Women in love

Hippolytus would not have been the cause of Phaedra’s love and tragedy, if she had an independent volition of her own.

Hippolytus is the story of the love of a married woman for a man, who cannot requite the love. He is a celibate, wedded to the cult of the chastity.

Aphrodite’s dispensation

We cannot call Euripides’ Hippolytus as tragedy of love of a woman. Phaedra, the heroine does not fall in love with Hippolytus as an active agent. She is made to fall in love with Hippolytus .It is Aphrodite’s dispensation. Phaedra is a tool in the grip of Aphrodite. She loves her Husband, she loves her children.

Limits of moderation

The tragedy is the outcome of several errors.
Hippolytus’ celibacy may be permissible, but why should he be so proud and self-conceited about his virtue? Even if he is so devoted to Artemis , why should he antagonize Aphrodite? Why should he be so callous to her? Why should he make a fetish his celibacy and chastity? He is fanatical and extremely cruel. He has crossed the limits of moderation.

The tragedy in passion

Hippolytus’ death has been planned by Aphrodite, for he says it in her prologue.

Phaedra is Aphrodite’s tool and implicating Hippolytus is the creation of her brain. Her revengefulness , her haughtiness are her own. She could have been a little more composed. For a while she has lost womanly dignity and decency. The Nurse’s role is somehow fool and foolishness brings about a tragedy.

Theseus is indiscreet. His indiscretion hastens the tragedy.

Phaedra is revengeful .A little tolerance could have saved the situation.

Khasi: Patron of Betel Leaf Cultivation

The Khasi is a Mongolite ethnic group and descended to the Khasia hills and Jaintia hills from Cherapunji and Shilong regions. They migrated to Bangladesh from Assam where they came about five hundred years ago, most probably from Tibet. According to the census of 1991, the total number of Khasias in Bangladesh was 12,300, but the Bangladesh Khasi Society claims the number to be around 30,000.
In the mid-sixteenth century there were twenty-five separate Khasi chiefdoms along with the separate kingdom of Jaintia. Before the arrival of the British, from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the Jaintia dominated a large number of kingdoms. At the beginning of the sixteenth century Jaintia rule was extended to Sylhet and this marked the beginning of Brahman influence on the Jaintia. By 1860, the British had invaded the entire Jaintia Hills region and imposed taxes on it as a part of British India. The Khasi states had limited cultural relations before the arrival of the British, characterized in large part by internal warfare between villages and states. The incorporation of the markets at Sylhet into the British colonial economy in 1765 marked the beginning of Khasi subjugation. In 1837 the construction of a road through Nongkhaw State linking Calcutta to the Brahmaputra Valley led to the eventual termination of Khasi-British hostilities, and by 1862 treaties between the British and all of the Khasi states were signed. This showed a significant amount of cultural change like an increase in wealth, decline of traditional culture, rise in educational standards, and frequent intermarriage. The Khasi now have their own state, Meghalaya, in which they predominate.

The Khasi religion is very old but it has evolved over time. Traditional customs and superstitious beliefs form the core of their religion. The influence of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam is very evident. The changes that have taken place in the Khasi community are most evident in their religious practices. Christian missionaries began to preach Christianity among Khasias about one and a half a century ago. At present, more than 80% of the Khasias are Christians. Almost every punji has its own church, where they perform their Sunday prayer and spend some time in discussing about the punjis. Christian priests often adjudicate in disputes arising in the punjis. Khasias were originally monotheists, who believe that the God first created the universe and then a man and a woman. Subsequently, the God created gods and goddesses for the purpose of controlling various aspects of the universe. They also believe in the existence of the god of a village. Moreover, they believe in the existence of evil spirits and adore nature and animals. They perform numerous rituals. They do not have any religious scripture. Recently, some Khasias have been converted to Islam. Conversion to Christianity brought about tremendous changes in the socio-economic structure of their lives. Christian Khasias are mostly Protestants and Catholic Khasias are rarely found. They, however, continue to maintain their age-old customs and traditions. There are some exceptions as well. They burn the body of the dead and bury the remains. The priest recites at the funeral: "Good bye, good bye, You will chew betel leaf in the kingdom of God
The Khasi speak a Mon-Khmer Language (belonging to the Austro-Asiatic Family). Khasi is believed to form a link between related languages in central India and the Mon-Khmer languages of Southeast Asia. While dialectal variation may be noted within different Villages, the major Khasi dialects are Khasi, Jaintia, Lyngngam, and War. There is a distinct similarity between the Khasi language and the Mon Khmer-Palaung dialects prevailing in Burma and Indo-China. The earliest written literary reference to the Khasis is to be found in Sankardeva`s Assamese paraphrase of Bhagavata Purana composed around A.D. 1500.

