Donning on her Nikes she took the elevator to Andrea's floor and they walked to the Open 24/7 Baskin Robbins on Seventh and twenty-seventh. Ten minutes later as Tai opened her pocketbook to pay for her scoop, a slip of paper fell out from it. It had three words written on it. CALL ME. JORDAN. And then a number: 212-414-3530.

Paying for their ice creams, Tai and Andrea headed back to their dorm. Andrea was saying something about how windy it had gotten but Tai wasn't paying attention. She was holding the little slip and staring at it. They had reached their dorm when Andrea made a playful grab for it. Neither she nor Tai were quick enough because at that very instant, the wind blew in taking the paper with it. Tai watched as the New York sky swallowed it up. Andrea looked apologetic and asked if it had been anything important. Tai go onto the elevator and as the doors closed she grinned and said, "It wasn't meant to be."

By Tahiat-e-Mahboob

Teen + two-timing = trouble

It's most aggravating to talk among friends and inevitably end up with pass- time topics on who's cheating with whom or more specifically, who's two-timing whom? Ever replace the phrase with a "why" instead? Why do people two-time, cheat, or go for flings? What's the fallout of breaking someone's heart, let alone a strong and steady relationship?
It's been going on since the time the Garden of Eden was still in the news... people meet, fall in love, and then meet somebody else and get into trouble!

First of all, what is this double jeopardy all about anyway? It's basically a circumstance when two people are dating and one of them is seeing someone else at the same time. Now, the issue is that some people don't even recognise or consider it when they are "fooling" around. For instance according to some, if one is dating someone for two weeks then goes about seeing another person on the third week, s/he is actually not deceiving anyone. Only when two people decree to be together and love each other should they stop seeing other people. There are still many youngsters who don't believe in the idea of "dating for fun" but in a deep long term relationship however, it seems that the number of teens who do, are growing in numbers so perhaps they should be acquainted with the fact that if you're dating for fun "a heart break" isn't going to sound serious to many people.

A lot of the guys gravitate to the point that "Girls like to listen to all kinds of silly logic and fall for texts like "I will always be there for you." Some even consider words like "I love hanging out with you but you know, I just fool around with the other girls!" This makes it easy for the guys to play around and makes it easier for the girls to get hurt. Thus, another form of cheating takes place, where he (or even she) promises to be there but makes a disappearing act when really needed the most.

So what's the solution for that? Simple, just be honest about it. If you plan for it to be a temporary bond, tell her/him and at times it could sound rude but at least you'll never have him/her stick up a dart board on the wall with your photo on it while s/he scores bull-eyes! It's safe and it's fun since you both seem to be fine with the idea.

"Impulse... At this age, we get attracted to every other person and then think we are in love." -Pallavi Thakur (an Indian writer)

This is true, for they say that when you're 16, you doubtlessly believe yourself in love. Five years later, most debate on the preceding sentence. First, we tend to think that flirting is a form of expressing one's feelings. This, after some time is realised to be just a momentary slingshot like conversation. A friend once said, "Somebody has a good face, someone a good figure, someone speaks wonderfully... I could fall for anybody who has one of those qualities". It just changes from time to time until you find the perfect (or so you think) one in your life. He also added, "relationships are like shoes, with time they grow, change shapes and change styles but then you come to a point where you don't have to change the size anymore. It fits perfectly and you can even stick to it for the rest of your life!" It's no doubt that I stared at him with utter incredulity using the metaphor "relationship is a shoe (!)" but I sometimes see that he may have had a point but then again this goes right back to square one where it's simply okay to have more than one relationship and that too for having a good time.

Fear of commitment is a spell intermingled among the minds of the young people. Not only is no one really ready for it at this age but also when one out the two suddenly feels overjoyed with the idea of "happily ever after", the other decides to take a break (and take some aspirins!). Remember that it has to be a two-way road all along!

It's too complicated to break the heart of someone who s/he still loves to be with so instead of breaking up, s/he simply goes around roaming with someone who isn't so clogged up with the "togetherness" ideology. They admit it, "we want to have fun, be around someone who cares a little BUT it's still too early to talk about taking BBA instead of an Arts subject since it'll get me a job and "us" a good future!!" Did s/he say "us"??"US?? That's when you simply want to scarper through that cement wall and never turn around because seeing him/her cry will break your heart and you'll go crawling back to him/her again! That's the reason why a guy can't leave his girl, but at the same time hangs out with someone else in seeking for comfort and enjoying the present state.

Another friend of mine stated that it's a lot easier to blame the guy and make the girl a victim every time a relationship falls to pieces. No one really looks into the details of the relationship because no one knows it. Some girls can be very high maintenance and push the guy into doing things just to ascertain his love for her. Two-timing can also happen when a partner starts to feel suffocated. A guy should be allowed to be polite and talk to a girl the way it's supposed to be and praise her when she deserves it. It's when your girl starts looking at you strangely that you feel 'God, why doesn't she leave me alone'?" Then again, this can also be the case with a guy giving the "if you love me, you would…" dialogue where the girl is pressured to go about a different lifestyle to satisfy his ways.

Overall, whatever may be the reason to go about two people at the same time, two-timing only means that a relationship is about to get demolished and while some may consider it "cool" or even "fun" it just shows your insecure ness and while friends may not say much front of your face or even laugh it off, behind your back they'll be pretending that they don't even know you. Every one knows it's wrong and knows that honesty is the only way to keep you safe. So, play it safe, make it sound normal even if you like to date a different girl/guy every week, just let them know and only then can you be with someone whose like yourself, who will make your dates really fun and even surprise you if you stick together for the rest of your life!

By Shayera Moula

Magical Moments

MaDanZa Ballet Studios (MBS), a privately run Ballet Dance Tutorial has organized an annual Ballet and Contemporary Dance performance called Magical Moments, in collaboration with the International School, Dhaka (ISD), at the ISD auditorium on Friday, June 10, 2005.

The show was divided into two segments. The young students of MBS, as well as the school program students of ISD performed the ballet performances. The other segment of the programme introduced a fusion of Western Contemporary/Modern dance with Bangladeshi traditional dance, and these numbers were performed by professional dancers partly trained and choreographed by MaDanZa Dance Studios.

This is MBS' second annual performance at the ISD auditorium. The studio's Director, Ballet instructor and choreographer Mariangella Danikas Zafar, a Greek-American living in Bangladesh, has been the first to introduce Ballet and Contemporary/Modern Western dance in Bangladesh, two years ago, by opening up the private tutorial.

RS Desk

CGS Idol?
When class parties had suddenly become 'boring' for the Senior classes of CGS, the school management decided it was finally time to do something about it.

Being aware of the recent craze about American Idol and Indian Idol, CGS decided to hold a talent search of its own, thereby calling it "CGS Idol". The concept of CGS Idol was a simple one: There'd be three major categories and students were invited to register for all. Response at the beginning was vague; after all, with the onset of exams no one really had time for talent shows, or so we thought. However, on the date of the deadline, there was a flurry of last minute registrations.

After an early stage rehearsal, clearing up any possible last minute stage problems, we were ready to rock and roll! The three categories were Singing, Dancing and Comedy. Group performances as well as Solo ones were also allowed.

The show was an amazing success. Not only was it thoroughly enjoyed by all, but also it was amazing to see just how much talent was enclosed within the walls of CGS. The judges committee (comprising of myself, Naziat and Suzy) did a pretty thorough job of picking out faults and giving praise where praise was due. There was also a Censorship board to ensure no performers stepped out of bounds. The Masters of Ceremony (Rishad and Tamanna) did a pretty good job of entertaining the audience on stage, while all the confusion backstage continued. The voting was also quite organized (via Ballot system) and when I went on stage to introduce the show (at the beginning) and announce the winners (at the end), the response was overwhelming. All in all, it was an amazing show!

By Jennifer Ashraf