I Am Asif

My then room-mate Murad had just come back from a short trip, and he was pretty damn excited. He knew I was a travel and photography buff, so he couldn't wait to show me the shots. He was going through his camera roll on his laptop, and I could see why. Their trip to Gunung Ledang (Mount Ophir) was truly scenic from the moment they hit the roads outside the city. But when finally he showed my the shot of the waterfall, I was stunned. He tried to move the slideshow along but I wouldn't let him. For the next few minutes, I just kept watching the shot, and my mind already knew that I have to be there. Soon. My thirst for traveling and love for photography both had to be drenched in those waters. So a few weeks a later when me and some pals set out for our unforgettable road trip across Malaysia , I had to put Gunung Ledang as our first stop. As we entered the park area, I was a bit concerned to be fair. My buddies also started looking at me questioningly, 'where the he...

I know it's a happy day, and I should be in a joyous mood. But today for some reason, what I'm feeling above it all is how much I miss the Eid days when I was just a kid. Things were so much simple back in that time. Eid was all about having a good time with family and friends. In the neighborhood, going from one friend's place to another in the morning, enjoying the home made mouth watering food cooked by my mom together with my family at lunch. Nothing bothering my mind. Nothing bugging me. Nothing irritating to see and endure. No constant pressure splitting my mind in half. No complications whatsoever. Plain, simple, clean merriment. Why in the world did I have to grow up? Why in the world did everything had to become so much more complicated these days? I wish I could become a kid again. A school going kid who loves to have a blast with friends and family. I really, really wish I could go back. Sorry for this grim kinda post in the joyous day for Muslims all over the ...

This post is not a very good idea. How can it be? I've decided to mention just a few of my 'friends' here, out of so many. Section A of our batch is like a freak show. Each and every character is unique and has his/her own set of ideas, morals, attitude, pros and cons. So it would be better if I could talk about them all. But instead I'm just going with my short list. For a couple of friends, staying together in the same school, college and university and always in the same section is rarity probably in the whole world. Yet, starting from class four at Udayan School, going through the time at Dhaka City College together and now here at AUST, me and Shuvro have spent 13 friggin years together. Amazed? Even I can't believe it's been that long. But the irony in it is that despite spending such a long time together, me and Shuvro never got to be close friends. Our conversations mostly comprised of me hitting on Shuvro, giving him a healthy dose of pochani , or oth...

Since we've come to our senses, one particular thing has been part and parcel of our lives, classes. So now that our classes are all over, it's been a little hard for us all to accept the situation we're being thrust into. It's hard to imagine that I'm not gonna wake in a hurry anymore, putting on the clothes as fast as I can, grabbing my bag and dashing out of home without taking breakfast, to catch the first class. There will be no more staring at the white (or black) board and struggling to keep up with the pace of the lecturer, no more staring blankly into the eyes of the teacher, not understanding a word yet pretending to know it all. No more attending the quizzes with zero preparation and not regretting about it at all. Not gonna have to submit anymore lab reports, although most I did was change the font of someone else's hard work. But above everything else, the most striking fact is that there will be no more of friends. Sound too harsh I guess, cuz you...

The last day on our trip to The Sundarbans started on an island called Dublar Char . This is a place famed for its shutki , a kind of dried fish preparation popular in Bangladesh. Right after daybreak we got out on the land to check out the place. This area is occupied for a certain period of the year by fishermen who catch fish and dry them up to produce the shutki. So almost all the people who live here are seasonal fishermen. Now in our family, we never were fans of shutki, mostly because of its awful stench. I remember back when we were in Elephant Road, our next door neighbors used to cook shutki every now and then, and we all started running this way and that, hurrying to close all the windows. So for a guy like me, this shutki island is not the place to be. If you don’t like the smell as well, you should be glad that you can’t smell them through the photos, cuz otherwise you would have to run away from the monitor. Rows upon rows of bizarre looking dried fish are hung upon s...

