Early years Winter stage show

Now it is the late winter season in Bangladesh. Today it was foggy in the morning when 'winter stage show' was started but early year children and teachers enjoyed the whole function. It was a really warming and colorful occasion.
On the rooftop of the school it looked really bright and colorful although the stage was built very simple and on the floor level.

The main attraction of the program was 'Tuna Tuni' props prepared by KG.
Every class or section prepared English or Bangla rhymes related to winter. As Nursery class sung the vegetable song holding big vegetable format placards.
January month was a busy time for teachers as they have to work hard to make the winter Pitha or stage show programs successful.

More pictures of the winter show:

Winter season celebrations and Pitha festival

Winter season comes in Bangladesh region for a very short time. It stays in this region, more or less 2 months. Few weeks earlier we celebrated 'Winter festival' and I am sharing few of the pictures of this festival.

On 30th January, 2014 we arranged 'Pitha festival' at our school.

Few words about Pithas:
Pithas are are a part of food tradition and food culture of Bangladeshi cuisine. For pitha/peetha there is no similar word in English. It is an interesting thing that there is word in English we can translate or refer to this traditional food. We interpret pitha/peetha as a rice cake or pie. But it’s not like the traditional cake or pie what is common in the western world and in their food culture.

Pitha is not part of Bengali's daily menu. Most pithas/peethas are seasonal, specially prepeared in the winter season because of some ingredients which are available only in winter season. And pithas/peethas of the winter season are the most delicious – a special combination with the climate of winter cold.
It was really hard work to search online for pitha pictures or description and at last I stopped at the blog 'We love our Bangladesh' with a nice description and lot of pictures about pithas.
Reference: 'We love our Bangladesh' blog

I am now sharing the pictures of the festival:

Winter foods including traditional Bangla cuisine 'Pithas'

Pitha festival held on January 30th, 2014:

Enthusiast Nursery class watching 'Bhapa pitha making process'

Importance of writing in our lives

Like reading, writing is a very important learning tool.  Writing can be done through a keyboard (keypad at an electronic device such as pc, smart phone) though pen or pencils are writing tools. Now touch pads or smart phones has improved a way of writing with fingers or touch pens but can we get rid of 'writing with pen or pencil' and does 'writing' is still important for us?
There is a vital importance of 'writing'. 

Importance of writing:

Wikipedia says: "Writing helps you express yourself"

 Writing prepares you for school and employment (both of which in most cases require a lot of it).
 Writing is how much of the world communicates. If you don't write, you cut yourself off from a large community (including this one, incidentally).

Virtues of miswak

The World Health Organization recommends the use of the miswak in international consensus reports on oral hygiene published in 1986 and in 2000. The miswak is made from the plant Salvadora persica. For religious and cultural reasons use of miswak (for cleaning teeth and oral health) is firmly established and widespread in most of the Muslim countries.

Virtues of the miswak:
"The miswak is a mean of purification of the mouth and a mean of pleasure of the Lord "(Al-Bukhari).

"Had it not been for the sake of over burdening my Ummah I would have ordered them (to use) Miswak with every ablution"(Al-Bukhari).
It has also been narrated by reliable sources that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) was emphatic in the daily use of Miswak, upon waking, before and after eating, leaving and entering his house, before ablution, and prayers. Furthermore it was a practice of all the Prophets (peace by upon them). Some scholars have mentioned upto 70 benefits from the use of Miswak.

Dishonesty and lying in the light of Islam

A very common saying is 'Honesty is the best policy'. On the other hand when it come to our social life and relationships, lying and dishonesty sometimes becomes a major sin. It is also said that it is the root of every evil.
Why lying and dishonesty is a major sin and what scholars say about lying and dishonesty?

It may take care of the present, but it has no future. Worse than telling a lie is spending the rest of your life staying true to a lie. ~Robert Brault
We tell lies when we are afraid-----, afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger. ~Tad Williams
Lying and dishonesty always leads to hypocrisy.

Drinking Water or Soft Drinks?

With the frequent use of soft drinks and sodas, we are replacing it with water. Is it ok to drink soda drinks and leave our bodies thirsty? Our kids and teens are becoming addicted to the soft drinks, rather than taking enough water which is essential for their health.

The average American drinks more than 53 gallons of carbonated soft drinks each year, more than any other beverage, including milk, beer, coffee or water.

Harmful effects of taking too much sodas in place of water:

Did you know that just one can of Coke contains 10 teaspoons of sugar?!
This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake (which is more than double my recommended daily allowance to begin with). Within 20 minutes of drinking that soda, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat. Within 40 minutes, your blood pressure rises due to your body having absorbed all the caffeine, and then your liver dumps even more sugar into your bloodstream.

After about one hour, you’ll start to have a sugar crash, which often times leads you into a vicious cycle of consuming more sugar - and caffeine-laden stimulants, followed by crashes, throughout your day.

It is a proven fact that sugar increases your insulin levels, which can lead to not only weight gain, but also high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, premature aging and many more negative side effects. n soda pack on the pounds, it can also deteriorate the body as well.

One of the more troubling health risks soda drinkers face (as if obesity isn’t bad enough) is a higher cancer risk. Numerous studies have pointed out the link between sugar and increased rates of cancer, suggesting that regulating sugar intake is key to slowing tumor growth.

Which one is better toothbrush or miswak?

Which toothbrush do you use for teeth cleaning?
There are numerous varieties of available toothbrushes starting from cheap and ordinary to expensive, and electric toothbrushes.
Purpose of toothbrush is to clean the teeth and the material of this cleaning tool it almost same 'the plastic'.
But is it the safe way of keep your teeths healthy?
But we have a natural dental cleaning solution. It is natural toothbrush or bark of a tree.
For centuries people around the world cleaned their teeth with the natural toothbrush tree. After the advent of plastic, synthetic toothbrushes people adopted this new and cheap tool for cleaning their teeth.

Importance of Adhaan for Islamic society

The adhan, or Islamic call to prayer, is an integral part of the Muslim faith. The Adhan serves an announcement of the time of prayer.  Adaan is called out in mosques, Islamic schools, homes, and on the street in Muslim communities five times a day.  It is, at the same time, an announcement of the principles of Islam and the significance underlying them of Tawheed, the Risalah, and so on.

The adhan is also used in connection with the birth of a child, when the father reads the Adhan into the ear of his newborn child.

Adhan (call to prayer) lexically means ‘announcement,’ as states in the Holy Quran: