Behind the Myths

Exasperated by the constant nagging of our elders about how we will drown if we take only one spoonful of the rice or their confidence in declaring the number of our future marriages by the number of circles on our scalps, we have decided to put the truth of these words through rigorous tests to verify their authenticity. Today we test if your grandma was right when she predicted your future by the itch on you right palm or the twitch of your left eyebrow.

Myth 1: If you take only one spoonful of rice/curry/lentil, you are bound to drown.
For this we had two volunteers *cough*creditors*cough*. One couldn't swim to save his life (that being the point, of course) and the other who could. We gave each of them a spoonful of rice and no more. And then we waited.

The result: After a whole day of waiting we found that none of them had drowned and I still owed both of them money.

The inference: Total rubbish, this myth. Of course the absence of water bodies other than a half filled bucket nearby and the adamant refusal of any swimming pools to let us in after we elaborated on our purpose may have had something to do with it.

Myth 2: Getting slapped on one cheek means you won't get married. Ever.
This was a tough one - and for a non-biased result we had volunteers from both sexes. After we had slapped each of them on one cheek we let them free and kept tabs on them.

The result: Surprisingly in the next six months, not one of the volunteers got married, engaged or had any change in their relationship status.

The inference: Myth plausible. Although the fact that they were pichchi cousins ranging from the age of seven to ten may have affected the test results.

Myth 3: It's bad luck to be called from behind when going outside.
We tried this one all over the country and a lot of people responded to our call for help. Bickering siblings, spouses and backstabbing friends gave this a try and let us know the results.

The Result: Seems more than half the people who were called from behind had had an accident, got their nose bashed in, beaten up or sometimes more innocuously got spit on. Coincidence?

The inference: There is at least a degree of truth in this myth. The results speak for themselves. Of course, results may vary if the day of the test is not a hartal day and the city in question is not Dhaka.

So there you have it folks. Seems not all what they say is complete hokum - some sayings were made keeping the nature of the people and the city in mind. Stay tuned until next time when we verify whether the apple really falls far from the tree or if birds of same feathers really flock together. Until then good night and good luck.

By The Mad Monkey

Fail

We're always complaining that Bangladesh just doesn't have enough laws. That all we need are some hard hitting laws to keep this country in line. Since there has been a bill passed recently regarding the media, we thought we'd test out how some slightly eccentric laws from across the world would play out if we implemented them in our wonderful country.

Failure to flush a public toilet after use may result in very hefty fines.
This law states that if the police ever catch you walking out of a public toilet without hearing water gushing in to wash away your business, you'll have to cough up a large amount of Singapore dollars. We can just imagine how large the police's wallets will become, if we bring this law to Dhaka. We can also assume that this will discourage the small minority who do use public toilets to make use of roadsides for fear of this fine.

It is illegal for ones car to run out of gas on the Autobahn.
The Autobahn is the German highway. Now, we're pretty sure the average everyday person would be relatively pleased to find a few less cars running on our highways. How many times have you cursed that stupid vehicle on the main road that just wouldn't move even after the jam has (finally!) dispersed? This wouldn't matter to us, unless it's our car getting the tow. No, this law would largely affect a minority in our population: those little kids who help push your car to the nearest gas station when it breaks down. Yeah, you'd be depriving these kids of a fine sport.

Restaurants may not charge for water unless it is accompanied by another item such as ice or a lemon slice.
Imagine the busiest restaurant in Dhaka, and imagine it ten times more packed. That's how things will be like if this Danish law is passed. You'd think shopkeepers would be happy with all the business, and maybe revenue will rise a bit, but mostly what people will be ordering is plain water - no ice, no lemon. Because, if you hadn't noticed, we have a water supply problem.

More than 8 women may not live in the same house because that would constitute a house of pleasure.
We knew Americans were crazy, but this law from Tennessee is just insane. Imagine this being practiced in Bangladesh. It would mean every household in Bangladesh's slums, or village that has produced a surprising number of daughters - or those that have their nieces living with them - is a red house. That's nice.

By Selima

7teen Events present A Tribute to FIFA '11

FIFA '12 has already been released in North America and is currently being launched in Europe. With the arrival of the latest addition of EA's FIFA series, FIFA '11 is stepping off the spotlight.

In more ways than one, FIFA '11 was a wonderful game. It brought some great changes to the gameplay, including accurate depictions of player strengths and precision passing; which broke the monotony of FIFA '08 FIFA '10 nicely. Although initially disliked, consumers soon got the hang of the game and it received a lot of praise.

This is why 7teen Events has decided to say goodbye to FIFA '11 in style and honour it through “A Tribute to FIFA '11: A Farewell Tournament”. While gamers buy the new FIFA '12 and put it through its paces, it would be nice to have one last test on familiar grounds.

The event will take place at The Bench from 7th to 8th October; and will make use of both Xbox 360 and PS3, with 30 players for each console. The entry fee is Tk. 400 and once you qualify to the 2nd round there is an additional fee of Tk. 400. There will be four rounds played before the semi finals, where the winner of Xbox 360 will play with the runner up of PS3 and vice versa. The winners of the matches will play the final. The top four will be eligible for the prize money.

There will also be the usual 7teen setup of Kinect, where Kinect sports and Dance Central will be available. So you get bored of button mashing, feel free to try a little hand waving.

For more information, log on to www.facebook.com/7teenEvents.