The sun was shining bright in the winter morning when we reached Katka . This place offers a whole set of varying experiences. We had to get into our boat again at first and head into a canal for a short distance before we came to a landing spot from where the walk towards the sea beach started. This walk of about 45 minutes is a fun ride by itself. At the beginning the forests were at a pretty fair distance on either side of our path, as our caravan of 63 with the two armed gunmen at the front and back walked deeper into the region. Soon the tree-lines started to close in on us. And then came the spot called Jamtoli , were the path only allowed a single file, and the tree branches and bushes brushed us from the sides. Now, these parts of Katka are famous for spotting tigers and a considerable number of tigers are believed to be living in and around this region. This is the area where the famed tigress ‘ Jamtolir Raani ’ (The Queen of Jamtoli) was spotted. So passing through this narr...

When we reached the region of Kochikhali, it was already getting dark. So for the rest of the night we had nothing to do but to spend the time by ourselves as our ship lay anchored at some river-branch. From the evening, me, Kanto, our beloved teacher Ferdous sir, Monzur sir, Nobin and several others sat at the very roof of the launch. From before the journey I was very eager to witness the quiet of the night and the sky once we’re inside the forest region. Here in Dhaka, we’re always deprived of the beauty of night sky thanks to the air and light pollution. So there beneath the sky I sat, looking up frequently. At first there was no moon, and the sky was filled with a dazzling collection of distant stars. It was amazing to note that despite the utter randomness of the stars up above, there was a strange sense of order in them that knew no algorithm or pattern. It was a pattern with no patterns that screamed out the Majesty of Allah’s creativity that made a man with the slightest of si...

I’ve been in trips before, and Inshallah I’ll be in a lot more in the future, but last week’s trip to The Sundarbans was one that I’ll remember most when I look back at my life. This trip was a lot of things together. Other than being a tour of absolute visual pleasure at the sight of the rivers, the sea and the forest, this trip will probably be more remembered as the trip that brought every one of us together, the students of EEE, AUST, final semester. Our caravan consisted of 61 students from all four seasons…… I mean sections, hehe, and also two of our respected teachers. Doesn’t sound like a big crowd, but I am still amazed that our group has gone through the tour with such a degree of order and unity. There’s a reason why I typed in ‘four seasons’ a little earlier. Every section of our semester and every student in each is so strikingly different and have such diverse ideas that I can’t help thanking The Almighty Allah that our tour was such a pleasant one. I don’t know how the ...

It's over in a flash. Seems like it started yesterday, and yet I'm just 3 days away from the finals of the 4th year 1st semester. This has probably been the most dull semester we've ever had. The only spark of fun came from the T-10 cricket tournament that we had. Other than that, this semester's been totally boring. But I gotta say something about a couple of courses in this semester. First up, Microwave Engineering. For those of us who took up this one instead of VLSI, it has been a decision we've regretted throughout the whole semester. Up until the very last week of the classes, I really didn't know how I would as much as get rid of this subject in the finals. But you know, even the most difficult problems can seem easy if Allah wants. And so within the 1st 3 days of the PL, I went through it like a bullet. And guess what, it doesn't seem that hard anymore, thanks to Allah. And nice to see that most of my friends who were also scared shitless about this...

Monday morning we started later than we wanted to. We were actually pretty damn tired from the extended amount of walking on the previous day. We checked out of the hotel and kept our baggage at Nahiyan's place, and took a public transport known as tempo here in our country, towards Jaflong. On our way to Jaflong we feasted our eyes with the sight of the huge mountains that are visible across the border, over in India. Well, "the mountains are always higher on the other side of the fence", hehe. The shear magnitude of the mountain range clicked the inquisitive part of my mind, it made me wonder, what secrets lay hidden in those deep valleys covered with trees. There must be places within those mountains and forests that no one has ever set foot upon. Truly Allah's creation is way wider than our thoughts can be. Jaflong is a place that combines sand, stone, and crystal clear water in a fascinating way. It is a tourist spot, yet the place is busy with labor, men ...

