Its great to have good friends

Friendship is one of the sacred relationships in this world I think. A good friend is a precious gem for your life. There are many ways how one can be a friend to other. I don't wanna talk about those things. What I wanna tell here is I am feeling great to have few very good friends.


Throughout my life I have very small number of friends. Well, I have many friends in fact but the number becomes small when it comes to good friends. But I am not unhappy for that as I found those few persons really good to me.


For more than a month I have been preparing myself and my stuffs to leave my country for higher education. I was having very hard times to do this and that. There are so many stuffs to fix. I had a small business here that needed to be closed and it caused many things to do. My friends helped me out to do those things as I had a job until end of July. I also got my friends around me while preparing things for my going abroad.


If you don't have a millionaire father you will find every penny important while your are preparing yourself to go abroad. So many scattered stuffs cause you a good amount of money. I was also feeling that while do shopping and other things. At that time my friends came forward to help me.


It started with Shujon. One day he was asking me if I need Tshirt while in Finland. I said of course I do and many in number. Just after that he told me to buy Tshirts of my choice and he will pay for those. I was a bit amazed to hear that. Few days later Jashim asked me if I had bought jeans. I told him that I have bought one and I need one more. He told me to buy it and he will pay for it. I was amazed again. Later Tasnim asked me how is my shopping going on. I said its going well. Yet to buy few things. He was asking what else. I told him different things and among those he told me he will buy me a sports sandals. Again I was amazed.


I know about them very well. Right now none of them is in good financial condition. Yet they wanted to help me and the most important thing is they told me before I bought those things which really helped me to save some of my money. I have got gifts from my relatives. They came to my home on last Friday and gave me different things but I already have finished my shopping and now those gifts are just extra stuffs to me. If the weight barriers doesn't allow me I wont bring those.


I always got support from my close friends. I found them always beside me. This time again I found how supportive they are to me. These days they call me every now and then - where I am, what I am doing, if I can meet them. Their attitude makes me feel how good we are to each other and how they will miss me while I wont be available. I will miss you, my friends ;-(




Programming solution

Got my passport with resident permit

I told earlier that I am waiting for my visa to be issued in my passport. For that I needed to submit my passport in the embassy of Finland in New Delhi but this time I didn't go there to submit my passport. One of the senior brothers from my graduating school went there to submit his and his wife's passport and I just send my passport along with him.


Rajit vi(the senior brother) submitted my passport in the embassy and without any hassle they issued the resident permit in my passport and returned it to him. Last Thursday I have collected my passport from Rajid vi's home. He returned from India on Wednesday midnight. So now I am having a passport with Finnish resident permit by which I can visit any country belongs to European Union :)




Programming solution

Farewell from village

Last week I went to my village to meet my relatives. I am going to leave Bangladesh mid August, so it was a kinda farewell from them.

It was a very short visit - only for 2 days. I was running from one place to another without any break. I met almost everybody that I should see before going. They wished me good luck. Some of my aunts cried which expresses their love for me. Actually it is not only for me; they feel the same way for any of their relatives. Iknew it, still seeing them crying melted my heart. May be they wont remember me much but they want me to be fine always.




Programming solution

A bad farewell

Last Tuesday was my last working day in Bording Vista Limited. So its my farewell day. Unfortunately it was not a good farewell for me. Really not at all.


For the long visa processing thing I couldn't tell the management in proper time that I will leave in August. In the employee handbook it is written that if any emplyee wants to resign he/she has to give at least 1 month's notice. In my case I could give only 2 weeks' notice. Our project was frozen from July 10 to August 10 as our client is from Sweden and they are on vacation in summer for one month. So I thought it wouldn't be a problem as I don't have any work other than browsing and chatting during this one month while in the office. But as I told them they didn't hear any of my situation. They were just pointing out one thing that I am breaking the rule. As they were telling me that I am breaking the rule I decided to point out one thing in which the management broke the rule. It is clearly written that in every 3 months there will be an appraisal meeting with each employee but for last 6 months there was no appraisal meeting in our office. I pointed to this and for my amazement our CEO, Jan, turned into red. He couldn't answer properly and so did our GM. May be after this they became mad at me and told me to leave on that day. Later, in August, they will give my release letter.


I didn't think that they would do something like this. If I could guess earlier then I would think of some other ways which would be tricky but safer for me. Anyway, now I have finished with Bording Vista. The only thing that gives me pain sometimes is the bad farewell at the end of day :(





Programming solution

My resident permit in Finland is approved

I have got a confirmation email from the embassy of Finland, New Delhi. They said my resident permit has been approved and I should submit my passport for issuing. This mail finalized everything about going to Finland.

