Listed in chronological order:

1. Mayuurakshee (ময়ূরাক্ষী) – 1990
2. Darojar Opashe (দরজার ওপাশে) – 1992
3. Himu (হিমু) – 1993
4. Parapar (পারাপার) – 1994
5. Ebong Himu (এবং হিমু) – 1995
6. Himur Hate Koekti Neelpadma (হিমুর হাতে কয়েকটি নীল পদ্ম) – 1996
7. Himur Ditiyo Prohor (হিমুর দ্বিতীয় প্রহর) – 1997
8. Himur Roopalee Ratri (হিমুর রূপালী রাত্রি) – 1998
9. Ekjon Himu Koekti Jhi Jhi Poka (একজন হিমু কয়েকটি ঝি ‍ঝি‍ পোকা) – 1999
10. Tomader Ei Nogore (তোমাদের এই নগরে) – 2000
11. Chole Jay Boshonter Din (চলে যায় বসন্তের দিন) – 2002
12. Se Ase Dheere (সে আসে ধীরে) – 2003
13. Angul Kata Joglu (আঙ্গুল কাটা জগলু) – 2005
14. Holud Himu Kalo Rab (হলুদ হিমু কালো র্যাব) – 2006
15. Aaj Himur Biye (আজ হিমুর বিয়ে) – 2007
16. Himu Remande (হিমু রিমান্ডে) – 2008
17. Himur Modhyadupur (হিমুর মধ্যদুপুর) – 2009
18. Himur Babar Kothamala (হিমুর বাবার কথামালা) – 2009
19. Himur Neel Josna” (হিমুর নীল জোছনা) – 2010 ^NEW!

Grab the latest novel of the series “Himur Neel Josna” (হিমুর নীল জোছনা), published in February 2010 on the occasion of Ekushey Book Fair. It’s a good one!

All the files are between 2 to 10 megabytes, and requires a PDF reader to open which I’m sure all of you already have. Buy hard copy of the books to support the author if you like them!

Broken link? Please let me know and I’ll mirror it.

If you’re new to Ubuntu Linux and want to learn more about it, then this guide should be helpful to you. The topics covered are installation, package management, network and Internet connection setup, customization, proprietary hardware driver and multimedia support, troubleshooting, and much more.

Please pass on this message to your friends and colleagues who might be interested in using Ubuntu.

• Bangla (also known as Bengali), the national language of Bangladesh, is the fifth most frequently-spoken language in the world. Bangladesh became a country in 1971 when it declared its independence from Pakistan. Bangladesh used to be East Pakistan, or East Bengal. West Bengal is a state in India.
• The word Bangladesh was coined around 1971 when the country was formed: it means land (desh) of the Bangla (Bengali people).
• Bangladesh is bordered by two countries: India and Burma (Myanmar).
• Bangladesh has its own 12-month calendar with six seasons.
• Bangladesh is known for its production of the jute plant, whose fiber is made into carpets, rope and other products. Jute is known as the golden fibre in Bangladesh.
• Every region of Bangladesh has its own dessert (mishti): if you are eating chum-chum, you’re in Tangail, if it’s Roshmallai you’re in Comilla.
• In Dhaka, all of the autorickshaws and most of the taxis run on clean-burning natural gas rather than diesel or petrol.
• The Bengali people of Bangladeshi fought for the right to speak their own language in 1952, this event is now commemorated worldwide as International Mother Language Day.
• The monsoon season in Bangladesh is generally from June to August. If you visit then, bring an umbrella.
• Bangladesh lies on the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees northern latitude). Other countries on this line include Mexico, the Bahamas, Eygpt, Saudi Arabia, India and China.Bangladesh’s parliament building, an architectural landmark, was designed by an American architect, Louis Khan.

• Barisal, one of the six divisions of Bangladesh, is known as the Venice of Asia because of its waterways.
• During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, believers do not eat or drink for the entire day. After sunset, families have feasts known as Iftar.
• Every year, about one third of Bangladesh floods during the monsoon season.
• In Bangladesh, high school spans grades five to ten, while grades 11 and 12 are considered to be college.
• In Bangladesh, there is one house in parliament (the Jatiya Sangsad). Members are elected every five years.
• Just as movies from the US come from Hollywood, and those from India are from Bollywood, movies made in Bangladesh (Dhaka) are said to be from Dhalliwood.
• Rickshaws are often elaborately decorated. The designs may depict nature, scenes from Indian mythology, or scenes from Bollywood and Dhalliwood movies.
• Kids in Bangladesh attend secondary school (high school) from the age of 12 to 16, and then college when they are 17 and 18.
• On the first day of summer, the Sun is exactly over Bangladesh at noon.
• One fruit or another is always in season in Bangladesh: mango, papaya, banana, guava, jackfruit, pineapple, and many more.
• Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the man who lead Bangladesh to Independence in 1971 is often referred to as the Bangabandhu, or friend to the Bengali people.

• The Bangla language has its own numbers, written differently than arabic numbers. When people give their phone numbers, however, they usually do it in English.
• The Bangla language is a descendant of ancient Sanskrit, and more literature is available in Bangla than any other language of the Subcontinent.
• The Bengal region was first united in the seventh century by Shashanka, a Hindu ruler.
• The longest (120 km) natural beach in the world is found in Bangladesh at Cox’s Bazaar.
• The national animal of Bangladesh is the Royal Bengal Tiger.
• The national bird of Bangladesh is the Magpie.
• The national fish of Bangladesh is the Hilsa fish
• The national fruit of Bangladesh is the Jackfruit, a large spiky Mellon.
• The national plant of Bangladesh is the Water Lily (the Shapla)
• There are no polar bears in Bangladesh.
• The same person wrote the national anthems for both India and Bangladesh: famous Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.

• The suffix “wallah” is often tacked onto words to indicate someone who does a task. The person that pulls a rickshaw is a “rickshaw-wallah”, the person who delivers milk (dudh) is a “dudh-wallah”.
• The two most popular sports in Bangladesh are cricket and football (the kind with a round ball).
• Known as the “banker to the poor”, Muhammad Yunus is the first Nobel laureate from Bangladesh, awarded in 2006.
• Almost everything that Bangladesh imports or exports goes through its sea port city, Chittagong.
• At dusk, it is not uncommon to see big (one meter wingspan) fruit bats flying around throughout Bangladesh.
• At the beginning of each summer, strong wind storms are sometimes accompanied by hail. The hail balls may be up to 10 cm in diameter.
• There are three rice crops each year, each of which has different seed stock and growing conditions; the crops are called aman, anus and boro
• Three major rivers come together in Bangladesh: the Padma (a branch of the Ganges), Jamuna and Meghna.
• Tigers, elephants and crocodiles can be found in the Sundarbans, the forest in Southern Bangladesh
• To accommodate large numbers of students, many Bangladeshi schools use a shift system, where one set of students attends a school in the morning, and another set of students in the afternoon.

• Weddings in Bangladesh often run about five evenings, with celebrations each night.
• Traditionally, men in Bangladesh wear a lungi, a wrap of fabric, instead of pants. In cities, however, pants are now common.
• Women in Bangladesh often wear a sari or a salwar kamez. The sari is more formal, and is essentially a long piece of fabric which is intricately wrapped. The salwar kamez consists of a pants and a top, and is usually worn with a scarf known as an orna.

…to be continued.

Font list:

1. SolaimanLipi
2. Rupali
3. Ekushey Lohit
4. Ekushey Sharifa
5. Ekushey Punarbhaba
6. Ekushey Sumit
7. Ekushey Durga
8. Ekushey Saraswati
9. Ekushey Puja
10. Ekushey Azad
11. Ekushey Godhuli
12. Ekushey Mohua

(Twelve for now, but whenever they releases a new font I’ll update my package too.)

Installation:

To install this package, you can either download the binary file (MD5: a6cbc1dae63c1cf62c1ff4ef4ab73068) from our Launchpad PPA, or install it via apt-get or your graphical package manager. This method is recommended, as you’ll get notification when an update is available. Here’s how to do it via apt-get:

1. Open the apt sources.list file from the run command dialogue box (ALT+F2):

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list (Ubuntu)

kdesudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list (Kubuntu)

gksudo mousepad /etc/apt/sources.list (Xubuntu)

2. Add the following line on the bottom of the file:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-bd/ubuntu intrepid main

3. Open a shell window and type:

sudo apt-get update

4. When the update is completed, type:

sudo apt-get install ttf-ekushey

When you see the warning message “The following packages cannot be authenticated!”, press y to continue.

5. Done, now you can use the Ekushey fonts on your system!

I’ll try to get this package into the Ubuntu repository, and possibly into the Debian repository as well.

Hope this is helpful to you guys.

I just came back home watching Aronnok Natyadal’s play “Raarang”, which (almost) bored me to death. I wouldn’t have been there if one of the actresses on the play wasn’t my friend. Bengali literature never really touched me, nor did this play.

It was the first time I watched a theater play, and probably the last. Gee, it’s so khet!

I called up my friend who was in a state of shock. We decided to watch the 6 o’clock show. The movie itself was totally crap, but not as vulgar as we thought it be. It’s just that there was an attempt-to-rape scene on Jenny, a moderately-erotic song where she wore shorts and tight blouse, and some touch-hug-kiss-fondle scenes. Can’t call it too obscene since topless and make out scenes are becoming norm in the latest Bangla movies.

Just to mention, it’s the second time I’ve been to a Cinema hall in Dhaka. The first time was in 1998 when I watched Titanic in Modhumita.

যদি কথা না হয়
যদি দেখা না হয়
হারিয়ে যাও এক ঝলকে

মেয়ে কথা না কও
মেয়ে ফিরে না চাও
সঙ্গী করে নাও আমাকে…

হৃদয়ের প্রান আজ মোহনায়
ভেসে যাবো দুজনায়
চলনা মেঘের সীমানায়
সাজিয়ে দেবো দুজনায়।

জাদু চোখেতে করেছো দিশেহারা
ভুলতে চাই তবু পারিনা
আমি যে আজ পাগলপারা, তোমাতে…

জানিনা বুঝিনা, কিছুতো মানিনা
মন জানে হায় তোমাতে।
তোমাকে ছাড়া হায়, বেঁচে থাকা যে দায়
ফিরিয়ে দিওনা আমাকে।

মায়া হাসিতে, লাগে যে এলোমেলো
সবই যেন লাগে অচেনা
তুমি শুধু ফিরবেনা হাসিতে।

পারিনা ফেরাতে, নিজেকে কিছুতে
কান পেতে শুনি সে হাসি
পৃথিবী ভুলে যাই, তোমারই ঈশারায়
তুমি এমনি সর্বনাশী।

This song is from Habib’s latest album “Shono”.

Click here if you can’t see the Bangla text above.

The site has been tested to work under Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, OpenSUSE, and Windows, with Firefox, Konqueror, and IE.