Tomorrow I will be in Anglophiles

Anyone is welcome between 8.30 and 9.00 - we work till 12. I intend to bring in a lot of tasks to assign to individuals. Today I assigned some work with Tapojit, Saiti, Saikat, Rakeen, and Raisa - we were later joined by Prachi.

Works assigned to them are -

Picture of Dorian Gray, Colonial Enlightenments [Ch 1 & 5], Manifesto of Communist Party - the second BOOK is actually rather very challenging. But I am very sure that those whom I talked to would do it perfectly.

Movies Assigned:
Ryan's Daughter, Ek Din Achanak, Dancing at Lughnasa

We Begin Tomorrow

It is rather embarrassing that NO post could be placed in the last 24 hours. However, today morning we had meeting with two in our SAT class - Irtija and Ishmum. They had been assigned with the following items:

Irtija: Moby Dick [Preferred reading from print]
Ishmum: Sophie's World [from Print!]
Tasneem: Anna Akhmatova [Although I have not met her in person, I have assigned her with readings of Akhmatova poetry - it is going to be linked with readings, RECORDINGS, voice-acting, based on further investigations into Richard Burton style.]
 

It is rather interesting that neither Irtija nor Ishmum could manage reading the above TWO Mandatory Readings last year. This year - it is their FIRST Priority. I must say that both are challenging read. Irtija had some very APPROVING Comments for SOphie's World - I wish I had some of his comments on the BLOG.

Interestingly, our session was later joined by Rumana Hayat - who came to seek ANGLOPHILES assistance for her upcoming GMAT exam. She did her bachelors from Dhaka and for the last 10 Years [!] had been working with Telenor in its HQ in Oslo, Norway. The session was a four-way discussion about everything regarding education, exams, exam-tips, life in a corporate world, PLAN for future, and a short discussion about Face Book [the fairer properties of which I have just started rediscovering.] I thoroughly enjoyed the morning.

I will go to the class with a HUGE list of working-items - anyone is welcome - just make sure that you have made a Prior Declaration.

Special NOTE: I have chosen Richard in his sixties [Actor's Age] and Akhmatova in her late teens [Poet's Age] to represent their individual flair. 

Eid Mubarak

Eid Mubarak to you all!

I will keep the BLOG posted throughout the whole day tomorrow. Our classes resume by the day after. Please let me know if you think that you need a One-to-one meeting with me.

Three DAY Plan - the next EMERGENCY

I am fairly satisfied with the responses I received from you all in the AFTERMATH of BIG Day. I am also very satisfied that many of you have now started working with a renewed gusto - although this is NOT TRUE for ALL of you. Most of you have sent me 3-day plan - except fro a few- it is hoped that all of you will send me responses within today.

Some of your parents are pressing for MEETINGS with me - well, there is NO such EMERGENCY. Rather, I feel that now I need to spend more time with my students. Such meetings can only be arranged after 3rd August.

Those of you who are yet to receive any specific task from me - are instructed to send me EMERGENCY mails by today. I will assign you with works and we will resume FULL-scale from Thursday onwards.

You have seen that I have assigned Rakibul with the latest novel by Amitabh Ghosh - River of Smoke. I plan to make him work on a research paper - provided that he is UP TO THE Task. Like all the other novels of past years - I have chosen a novel that is quite ambitious in terms of its narrative sweep - it does require an exceptionally prepared MIND to work on such novels. I have three more novels to assign - it is YOUR DUTY to convince me that you are prepared for the GO. Send me all sorts of reading reports - be ambitious and reckless in your approach.

Big Day - Aftermath - I will BLOG another post tonight

You are ALL requested to send a plan for the next three days. I will pick up ONE more student for beginning to work on ED. Send this mail immediately you see this POST.

Those of you who will meet me tomorrow are named below. But if any of you want to meet me on a SPECIFIC purpose - must inform over the mail.

I want to meet following people Tomorrow at 8.30 AM.

