Thousands of years ago, Socrates said that an unexamined life was not worth living. The piece of paper we pick up from the ground to read its content is an examination of life. The blood cell, which is analysed under the microscope, is an examination of life. The astronauts, who are sent to the orbits to explore the universe, are an example of the examination of life.
The columns written by Mohammad Badrul Ahsan come in that tradition of examination in the variety of their style and substance. The author has limitless interest in life, the passionate desire to unravel and understand it speck by speck, which prompted him to choose his topics in their widest range. He has written about anything that touched his heart, stirred his imagination and stoked his curiosity.
For any reader, reading this book would be like embarking on a kaleidoscopic journey, where the patterns and scenes shift with each turning from death of a man to the future of the country to the US invasion of Iraq. But there is one compelling connection amongst all his pieces, which is his undying faith in the inherent goodness of man. At the end of each reading, the reader will start to miss that goodness and will be left yearning for it.
Finally, this impressive collection of essays is bound to leave its readers thinking, perhaps at times asking questions to themselves on fundamental issues which they might not have thought before.
Contents The Leprechaun Have We Got No Decency Left? God and Truth Painting Over the Cracks Red in the Face Bush is Beating Around the Bush Death Like a Camera The Full Circle of Life Whose Country is it Anyway? In the Depth of Air The Prisoner of Tikrit Why does Evil Happen? Freedom and Virtue The Contempt of a Verdict Innocence and Guilt Why were They Heroes? The Other Side of History All about Language Man and Woman The Martyrdom Midlife Crisis The Public Opinion has Responded to Saddam Another Theory of Relativity What is in a Name? The Old Man and I The Ordinary Life Laden and Bush Do You Love Your Country? Does Practice Make You Perfect? What has Happened to Poverty? The Weakness of Power The Night of the Lost Nose-pins Inside Out Taking Your Own Life The Taslima's Way Death from the Sky in USA The Owl of Minerva Insensitivity was more Tragic than the Bomb More Soap, More Stains The Twins US Democracy is Going Backward More than a Resignation A Trip to My Village The American Imperium A Good Man in the Woods When a Great Nation has Lied