The spot that played the chief role in bringing us to Sylhet was the Madhabkunda water falls. On our second day, we started real early towards there in our rented microbus, right after Fajr prayer. The road to Madhabkunda was a beauty itself. Curving this way and that, climbing uphill and going down again, we wished all of our roads were like that. At about 8:30 in the morning, we reached the gates of the Madhabkunda Eco Park , from there a walk of about half an hour in necessary to reach the falls. While walking towards the fall, we already started to feel that we're really gonna like this place. We could see the water from the fall running over the rocks below, at one point we got down from the path into the water just to get our feet wet and take some photos. We kept walking and admiring the beauty of the place, and then we saw it. The water fall itself. The stream of water running down from the top of the hill is like the grand jewel in the crown that is the whole surrounding....

Me, Pulak and Rumman have been calling each other constantly, planning a trip to Sylhet . We all needed a big break, a breath of fresh air after the turmoil that we went through last month. We planned to go to Srimangal directly, instead of going to the city of Sylhet first. We wanted to have some fun on the way, so we booked train tickets. On the night of April 10, Friday, the six of us, me, Pulak, Rumman, Imran, Kanon and Rocky all gathered at the Kamlapur Rail Station in time. As scheduled, our train started for Srimangal at 10:00 p.m. Our seat arrangement was the best we could ask for, six of us facing each other. The whole night we spent awake, gossiping, laughing and constantly hitting on each other. We had some great laughs while playing chor-pulish, a famous pen-and-paper game in our country. It was a moonlit night, so as the train passed beyond the urban areas, the surroundings got more and more spectacular. I spent a lot of time just looking out from my window into the h...

The AUST EEE Society 's Electrical Day '08, held on November 27 on AUST campus, will always be unforgettable. It marked several milestones for AUST, our EEE department and also for me personally. For the last month or so, the students of our department have been working relentlessly to stage this event. For me, this event brought many 'firsts' . As I've written earlier, I've never participated in a project fair. This time, me along with four other pals (naming ourselves "gEEEks", i.e, EEE geeks), have tried really hard to put forward a solid project. But the project we took turned out to be a little too complicated for us, and unfortunately we couldn't take part in the competition. I felt really sorry for Pulak and Fahad in particular, as those two really worked hard for the project. But on the positive side, we have indeed gained a great deal of experience while working for the project. I'll never forget the trip to Patuatuli , (the IC Heaven...

The newly formed AUST EEE Society is arranging the first ever 'Electrical Day' on the last week of November. There's gonna be technical project presentation, cultural event, photography exhibition, magazine publication from the EEE department. I'm really excited about the event, and I've got some plans for it as well. Me and 4 other guys from our section have plans to submit a project about which we have been planning for the last couple of weeks or so. I've never actually participated in the science fairs that were held every year back in Udayan, but I was always a spectator, hehe. But this time I'm hoping to make a debut. I'm also gonna submit some of the photos taken by my to take a chance at the photography exhibition. Well, I know my photos are not probably good enough to be selected for the exhibition, but I'll still give it a try, nothing-to-lose style. Well, if somehow one of my photos get selected, that would be yet another first for me. Bu...

Yes, it's that time of the year again. After one month of fasting the blessed day of Eid ul Fitr has arrived again. I'm just writing this post to wish everyone a very very happy Eid and many many returns of the day. May Allah fill this day with happiness and joy. May Allah fill our hearts with the Light of Imaan, as a gift of Eid. Well, for me, the Eids are always pretty much the same. We don't have much of relatives outside of Dhaka, so we are deprived of the joy of going to our home towns or villages to spend the Eid vacation. Our Eids are mostly celebrated in the home of one of our uncles or aunts. But still this day I always enjoy with family. Not much with friends though, particularly after coming to Uttara. Most of my friends are in downtown Dhaka and I can't join their 'addas' on Eid. Another thing I enjoy on Eid day is the emptiness in streets of Dhaka. The usually jam packed and over populated streets become totally deserted, as the thousands of inhab...

