Summer is finally over seeming like in the northern hemisphere. Hopefully, most people are finding some chill in the air. For people from the subcontinent, this is an excellent time of the year. Weather is usually moderate; rain and heat are both finally gone. The next 2-3 months are generally the best time of the year. People tend to get out of the confined space lot more this time of the year, but this year is obviously different. So, we are looking inwards all over the world.
One of the things that people are spending a lot of time is watching movies and shows. There is just so much streaming available these days that the possibilities are endless. Nah, I am not going to extensively talk about Beth Harmon here, but just want to say that the show made quite a bit of impression on me. One of the critical things I gathered from it is something I will share. At the time of crisis, we often feel quite lonely and dejected. We just choose to look at a narrow field of vision and think that there is no one out there who is thinking about us, and there is no help to be had, no one cares. Reality is entirely the opposite. Just beyond our narrow field of vision, there are many individuals who care deeply for us. They will go above and beyond and reach out for us. Sometimes we must ask. Other times, they will go out of their way to come and help us. If you can believe it, it is a fascinating realization. You often don't have a family, but you can make one. You can choose one. Your friends are your family, and they care deeply for you, and they will come and protect you when you need them the most. This is a fact. The only reason perhaps you don't realize because you haven't reached out and tested the water.
Being upbeat is a habit. There are enough things out there to make us cynical. That is easy. Please don't fall for it. Take the high ground. Try harder. Make it a routine. What you want to be or what you like is a difficult question, and you may spend your whole life to figure it out. There is nothing wrong with that. But to me, that is not the first question, and not the most essential question either. To me, it is just the next step that I look for. To me, it is the journey and not the destination that matters, and I want to make the journey in an upbeat manner. I trust people. I believe people are naturally good, and they will help me if I am honest with them. It is a reciprocal process. I agree it is not easy to implement. But if you don't try, you won't know…right?
I am neither interested in Chess nor in Soccer. But lately, those are the two things that are taking up a lot of my time. However, the realization I get from these activities is that it is neither about Chess nor about Soccer. It is the learning from them that interests me. I am an eternal student.
এ জগতে, হায়, সেই বেশি চায় আছে যার ভূরি ভূরি--
রাজার হস্ত করে সমস্ত কাঙালের ধন চুরি।
উপরের এই লাইনগুলো কবিগুরু আজ থেকে বহুদিন পূর্বে লিখে গেছেন তৎকালীন সমাজের প্রেক্ষাপটকে চিন্তা করে। কবিতার এই গল্পটি সত্য কি মিথ্যা আমি যাচাই করতে যাইনি, তবে আজও যে এই চিত্রের কোন ব্যতিক্রম নেই সেটুকু অন্তত আস্থার সঙ্গে বলতে পারি। আজ আমরা প্রযুক্তির কল্যাণে তথাকথিত আধুনিক, কিন্তু বর্বরতা এখনো আমাদের রক্তে বিদ্যমান, শুধু একটু অনুকূল পরিবেশের প্রতীক্ষা।
আমি শুনে হাসি আঁখিজলে ভাসি, এই ছিল মোর ঘটে--
তুমি মহারাজ সাধু হলে আজ, আমি আজ চোর বটে!
দুঃখজনক হলেও সত্যি বর্তমানে ক্ষমতাসীনদের দাপটে সর্বস্ব হারিয়ে আত্মসম্মান নিয়ে বাঁচাটাই এখন সার্থকতা, কিন্তু অনেক ক্ষেত্রে সেটাও আজ হুমকির সম্মুখীন। কবিতার এই লাইন গুলো মিথ্যে প্রমাণিত হলে রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুরই হয়তো সবচেয়ে বেশি খুশি হতেন, আমাদেরও সেই প্রত্যাশা এই বিবেকহীন কুলুষিত সমাজের প্রতি!!
-Recited by 
বোধহয় পাপিয়ঁর (‘৭৩ এরটা, নতুনটা নয়) প্রতি আমার অনুরাগ আগেভাগেই প্রকাশিত, তবু বারে বারে ফিরে যাই। যথেষ্ট কারণও আছে। বহু অঙ্ক স্মৃতিতে অমলিন।
জেলখানায় স্পেশাল কক্ষ থাকে, বেয়াড়া কয়েদীদের লাইনে আনার জন্যে। স্বাভাবিক কারাগার কক্ষ থেকে আলাদা। সাধারণত জানালাহীন, কবরের মত অন্ধকার এবং একাকী। জেলখানার নিয়ম ভঙ্গের হেতুতে সপ্তাহ, মাসব্যাপি এমন জায়গায় আটকে রাখে।
জেলখানা ভেদে এই অন্ধ, রুদ্ধ প্রকোষ্ঠের পার্থক্য হতে পারে। পাপিয়ঁ সিনেমার জেলখানায় জানালা নেই বটে, কিন্তু ছাঁদের কিছু অংশ ফাঁকা। সেখান দিয়ে রোদ, বৃষ্টি, হীম সবই আসে। সেই সাথে কয়েদী রেশন অর্ধেক। কয়েদীরা কক্ষের পোকা-মাকড়ের দিকে লোভাতুর চোখে তাকাতে শেখে। যারাই এই প্রকোষ্ঠে ঢোকে, রোগে শোকে অনাহারে জীবন্মৃত হয়ে বেরোয়। বা বেরোয় না।
যখন মূল চরিত্র পাপিয়ঁকে এমন এক প্রকোষ্ঠে ঢোকানো হয়, ওর পাশের কক্ষের কয়েদী ওর কাছে শুধোয়—আমায় দেখে কেমন মনে হচ্ছে?