Oni
Abhijeet
Ishmum
Afsana (9.00 AM) - (If you can manage the transport)
Ahnaf - for SAT-I mock (Must arrive at 8.30)
Khairul (You have NOT sent me any mail)
Marisha (I need only 1.30 hours with you)

Raag Charukeshi - Pandit V. Balsara and Pandit Gnanprakash Ghosh

I will begin with a background of a duet of Oriental and Occidental music - a composition in Raag Charukeshi - performed by Pandit V. Balsara and Pandit Gnanprakash Ghosh.

V. Balsara and Gnanprakash Ghosh

Followed by R Shanker, and his illustrious disciple and daughter Anoushka

R Shanker
Anoushka

আজি বিচিএ একি বিচিএ Pandit Kishan Maharaj - Padma Bivushan
বানারাস Benaras: City of Gods

Welcome!

Saturday MEET - Attendance MANDATORY - Penalization for being ABSENT

Students,

You are ALL required to attend SATURDAY meeting. We will select the students who will work with me from THIS week for ED to various colleges.

If you FAIL to attend SATURDAY class - you will be suspended from SAT/Application class for 2 weeks. No one will be allowed to attend this Saturday class UNLESS you send me a mail notification that you are coming.

সবাইকে আবারও বলা হলো - তোমাদের শনিবার সকাল ৯.০০ টায় আসতে হবে

A Day off Tomorrow - The Big Day - Registration with Notredame College

I will be in the class tomorrow - but unless you have anything specific, you are requested to skip any meeting. We will meet on THURSDAY and SATURDAY.I have decided that SATURDAY will be the BIG Day for deciding which ones of you are going to start working on Applications with me from the next week.

This is also to remind that NOTREDAME College is fast getting filled up and if you still haven't booked your seat - you may have to go to Chittagong. Soumma, thank you so much for reminding me that I should warn others about this REGISTRATION issue. 

A Thank You Note

In the last 3 weeks I had been giving assignments to students - Tasneem, Rakeen, Saiti, Afsara, Anik, Khairul, Sumik, Rakib, Ahnaf, Raisa, Adib, Rafi, Swati - I feel that I had been brought to 'down on my knees' in my repeated attempts to produce something 'substantial' in terms of INQUIRY that these requests were intended to produce. In vain I have waited - I have argued, cajoled, asked smilingly, and threatened 'dire consequences' for those who would not comply.

The result of such attempts has already proved to be devastating for my health - I have become BITTER, MOROSE, ABUSIVE, Sarcastically Malicious - but you people would NOT comply to the "Call".

Thank you everyone for teaching me a lesson.

SAT Exam Center at Notre Dame College, Dhaka is fast being filled up - if you still have NOT registered for SAT - you are requested to do so - otherwise you will have to go to Chittagong to appear SAT.

My Response to Tapojit's report on The Great Gatsby

Tapojit,

This report is HARDLY anything but a summary. What are YOUR thoughts? What time does the NOVEL try to mirror? What would be the author's attitude towards the Principal Characters?

What is JAZZ age? What is Roaring 20s - how is this time reflected in the characters and events in The Great Gatsby? What is the nature of the language? What does it reveal about the AUTHOR himself? Which other book(s) of the author would you be interested to read?

Which Economic-Psychological-Behavioral issues had been addressed by the Fitzgerald? How has this GATSBY syndrome has been represented in modern cultural iconography - through FILM, Fashion, Media? What connections do you see between the Characters and Events in GG and our OWN age? Has the NOVEL affected you in any sense? 

What Matters?

Reading - Knowing - Meeting
New Minds.
Anything that falls short of Reading+Knowing+Meeting Minds - shall be castigated.I am still waiting to get hold of the first person who will show enough preparedness for the NEXT step.

EVERYONE is requested to read BABBIT from the following link and report your own thoughts in a mail. How many of you believe that you are NOT living a BABBIT life in absentia?

Babbit - Cummings Study Link

What I am Doing Today - Monday

I have arrived in class at 9 today. I have asked most of you NOT to attend the class TODAY. I will be engaged in finalizing the following things.