I should be very happy upon reading that mail but I don't know why I couldn't be that much. It kinda made me sad. Strange human mind :)




Programming solution

Happy Birthday Shujon

25 July is Shujon's birthday and we had a gathering this morning. This time he gave us a breakfast treat in a very famous restaurant name "Ghoroa Hotel" in Motijheel.

We 6(Shujon, Jashim, Razib, Khalid, Tasnim & Me) started around 0730 for Motijheel. As we entered the restaurant we found it so much crowded. We managed to get a table which was not big enough for 6 persons. Anyway, we managed somehow.

The menu was mouth watering. I am not telling it here for I don't want you people drooling right now :D When the bill came to our table we amazingly found the price is cheaper than other restaurant compared to the quality. We were impressed.

Happy Birthday Shujon and again thanks for a very nice breakfast :)




Programming solution

Unlimited fried chicken party

Yesterday afternoon there was an arrangement of unlimited fried chicken for everybody in our office. Our General Manager donated the party. He declared "you can take as many chicken as you want".


More than 100 pieces(I don't know the exact number) of fried chicken came from BFC for around 25 persons. I don't like fried chicken much yet I took 3. Tanvir vi swallowed highest number of chicken. He took 8.


There were soft drinks and lots of Danish chocolates. Our CEO returned from Denmark after his summer vacation bringing an enormous number of chocolates with him. As a whole the party was a fun :)




Programming solution

Sunny vi and Nabila apa's farewell

Last Thursday was the last working day of Sunny vi in Bording Vista. His wife, Nabila apa, left a week earlier. Both of them are going to USA to complete their masters in Arlington University, Texas. In the afternoon they arranged a treat for us on that day.


At work Sunny vi used to sit just beside me. We worked in the same team, Bording Combination. So we were very close as we worked together for almost 6 months in the same project. I like sunny vi as a coworker. Nabila apa was in another team yet I was in good term with her as she has good relation with everybody in the office. I respect her for her good quality to mingle with everybody equally.


I don't know why for last few weeks the distance between sunny vi and me increased. It seemed to me kinda invisible distance which can be felt only but still we are good friends and very helpful to each other. They are a very nice couple. I wish them all the best in every steps of their life in future and hopefully we will be in touch even though being a long distance apart. Well, to tell you the truth I kinda envy this couple :P Good luck sunny vi and nabila apa :)


Here are few pictures of their last working day in Bording Vista.




Sunny vi and me





Sunny vi, in between Tanvir vi and me





The Bording Combination team. Mizan vi, one member of the team, is absent there





Here is the couple; taking gift





Unwrapping another gift box.





Nabila apa is playing nintendo on that day. Look at her face; so serious :D





Programming solution

I lost the quarter final match

I was already in quarter final in our Bording Vista wii tennis championship. Yesterday was my quarter final match against Andalib, one of the interns in our company. I lost the match by 3-1.


The match was planned as 5 set and each set is based on best of 5 game. I lost the first 2 sets, then won the 3rd set and then lost the 4th set again. So Andalib reached semi final and I am now out of the tournament.


I think Andalib is the best player in our office in wii tennis. He is the probable champion of this tournament.




Programming solution

The cruel money matter

All of you know I am preparing everything for going to TUT this August. Going abroad always concerns money. I needed a huge amount of money to be deposited in my bank account to prove that I won't die due to lacking of food while in Finland. That is only a show money. I don't have that amount of money, nor my family does. As a result I had to borrow money from several persons - from relatives and also from friends.


While I was borrowing I had bitter experience. Well, you always will have in such kinda cases. I found asking friends is easier than to ask your relatives while it comes to money. I found people are not so willing to lend money. May be they are giving but not so willingly. It becomes more painful when you get it clearly(if you have some gray matter inside your skull its not so difficult) that the person you are asking has the money for sure and he can give you without having any problem yet he is trying to avoid. I went through all these kinda situations.


Now, another thing may happen to you when you ask someone to lend money. In this case you will find the person is willing to help you though he is having problem. You need money badly, the whole thing will be stopped if you wont get that money and at the same time you know if you take that money he will have hard times. So what will happen then? I think you will be jeopardized. And when you decide to take the money you will feel so bad, so down. Unfortunately I went through this situation as well and I decided to take the money :(




Programming solution

Breakfast treat from Jashim on his Birthday

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Jashim
Happy birthday to you !!!