Last Friday I had Iftar with varsity pals Shourav and Kanto and three of their school friends. We went to Captain's World , a recently popular place in Dhaka. Actually Shourav wanted to gather many more friends from AUST, but unfortunately only me and Kanto replied to his sms. Anyways, the Iftar was good, we didn't take any of the usual Iftar items like piaju, beguni (it always makes me wonder, why do these food items always make an entry in Ramadaan, and disappear for the rest of the year), instead we took tanduri chicken, nun, chicken broast, kabab and drinks. The food I admit, was pretty good, and we all enjoyed the time. The three guys from Kanto and Shourav's school I met for the first time there, and they were pretty friendly people. One thing really hurt me in that place. They have made arrangements for Iftar, so that people can break their fast after having their stomachs empty for the whole day for the sake of Islam, while we were sitting there, recitation from t...

After coming to Uttara, whenever its raining in daytime, and I'm at home and have not taken my shower already, then you wouldn't find me in my room. Instead I'd be on the roof, taking a shower in the rain. That's why a couple of days ago when it started to rain pretty heavily at noon, I went straight up. I don't know why, I just love the feeling of the rain on my body. Many of us believe that walking in the rain will cause fever or cold. I had the similar idea many years ago. I had a home tutor who used to teach me math, he said that this concept is nothing but psychological. Because thousands of rickshaw pullers in street are getting soaked in the rain all day, but they don't catch cold, otherwise there would be no rickshaw pullers to be found on the street the following day as they would all catch fever. They don't catch cold cuz they are not concerned about it. Since then, my fear of catching cold in rain was over, whenever I had a chance, I got myself so...

Today, 19 April 2008, is indeed a long awaited day for Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST). It marks the beginning of a new era for the already well known and established institution, as the new semester starts in its elaborate permanent campus. It is also historic in the context of the educational institutes of Bangladesh, as AUST becomes the first among the private universities of the country to move to its permanent home. The campus was inaugurated by the President of Bangladesh and Chancellor of the University Prof. Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed on 31 March. The new campus is not only huge in size, but also exclusively designed and spacious, promising all the facilities required for a university of international standards. The visually pleasing edifice is divided into four separate blocks, and the 10 story building including 2 basement levels has more than 4 lac square foot area as a whole ( Click here for details). The students of the university has been demanding the mo...

On the 26, 27 and 28 March, I've been out on a 3 day Jamaat of Tabligh. I've been on a Jamaat before, but never for 3 days completely. My father wouldn't allow me to stay over because he cared a little too much for me. This is the first time I've traveled on the path of Allah with my bed on my shoulders and slept in the mosque. The independence day of our country have marked a different sort of independence for me. I've wondered how much difference there can be in staying over and not. Well, I've just found out that there's a huge gap. Whenever you want success, in any aspect of life, there needs to be some sacrifice, the more the sacrifice, the more closer you get to your goal. It goes for studies, profession, everything. Same theory applies for Imaan as well. The more hardship you go through for the sake of Deen, the better is your Imaan and steadfastness on the guidelines of Islam. There needs to be a great amount of hardship and sacrifice to attain the I...

Yup, the long awaited March 19 arrives, and the semester final of the 2nd year 2nd semester is over! Well, it's not that I've been very much restricted due to the exams, because I don't study much (about which my friends will object, but it's true), and I'm always kinda not too bothered about the outcome of the 3 hour exams, but, you know, even for the sake of keeping the 'exam environment' you can't do what you want while the exam is going, right? But now that the exam is over, you can do what you want. So here I am writing again. While the exams are on I always have so many big plans made for the break, but when it's over, I always kinda lose interest in them. Does it happen to you too? I've got some plans regarding the web though, which Inshallah I will go through with. I'm planning to start writing on my Islamic blog again, which has been a project which never found full swing. I also plan to make a new blog about the everyday Sunnahs t...