1. Finalize 1 Major essay along with and 2 supplementary essays for Nahla (who is haplessly roaming in and around in NY city, waiting for the draft.) She is to finish her essay by 22nd because her deadline for CA is on 23 - it is actually the deadline for all of us - after a week the CA will open the new online portal.
2. Shibli's Research Paper concept development.
3. Ahnaf - who has fallen far behind [I will, therefore, be working with him for the rest of the day for his SAT preparation.
4. Ahnaf will work till 4 pm today for a start on Nadeem Aslam's Novel - The Blind Man's Garden. Ahnaf does NOT like the novel that much but - since the choice has been made, we can't escape it any longer. Ahnaf - now has a HUGE pending-items list with me. He also has to do SOMETHING on his Research Paper on his Extended Essay.
5. Kaushik - has a SHORT pending-items list with me - he has to complete the Activity List - we have already finalized the items he will include in the CA portal. Kaushik will also give me a BIG feedback on his Common App Essay - the essay concept we had bee working on for the last 1 Month.
6. I will also be working SOFTLY with others - Khairul, Rakib, Shreyoshi, and Prachi. 
7. I will also be posting a few more things today - so that ALL of you know what is [or will be] going on at the class. 
8. I am yet to choose the RIGHT person to work with - although 2 of the students who are enrolled for the Application Process had been trying to woo me to give them attention and go for the BIG start. However, I am still unconvinced with the level of motivation.
9. I had just seen an assignment completed by Zereen - who had worked on the FILM Page3 and produced a paper - am happy that at least someone from the class did something to satisfy herself - not to satisfy ME.
10. Keep returning to the BLOG today several times for more relevant comments and observations.

Class of Sunday Morning - A Terrific Saturday Concluded

We had a TERRIFIC day today at Anglophiles - I congratulate everyone who had been here today morning. Mashrur from UT Dallas was here - he just blew over head.

Our SUNDAY class tomorrow will begin at 9.00 am onwards. Those who will arrive early will be given an option to sit for a MOCK!!!!!!! You may choose SAT-I or SAT-II.

I will work with Ahnaf for the whole day - from 8 am till 7 pm. So, anyone is actually welcome to step in even after 12 pm.

Those who have collected your Stressbook + Resourcebook + Sartre are requested to submit the Cost Price 530/- TK tomorrow.

Class on Saturday - Tomorrow

This is to remind everyone that we do have a class tomorrow from 9.00 onwards. I wish all of you will be there at the earliest possible time.

Bring your STRESSBOOK + Official SAT Book for work.

Our 1st MOCK will be on Sunday/Monday. I want some suggestion from you about timing. I don't think we can have a common timing - unfortunately.

Great Consternation

It is with great consternation I have to announce that I have FAILED to detect any student so far for working CONCENTRATEDLY on the Application Process (in spite of the fact that I have already agreed to work with about 8 to 9 students for application). I have been repeatedly asking students to return works - they have failed to do so.

Inn view of the present stalemate - I have decided that in the next 3 days I will choose a Student from the class - who will collaborate with me for the application program. This is the final call before I declare the project Abandoned UNTIL end of July.

May be August will bring some fresh face and proper preparation.

Class Timing Standing Order

Anyone can come
on  ANY day,
at ANY time.

You only need to inform through an SMS an HOUR before you arrive.

All questions regarding CLASS Timing will be Disregarded from NOW on. I have a RIGHT to be spared of this incessant BOMBARDING of VULGARITY. 

"Yesterday Once More"

Thank you everyone - all of you who couldn't come and send me a word of wish and those who attended and made yesterday (Saturday, 12th July) a day to remember. We were very very happy to have Salman Habib (Elezabethtown), Humaira Anjumi (Mount Holyoke), Samira Manzur (Tufts), Lamia (McDaniel) as our returnee students. Later we were briefly visited by Abdullah (Oregon S. U.).

It was indeed a day for me, personally. I had the opportunity to see (almost) all the students of 2013-14 session - those who will be leaving soon and those who are 'stranded' for a while until next session. I had a final word with those who will be leaving in the next few weeks - it was a great time working/collaborating with you all - Daniel (Earlham), Faez (Wabash), Raeesa (Mt. Holyoke), Rahul (Wooster), Raidah (Mt. Holyoke), Ratul (WPI), Shabbir (Wooster), Shorna (Mt. Holyoke), Sumatra (Mt. Holyoke), Tamanna (Lawrence), Tasin (Elizabethtown) - thank you all so very much.