Racially, the Khasis are very similar to the Indo-Chinese tribes but are by no means pure Mongoloid. At some early period they must have intermarried with another race predominantly the Austric race. Intermarriage with people of Aryan descent is a recent phenomenon. Generally, they are descendants of Mon-Khmer speakers who migrated from Yunnan to Meghalaya, and thus they are of East Asian origin. The skin color of most Khasi varies from light brown to light yellow. They have high nasal bridges and aquiline noses. Their looks ranges from those of typical East Asians to Central Asians or even Persians are not uncommon.
Marriage is a purely civil contract. Males are between the ages of 18 and 35 when they marry, while women’s ages range from 13 to 18. Although parentally arranged marriages do occur, this does not appear to be the preferred form. Young men and women are permitted considerable freedom in the choice of mates and in premarital Sexual relations. According to Khasi laws, a woman cannot be forced into marriage, she owns the children and properties. A woman may end a marriage at her will with no objection from her husband.

Although the youngest daughter is the custodian of the family property, she can make no decision regarding property and other major issues without the consent of her maternal uncles. When the mother has no daughters, the inheritance goes to her sister`s youngest daughter. If the sister has no daughters, then the mother’s sisters and their female kin receive the inheritance. Men are prohibited from inheriting real property. All property acquired by a man before marriage belongs to his mother. Property acquired by him after marriage belongs to his wife and children. In his wife’s house the man is `U Kpa uba lah ba iai` (a father who is able and steadfast).

The Jymphong is the traditional Khasi dress worn by the males of the tribe. It is a longish sleeveless coat without collar, fastened by thongs in front. Nowadays, the Khasis have adopted the western dress. On ceremonial occasions, they appear in `Jymphong` and dhoti with an ornamental waist-band.

The Khasi traditional female dress is extremely elaborate with several pieces of cloth, giving the body a cylindrical shape. On ceremonial occasions, they wear a crown of silver or gold on the head. A spike or peak is fixed to the back of the crown, corresponding to the feathers worn by the men folk.

Khasia tribes have traditionally grown betel leaf plants on naturally occurring trees. Deforestation is a serious problem in Bangladesh, whereas the Khasia people living within forests are protecting trees for their livelihood, including selling betel leaf, collecting fuel wood and consuming and selling fruits from support trees. It is a profitable yet sustainable forest production system, maintaining soil fertility, stable production and optimal family size, and has created employment opportunities for the people living within and outside the forests. It has enhanced the supply of socially required betel leaf to the local markets, contributed to price stability, and generated some export revenue. Under the circumstances of population pressure, poverty and scarcity of land resources in Bangladesh, it is critical that land be intensively utilized for sustainable development. The government policy of rehabilitation of Khasia people and conservation of biodiversity has improved land-use efficiency. Khasia people have been gaining a legal right to use the Forest Department’s land peacefully.

Employment opportunities have been generated. Their income has increased substantially both growing betel leaf on farm and homestead land as from earning daily labour wages from the Forest Department for production and protection of reserved forests. The farming system has been enhancing the supply of socially required betel leaf to the local markets and contributing to the price stability. The Khasia people have emerged as a dynamic social group. As well as providing social security and economic benefits to the Khasia tribes, betel leaf forest farming is a sustainable hill-farming system, contributing to replenishment of the forest reserves of Moulvibazar district, protection of timber plantations, and protection and conservation of biodiversity of the surrounding reserved forests. Economic benefits can be increased and ecological stability maintained by improving the existing management system through government initiatives, such as providing funds for research and policy intervention into betel leaf diseases, marketing of betel leaf, integration of suitable high-value tree species, and benefit sharing. This approach of hill farming has potential to be applied to other regions of Bangladesh, where shifting cultivation is a serious threat to environment and livelihoods.

BY REZWAN

01. How to improve customer’s perception about Robi: Though it’s a comprehensive issue, customer’s perception depends on so many factors, such as quality network, consistent marketing policy, confidence of the channel partners and so on, nevertheless, we can do something within our jurisdiction, that is providing quality customer service. If we can show professional gesture, give value to every customer’s requirement / need with utmost sincerity (unfortunately we have some shortage in this area) it will definitely add value to our image. I would like to echo with Nazmul Bhai’s suggestion that we have to be FOCUSED on our strength (main products & features favorable than competitors).
Additionally, we can increase our outdoor activities after complying our main duties, such as, sponsoring local events, arranging some programs with local educational institutes ( such as debate competition, social awareness program) again focusing the youth. Thus we can improve customer’s perception.

02. About Customer feedback/ requirements: “Speed= Success” I could lend this idea from our former COO and I firmly believe it. If we could meet our customer’s requirements / queries / feedback speedily, it will definitely return a good result, and also related with the Perception.


03. How to increase new customers as well as revenue of this area : It is again an aggregate issue. We have a few scopes to increase revenue from Sheba Point, though have a scope if we can Focus our strength & can show professionalism while serving customers. My other ideas are mostly related with the answer to point 01.


04. New idea generation about product or others and how it execute : Now a days products & VAS should be market driven. Unfortunately we are one step behind from our competitors, they are rapidly introducing new products & services to catch the market, and so, we will have to cope with it