কয়েদী অনেকদিন ধরেই প্রকোষ্ঠে বন্দী—রুগ্ন, ভঙ্গুর, ফ্যাকাশে আর এক পা ইতোমধ্যে কবরে।
কিন্তু পাপিয়ঁর হৃদয় অতটা নিষ্ঠুর নয় সত্যিটা উচ্চারণের। বোধহয় কারোরই নেই।
“তোমায় ঠিকঠাকই লাগছে”, উত্তর দেয়।
এরপর পাপিয়ঁর প্রকোষ্ঠ জীবনের কিছুকাল পরে নতুন কয়েদী আসে। ততদিনে নিজের মানসিক সুস্থ্যতা নিয়ে সন্ধিহান পাপিয়ঁ। নতুন কয়েদীকে শুধায় ওকে দেখতে কেমন মনে হচ্ছে। কয়েদী ইতিবাচক প্রতিউত্তর দেয়।
বিধি বাম! পাপিয়ঁ উপলব্ধি করার মত পর্যায়ে নেই একই ঘটনার পুনরাবৃত্তি হচ্ছে। পুরনো কয়েদী জগত থেকে মুক্ত, নতুন কয়েদী তাঁর কক্ষে। আর পাপিয়ঁ নিজে পরিণত হয়েছে সেই পুরনো কয়েদীতে—রুগ্ন, ভঙ্গুর, ফ্যাকাশে আর এক পা ইতোমধ্যে কবরে।
কয়েক সেকেন্ডের দৃশ্যটা ভীষণভাবে দোলা দিয়ে যায়।
Always try to make someone smile and don't forget that you are someone too.
Yeah, I am kinda saying that in our life we do see some people who just keep working to bring the smile on someone else face and they forget that they are someone too and they need the smile too.
Smile is a precious and wonderful thing. We do try to make others happy and want to see their smile. When a person gets some smiling moments for us, we become double delighted and gives a lot of satisfaction which can't be described in words. In our life, there are some people too who keeps making us smile day after day and keep searching for their smiles in our one.
Yeah, you got that right. That's our parents. I think the saying "Make others happy, and you will be happy too." are meant for them. I have seen them smiling on my smiles, crying on my sadness. I can't differentiate their smiling reason without mine. Looks like their every action starts and ends with the well beings of their children's. They made the circle around us. While going through this phase looks like they forgot that they are someone too and have some different taste and zests of lives also.
Well, the important part is that we should also take care of their smile as they are doing for us. Whether they forgot in the run of making someone else smile that they are someone too, we should take care of that. *** Let's be happy, make others happy too and care for everyone.***
The race to the finish.
Who will win the prize?
Who loots the dec?
A nail-biting finish, each season.
It is more exciting than quidditch. At least here, everyone can play if there are good cards and skill. Even with good cards, some people have to rely on the expert players like Xawi, Jacek, Burl and Hossain and Sim.
Abilities like headwinds, silence, leech and blast and of course the dodge and misses can change the game and decide the result.
Splinterlands is all about thinking about how to defeat the opponent and how to counter the opponent's attack even before the opponent decides which cards to choose. It is a game that is timed, and you do not have all day to determine your team.
So, it is indeed a skill-based game which can prove to others based on your wins and losses about how good a gamer you are.
Come to think of it, Splinterlands is a game played all over the world. In any given second, someone in this world would be playing against another gamer.
If you have not experienced it, do look it up and sign up.
This here is our piece de resistance. To promote engagement and a little self-branding, we have come up with an initiative that we simply called Featured. And we are very excited about this portion of the magazine.
Every week, one talented author will have the opportunity to contribute a piece for the magazine while showcasing one of their best posts. The willing writers will have a chance to add a few words about any topic they choose and be a 25% beneficiary of the magazine.
The first step is, you have to decide whether you want to get featured or not. Once you've made up your mind, you have to apply by submitting one of your articles from last week. We have a wiggle room for quality content if they are older than seven days. Choose the piece you deem to be your best work for the week, as this will play a significant role in you getting featured or not.
There will be a two-day period to submit your application. It must be submitted by dropping a link to your post in the #Featured-Magazine channel on the BDCommunity Discord Server. One author will be chosen randomly from all the submissions. The featured author for the week will be announced during the weekly voice meeting. They will then have two days for writing a piece and submit.
The author who gets featured in the weekly magazine will be set as a 25% beneficiary, meaning 25% of the magazine's liquid payout will go to the featured author.
Do not forget to join our next weekly hangout at Friday 10 pm GMT +6
@notacinephile
@minhajulmredul
@sayee