I want to dedicate the following recitation to all of you, who had graced Anglophiles in the last 17 years:

Ami Chanchal He - Debobroto Bishwas

So, Godspeed.

TWO Important Anouncements - Meeting (12th July) and Theatre Show (14th July)

ANGLOPHILES Annual Alumni Day
Saturday 12^th July, 2014
Time: 9.00 am - 12.00 pm
Location: Our Roof-TOP [on road 32 Dhanmondi]

Current and Past Students who are in Dhaka are requested to attend.
Please send me an SMS/E-mail/FB message to confirm your presence.

Prospective students/applicants are welcome to attend - but a PRIOR NOTIFICATION will be appreciated. 

There is a SECOND announcement on Theater Program. All current students MUST attend. 

Private life is Dead - Dr. Zhivago and Sunflower

In the film there is a dialogue - "In Russia, private life is dead." Sasha, the hard-heartened revolutionary turned Communist, tells a staring Dr. Zhivago. Here is a clip from the Italian film SUNFLOWER. Please watch the clip - a summary of the whole movie. We will take up the issue in the class on Monday.

Here is the link - Sunflower - a visual summary

Tomorrow (Thursday's) Class - Individual Assignments Reviewd

Tomorrow is Thursday. We have sort of ALL agreed that we will have our class at 9.00 am. I want to make this class last at least a few hours - may be till the lunch time. All the handouts (including the NEW one) have now been delivered and I hope to read a few pages together.

I have been assigning some individual works to the following students - you are all requested to send me individual reports by tonight. Failure to submit ASSIGNMENTS will result in "persecution".

Afsara - I was expecting enthusiastic after I have positively reviewed your report. No response.
Saiti - reading items - lukewarm response - I am becoming very wary of anything stronger very shortly.
Tasneem - Reading and Writing Assignments - no substantial response so far
Ahnaf - Research Paper (literature review and preliminary plan) - failed to submit anything in spite of repeated requests.
Rakibul - Specific reading assignments
Zareen - Specific reading assignments (so far NO reportage on the items - looks like a bad start)
Rafi - failed to submit quality report on Dialectic Materialism - had been reassigned the task - so far had not made any acknowledgement of the re-assignments.
Saikat - Had been sending reports - but volume and frequency has already gone down. Talk to me.
Anik - given reading assignments - not very enthusiastic response.

Finally,

Will anyone DARE to read and interpret this story for us? The story is in Bangla - with a few sentences in Urdu.
Discovering Chandi Chawk (Delhi)

Summary of TUESDAY Class - and a Lengthy Appendage

This is the first class I have taken AFTER I have re-Designed my working materials since 2012. There are several NEW aspects in the way we are going to do the classes. I will note down the changes first and then - list the fundamentals of our classes.

1. Our classes will be more oriented towards PHILOSOPHY and Critical Thinking. In this way the basic change in the class will make it more similar with IB program's TOK (Theory of Knowledge).
2. Classes are going to be more Research-oriented than ever before. But I must recall that ANGLOPHILES students had always worked on individual research concepts. 
3. As the US Colleges are receiving 3 times more applications than they received 10 years. ago - the challenges are FAR greater than before. Our class will now put equal emphasis is on Reading and Writing. 

The most important aspect of ANGLOPHILES program had been on Reading and this year those work with me will reel under pressure.

Appendage: 

Some of our students had been openly enumerating their academic feats in front of other students. In one case I have seen that one of our students had been 'Openly Hinting' at the big O and A level scores. I request everyone to refrain from such VULGAR practices - because such attitude will only REDUCE your chances of learning anything worthwhile and Completely Destroy your humbleness which will be needed for your "Intellectual Sophistication". If pushed too far (if this practice still goes unabated) - I will openly challenge those arrant student(s) in the class - she/he/they will only have one option left - defeat and moral humiliation.

I must also RECALL with great satisfaction - that during the 2013-2014 year - NONE of the students were accused of such puerile ATTITUDE.

It is hoped that everyone SHALL maintain this high standard of public behavior.