An eternal Personality
Chinua achebe, the father of African literature, an inexhaustible and perpetual writer, has passed away on March 22 his contributions are indubitable . He elevated his voice successfully against colonialism. Nelson Mandela once said that Achebe brought Africa to the prison walls come down.
 Born in 1930, Chinua Achebe was brought up in Ogidi village of southeastern Nigeria. He had begun writing short stories during his university years. His goals started to take shape in the 'Things Fall Apart' published in the early 1950s. Achebe earned his reputation after this.
  Things Fall Apart is not only the most widely read African novel, the English edition of which was sold millions of copies, but also is a piece of literature that almost every student of English must go through at one time or another.
 The first question any introduction to this novel must masquerade is what enabled Achebe's work to verbalize to its time in a way other novels could not? After all,' things fall apart 'was preceded by other important African novels .Achebe's reputation is not much because he was a pioneer .it is only because he was a strong individual and a hero struggling to maintain the cultural authenticity of his people against the overwhelming power of the colonial rule.Achebe was able to capture the anxieties of many Africans in1950s.his other great navel are 'No Longer at Ease ' ,'Arrow of god',' A man of the people' and' Anthills of the Savannah '. we are all desolate to hear of Achebe's death . We must register our disappintment . lament, commiseration to the death of the father of African literature, chinua Achebe. He may rest in peace.
               

Currencies Galore
I regularly solve the weekly word puzzle published in your weekly Life supplement, usually based on some ideas or subject. This week's puzzle on world currencies' was quite interesting .Going through the list of the 75 currencies mentioned for the puzzle, I realised that  I could identify only twenty . The rest were all strange to me and it provoked my curiosity. I wonder how many person (if any, even from Bangladesh Bank) can identify all the 75 currencies there.
  I am sure many students of English solve these interesting puzzles. It would be interesting for us if you could give the name of all the seventy five countries in the same alphabetic order, in which the countries were stated in the puzzle mentioning both the country and alongside it the name of the currency.
    Please publish it in the next issue of Life .It will be a worthwhile addition to our pool of general knowledge. Finally, congratulations for this interesting weekly puzzle that I enjoy solving.
 

AB IRREPARABLE LOSS
The death of the president Zillur Rahaman on Wednesday was an irreparable loss to the nation. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina rightly stated that the president left us at a time when his leadership was much needed for the nation.
 Zillur Rahman , the 19th president of the People's Republic of Bangladesh , was a veteran politician and played his part in the emergence of the nation. He was an activist of the language movement in 1952 and took part in evrey other movement till his death.
It was good to see that the leader of the opposition, Khaleda Zia, along with senior leaders of the Bangladesh National Party, paid tribute to the veteran leader and also consoled his family. And not to mention that representatives from all walks of life were present to show their honour to the late president.
  In this situation, when the countrymen are divided, he could have played a pivotal role by taking initiatives to solve the disputes between the opposition and the ruling quarter.May the president rest in peace and may our politicians reach a mutual understanding to end the disorder.

RISE OF THE YOUTH
Trese days, People keep their eyes on the Shahbagh demonstration for a number of reasons. Every day comes and goes with tension, hope and uncertainty. The question frequently asked about the Shahbagh movement is ' Are they inspired by any partisan influence?" It is an important question to answer, and the organisers of the movement must prove it to the people that they are not influenced by any political party. I have to admit that whenever I hear the voice of th Shahbagh movement, it reminds me of the history of the liberation war because back then a similar voice of the masses influenced people to join the war and even sacrifice their lives.
 Many of us think that the youths at Shahbagh are losing their neutrality day by day.Though the gathering is claimed to be neutral, it is gradually becoming clear that an effort is on to take hold of its leadership by the followers of a particular political arty. Moreover, the leaders of the movement have not cleared their motto yet.
Though the opposition party doubts the neutrality of the youths, as they repeatedly utter the slogan 'Joy Bangla'. I disagree with them. No doubt there is a question and serious doubt in the public mind about the neutrality of the gathering, but we should also remember that 'Joy Bangla' is not an asset of any political party. It is a slogan which showed us our path to freedom in 1971.

Tendulkar's terminal times?

   The quest for the elusive century of centuries in international cricket is being overhadowed by the closeness of the time for terminating his cricket career. It seems that there is a race between these two deadlines. LLLLLike any lasting talent, the end of the reign of Tendulkar, a superb batsman, is drawing near. The question provokes all cricket enthusiasts and surely it is eating into the mind of Tendulkar, too!
    Every sportsman reaches the end of his or her career and Tendulkar is no exeption to this final reality. Starting young, he has had a long and distinguished career in the international cricket arena, studded with high-class performance and many thousands of runs. Age is now naturally catching up with him, and the time is drawing near when he will take the final bow from international cricket.
    It will be the end of an epic chapter in the game. Tendulkar's name will go down in history with the immortals like Bradman, Hammond, Hutton, Pataudi and many others. He will be missed by the many crcket  supporters across the world.

Trubute to an innovator for the poor

   Recent articles and reports published on Bill Gates in all national dailies is a gateway for lightening , if not removing altogether , the burden of poverty for poor of the world, is a noble and profound thought coming from the world's richest person , who really cares about them. His is a caring and motivated soul set to try and help share some of the load of the world's needy. Here is a man, seriously and sincerely trying to lighten some of the misery that most of us just shrug off and tend to ignore. We all hope and pray whatever he can to lighten the load of human misery , not even the assurance of the next meal.
    Winston Churchill once said in his speech in the House of Commons the following: 'Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.' In this case never has human misery of so many been lightened by one single person : Bill Gates . In the days ahead, we can look forward and hope that his philanthropy is directed to reduce the basic human needs for avoiding hunger, diseases, clothing and shelter for the downtrodden humanity in desperate need. Only then we can bring some small reality to the expression of providing a little ' heaven on earth', which is being pursued by this great fellow human being- for all people of the world, irrespective of class and creed. Humanity owes Bill Gates no small depth of gratitude for his magnanimity , in our strife-torn world. May his dreams and efforts for erasing ' basic wants' from mankind be crowned with more success.

Does BNP want to go to power through coup?

In the past few days, the prime minister , Sheikh Hasina, has alleged, at different meetings, that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is trying to go to power through coup. If what Sheikh Hasina says is truem it is really alarming. However, we want her to establish her claim with evidence.The position of the prime minister is of supreme importance in any country. So from a prime minister people want to hear responsible statements substantiated by proof . Rhetoric and provocative statements from any prime minister (incumbent or former) is unfortunate and disastrous for the nation. If the BNP plans to go to power using the army, it should bot be difficult for the government to prove. So we want to know the whole story from Sheikh Hasina .