Today, July 4, is one of my close friends, Jashim's Birthday. Yesterday Razib and Khalid had a plan and they let us know. Finally it was decided that we would go to Jashim's home very early this morning to wake him up from his pleasant sleep. There was another inner plan. You will know it in awhile :D


As our plan we (Razib, Khalid, Shujon, Tasnim and me) went to Jashim's home around 0730 am this morning. He woke up with an irritated look in his face. For sure he wanted to sleep longer today as its Friday. We wish him very happy birthday and then went to a restaurant to have our breakfast. This was our another plan, to get a fresh breakfast treat from him :D


The restaurant is in our area; just few minutes walk from his home. It was not so good yet we enjoyed the breakfast. We were burping after eating a lot but only Jashim was like this :@ and asking "who is the culprit to generate this idea?" :D Anyway Jashim, we had a good time just for few bucks :)




Programming solution

WII tournament in Bording Vista

Today I have joined office after a week long holiday. I took one week leave from the office for the India stuffs. I found most of the Bording Vista staffs in a cheerful mood today. They are excited about the upcoming event, in fact the first event, arranged by the staff association. The nintendo wii tennis championship will start after 6 o'clock today. For the time being only tennis is selected as the game.


So much gossiping is going on about the championship. The fixture is finalized already. A poll is created in our sharepoint2007 based intranet site. People are giving response - who will be the group champion. They are trying to keep their team mates ahead of others. Everybody is entertaining. Looks like our staff association is going to be successful to arrange their first event :)




Programming solution

Came back to Dhaka after the first ever abroad trip

On Wednesday midnight around 0230 am I came home after the long tiresome trip to India. The total trip was around 80 hours and I didn't halt anywhere for a single day. I was running from one place to another without any break and finally finished the whole thing just within 3 days.


I posted my last post from a cyber cafe near the New Delhi train station. At that time I already finished the embassy stuffs, booked the ticket and waiting for the train to come to the station. After posting that I had my lunch in a fast food shop and then got in the train station. The Shealdah Rajdhani express started at 0445 pm. All the things were same as the train in which I came to New Delhi. Again I enjoyed the train journey and reached Calcutta the next day(Wednesday) around 11 am. My bus to Dhaka was at 1230 pm. I took the lunch in Dhakai restaurant named Kasturi. The journey to Dhaka started at 1230.


I reached Haridashpur, the Indian border around 4 pm. The immigration and customs formalities took around 2.5 hours and then I got in another bus from Benapol, the Bangladeshi border. This time the bus was a business class RM2 model Hino. So the journey was comfortable than the previous ones in bus. On the way there was a ferry journey for around 20 minutes. I went to the roof top of the ferry. The wind was blowing so heavily. The cold wind made me calm. It was around 11 pm night. The night was so nice.


Finally I reached Dhaka around 2 am. It looked like a dead city. I was a bit afraid to come home at that dead of night yet I took a rickshaw by the name of almighty and came home around 0230 am. So at this point the long journey came to an end.


During this trip I couldn't roam around much. All the time I had to carry my bag containing all my cloths and documents. It was a bit heavy. So most of the time I tried to sit in one place :D During the trip I noticed few things :

1. Calcutta seems more dirty than Dhaka to me.
2. People of Calcutta are very economical, in fact miser. I heard that before but now I saw it real.
3. New Delhi is a very nice city - clean, less traffic jam. Most of the roads are very wide.
4. Indian people smoke rarely. I didn't see anyone smoking in public. Smoking inside the train station is even not allowed at all.
5. Indian railway service is much better than my expectation.
6. A nice thing of Indian people is they like to use their own product. You will rarely find Japanese or American cars in their street. Even in case of consumer products they don't depend on foreign products. Great virtue for a developing nation :)




Programming solution

In abroad for the first time in my life

Right now I am sitting in a cyber cafe in New Delhi just beside the train station. This is my first ever trip to outside Bangladesh.

I came to Delhi to submit my visa application in Finnish embassy. You people know that I have got admission in Tampere University of Technology(TUT) and then I decided to go there to have my masters degree. It's a pity for us that there is no finnish embassy office in Bangladesh. So I had to come to India as New Delhi is the nearest high commission office from Dhaka.

I reached Calcutta yesterday around 1 pm. I somehow managed a Rajdhani express sleeper class ticket from Calcutta to New Delhi ;) It was a long train journey, around 18 hours but it was nice. I slept on my bed for almost 9 hours. It was air conditioned and their service is very good. The ticket is so expensive. So I was looking forward to check their service but they impressed me totally. They provide all the things we need. From blanket to pillow with brand washed pillow cover, 2 bed sheets(also washed and so clean). The food was also good. They provide sufficient food for a single person. I don't have enough time but I am just telling in short.

