Nizamuddin Ahmed

The history of camouflage is as old as animals hiding in their natural habitat. Human beings, perhaps the greatest copycats, took quite a while but never looked back, especially since World War I when military forces massively exploited the craft. Over the years, few of us can deny not having taken refuge in the art of disguise and deception at some time in our life.

British historian Lord Acton's 130-year-old observation that a person's sense of morality diminishes as his/her power increases is true

Terrorists kill without discrimination. Their tactics differentiate them from freedom fighters. Terrorists have no religion. They may have names—Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim or any other.

America, of US fame, like most countries including Bangladesh, is a nation that thrives on “firsts”. From Benjamin Franklin's discovery in 1747 of the principle of electric charge conservation

You never know until they tell you. We humans have been perennially judging each other by appearances mainly, but also by what we say or do or not.

The chain reaction, which culminated into the Chawkbazar devastation last Wednesday, was reportedly detonated by a car's gas cylinder that burst, leading to the explosion of plastic goods and chemicals stored in an area of mixed occupancies.

It's three in the afternoon. I have just retired from my routine lunch. As I settle down to relax with the day's newspaper and a bit of a shuteye, my mobile gives me a rude startle. Being someone whose occupation demands connectivity, I need to receive every call, and so I do.

Level playing field” was the most popular phrase before the 11th national parliamentary elections, and after.

The young man delivered the hot biriyani at our door. I thanked him and paid him his company's due, and a little something extra for his service.

Architects, not all, will perhaps offer a convincing reason for choosing the subject and the profession. Dialectics may vary from

My Name Is Khan” is a 2010 Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol starrer Indian hit film. In the cine world, plagiarism is the name of the game, and sure enough Dhallywood followed suit in 2013 with a romantic action movie by the same name with local heartthrobs Shakib Khan and Apu Biswas doing the honours.

That does not imply we can do anything with it, on it and besides it. This license of ownership is rather a delegation of responsibility that very few of us understand, and therefore are unable to fulfil.

To be honest there has not been any clarion call from any quarters, least of all the fallacious source of all power, nor from any of my well-wishers, relatives or "true" friends for me to submit my candidacy for election to the Jatiya Sangsad.

A tennis umpire worldwide commences a game uttering what sounds like “Love all”. To the French, it means “l'oeuf” (pronounced love),

Going overboard for even acquaintances, nationalism for the appropriate cause and at the right time, united in the face of any natural calamity, and indulging in innocent gossiping (read: harmless backbiting) are some of the finer points of a native Bangladeshi.

Ignorance and defiance in combination with irresponsibility can be disastrous, more so if wrongdoers can get away with murder with a little help from delinquent sections of the state machinery.

Our imagin-ation seldom can reach beyond the immediacy of time. We are free to jump on an illusory time-machine to traverse from a million year old cave to an undersea home in Mars, yet we do not venture even within that limited range; either way beyond is dark (or bright), who knows?

Passenger safety or dignity were never the strong points of transport workers starting from the ticket counter till pushing them off a bus.

A 40-year-old Argentina supporter wanted to raise the blue and white stripes atop his building in Dhaka. His hand-held flag-mast came in contact with high voltage electricity.

The morning was laden with an overcast sky, yet a brazen sunburst rifting through the haze bode a promising day. Despite the overwhelming laze and considerable reluctance, I moved my gaze away from the engaging serenity. With much disinterest I leafed through the pages of a newspaper lying beside me. There she was spread all across the front page, affording me a perchance face-to-face meeting. However virtual, the famed Indian silver screen infatuation of millions was in my hands.