Fashion: Tatoo/The New AGE Culture??

Yes it is true; youngsters today are crazy about getting Tattoos. They can get tattoos nearly any and every part of their body and despite its excruciating pain tattoo is yet the most demanding fashion style. Interesting enough it not only attracts young and trendy or “cool” customers but it is also a hip for the Old people. Tattoo sees no age, no race, no culture. It has penetrated the fashion house with its expanded veins that has captured millions of heart today.

So what is a Tattoo? According to Wikipedia’s definition A tattoo, is a permanent mark made by inserting pigment into the skin for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification. Most shockingly it is commonly used on animals for identification or branding. Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since Neolithic times and has creeped into the twenty first era as a new fashion.

Tattoos are used for different purposes like to display religious symbols, mark of status or bravery, pledges of love ( which is currently the most popular approach to tattoo) and also to mark the outcasts, slaves and convicts. People chooses tattoo to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups, including criminal but also a particular ethnic group or law-abiding subculture. The best example of tattoo used as Identification is done by the Jews during the Holocaust. What ever the history of tattoo was, today’s generation has created a new history into the world of cosmetics where tattoo is a means to achieve bold beauty.

There are different types of tattoos Chinese tattoo, UV tattoo, three dots tattoo, two dots tattoo, Dragon tattoo, tribal tattoo and more. Tattoos come in many variations, images and icons. Although we do not get to see quite often any Bangladeshi youth carrying tattoos on their bodies but nevertheless it is penetrating into the fashion industry like fire. Temporary Tattoos are available in the market which many boys and girls are using to display their personality on their bodies. Whatever the case is there is always risk involved in it. First of all it is permanent and removal is hardly successful, and secondly it may develop allergic reactions on your body due to ink that has been used. No matter parents may disagree with this form of fashion there will always be an attraction to the forbidden apple and that’s probably why Tattoo is the unconventional craze today.

Fashion: The Hijaab

The youth today is very much concerned about their looks and try their best to keep their fashion style up-to-date. Although short kurta, jeans, salwar kameez, and saree are the majority choice of women today, however, a slight change in the fashion market can be noticed. Recently women are becoming more close to their spiritual identity and being Muslims they understand their duty to wear hijaab. Hijaab has been a topic of controversy since September 9/11 nevertheless at the same time it has also gained huge popularity among the Muslim women. HIjaab is seen not as a fashion only it is a duty that Muslim women strongly believe in. A 22 year old young woman named Fawzia Malik says : “Wearing the Hijaab isn't just a matter of simply putting a piece of cloth on your head, it is an attitude, a way of thinking and behaving, and accepting yourself for who and what you are. Basically it constitutes an Islamic way of life”. Although looking at the Afghanis people may assume hijaab to be oppressive but to the rest of the Muslim world it is rather a choice.

A recent Fashion show held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has created a buzz all over the fashion world. This fashion show was exclusively for Muslim women who wear Abaya’s, Jilbaabs, Burkha, Veil, Hijaab- you name it! This fashion show reflected the growing influence of Islamic creed in Malaysia, representing how enchanting a head veil can be. They presented a total of about 100 designers from all over the Muslim countries.

Amongst them a Bangladeshi Designer Roxana Salem held her very own international hijaab fashion show and earned a name of fame with others in the row of Islamic Fashion line. Salam also displayed her work for the first time in Bangladesh in collaboration with NTV a fashion show has been arranged recently with the title “Shada Kalo” where Salam displayed her work for the first time in Bangladesh. She has introduced fashionable and eye catching hijaabs that attract customers of every age. Now a days street are filled with burkha fashion in Dhaka. The customers are mostly young, educated and enlightened women who think wearing Hijaab is not only a duty but something that differentiate them as Muslims. They believe it restores respect and dignity of the women status into the society.

Hijaab as a fashion brought in various gears into fashion such as niqaabs, scarves, brooches, pins, shayla’s, gloves and of course various cuts of gowns are available. Although historically significant black colored hijaab has always been a hit, but now these gowns come in various colors, designs and cuts. It is no more “just” wearing jilbaabs; rather it is about carrying it off with a fling of style. Many stores are available in Bashundhara City Mall where one can easily choose their type of hijaab with negotiable prices.

Internationally Hijaab designers are ambitiously thinking of different form of hijaabs. They are creating hijaabs suitable for sports activities such as swimming as well as skating. It is a sign of liberation in case of women who wears it which allows them to do any activity maintaining their identities. It is no more a cultural expression of the East but instead it emerged as a symbol of believe which the women are not ready to give up even under pressure. Next time any one thinks Hijaab is boring, uncouth and oppressive check these pictures out perceptions are changing!!

Celebrity: Heaven to hell

A known face amongst the mass. A known icon for the youth for a short period of time. Inherited massive power. The once rocking rising reliable young political icon, T. Rahmaan!

He was one of youth ideal, who wanted to posses power in society, thought of accounting the BNP Party, and upholding the next torch of current dieing leadership of his father's dream the BNP.

From his elite lifestyle, riding the 7th Series BMW, he is now in the rows of pick pockets and petty thieves. Behind the bars, for things which he might have done, yet needs legal identification.

The youth who might have put on hopes of this emerging new leader of the prominent party is now in despair. The real face of leaders in our country is evident, and the successor are quite well following the footsteps of their father, and this is what we can take as an example. Corruption, crime, and illegal pursuit of wealth is a cause of such fall on face situation for mean politician around our nation.

I don't know what will happen to Bangladesh, in the coming years, months or even days, we are living in uncertainty, and if the corrupted flocks come out again, our nation will never be able to raise its backbone.

The status quo isn't also giving a warm feeling either, the current X-men administration is pain in the neck for the mass, where the most essential food price is way beyond reach of hundreds of thousands of people.

The correct leadership, is what Bangladesh needs. And expecting such leadership, from the puppet leaders and corrupt figures would be foolish.

New leadership expecting from the corrupt system would be seeking fruits from a dead tree, which can only be used to fuel and burn...