6 pm : Snacks; Item : sandwitch, one piece of sweet(shonpapri), chocolate, a packet of chanachur and tea
8 pm : Appetizer; Item : 2 toast with butter and thai soup with tasting salt and pepper
9 pm : Dinner; Item : fried rice, hand made bread, daal, chicken curry(2 pieces), salad, fried fish, pickle, yougurt and finally ice cream
8 am : Tea with cookies.
9 am : Breakfast; Item : 3 piece of bread, butter, jelly, a banana, egg fry, french fry(very small amount) and soft bean(motor_shuti shiddho - very small amount)

I enjoyed the train journey. I have finished the stuffs in Finnish embassy. I came back to the station and got the same class ticket from New Delhi to Calcutta today at 0430 pm India time. Its very much expensive but again I took that as I am impressed by the speed and also by their service. I will reach calcutta around 11 am tomorrow. Till then bye. I will update you people later :)




Programming solution

Hoping to go to India tonight

I am hoping to leave for India tonight. I am going there to face the Finnish embassy as there is no Finnish embassy in Bangladesh. I have managed the bus ticket earlier but the funny thing is the visa is not yet in my hand. Hopefully I will get the visa around 5 pm today and my bus is at 1030 pm :D


Right now I am in a hurry. I have to go to the insurance company to get my health insurance papers. Its not yet done :P The application form and all other documents that are supposed to be submitted in Finnish embassy has to be fixed soon. The whole process is a very hectic one. I will try to give update here from time to time :)




Programming solution

Nintendo wii in Bording Vista

Its an amazing news for us. Nintendo wii in our office Bording Vista. We heard about it long ago, around 3 months back but we were not so hopeful. We heard about massage chair 7 months back and that is not yet arrived. So we thought nintendo wii will be like that, wont show up within 7-8 months but we were wrong.


Last week suddenly we found our CEO was checking something in the small conference room with 2 remote like white colored thing. The LCD wide screen was showing some gaming options. Then we heard that nintendo wii is now in our office and we can play it without hampering our work, recommended by the authority after office hour.


I tried the gaming console. I was expecting some more reality in it but still its so nice, some said awesome. These days few staffs go home very late who used to go very early before. They are becoming fan of nintendo. Playing game with that is really fun :) Here is a video from youtube to have a look what nintendo wii really is.







Programming solution

Staff association in Bording Vista

A staff association is formed in Bording Vista. There was a formal meeting about it in our office on last Wednesday. In the meeting the constitution of the association was described. The monthly amount of money for subscription is fixed. After that the active management committee for this year was selected.


The main purpose of the staff association is to arrange social events so that interactions between the employees will increase. It will arrange yearly 1 or 2 big events like a picnic or tour outside dhaka. There may be 1 monthly small event like watching movie in cineplex or gaming contest after office hour or in weekend. There is another category of social events called random event which can be arranged any day at any time. Random event can be birthday celebration of any employee or something like that.


The monthly subscription fee for each member of the staff association is 200 taka. To raise the fund Bording Vista authority will provide another 200 taka montly for each employee which means 400 taka will be deposited to the staff association account each moth for each member.


The idea seems very nice to me. All of us are waiting to see the outcome of Bording Vista staff association :)




Programming solution

Our project manager quit

I think you people remember Martin(the guy with very heavy hand :P ). He was our project manager in the project DMP6 Management Console. I said "was" because he has quit his job last week. He got offer from another Swedish company. So right now we are going without a project manager. May be within few days another project manager will be assigned.


Right now its our talk among the DMP project team members how our new project manager will be. Martin was a good project manager. He is very sound technically. It was nice to work with him. We are hoping our next project manager will be like him.




Programming solution

Last lecture of Randy Pausch

Few days back I got a link of a video. I was having hard time to watch it in the office. Yesterday I managed time during my lunch hour and watched the video. I found its the last lecture of a professor of USA who is having pancreas cancer and will die within a month. This video is a reprise of his last lecture to his students in the university. The lecture is nice and it made me somewhat emotional. I wanna share it and hope everybody will like it.

Click here to watch the video




Programming solution

I watched Movie in Modhumita hall after a long time

On Friday last I, along with Jashim went to Modhumita movie theater. There was a 2 movie show in 1 ticket. The first movie was Transformer and the second one was Hulk.


It was quite a long time I haven’t been to Modhumita to watch movie. It was my favorite movie theater during my college days. It was very near to Notre Dame College; just 15 minutes walk I guess. So I used to go to Modhumita very often after the classes end. It is the first theater in Bangladesh to introduce dolby digital sound system.


The show started exactly at 6 pm. I found the air conditioner was not working well. It was a bit hotter than it was supposed to be. Then the great shock came to me. The sound seemed so poor, no sign of surround sound. Just think you are watching a movie like Transformer and there is no surround sound. We ended Transformer in that way. After the intermission Hulk started and this time the sound was good and we were getting surround sound effect but the picture quality was so poor, so dark. When the show ended we left the theater hall with a heavy heart seeing the quality of Modhumita hall these days which was our favorite movie hall just a decade ago :(




Programming solution