Ho-Jamal-Ho :)
Zunaid Kazi
I don't think any discussion on Bangladeshi culture can be complete
without discussing the rousing "war-cry" of the youth in Bangladesh:
Ho-Jamal-Ho!
:)
This chant is often used to put-down opponents, especially in sporting
events. The "ho-jamal-ho" is preceded by a debatably vulgar expression.
I have been trying to trace the origin of this "war-cry" for quite a
while. My Josephite [Of St Joseph's] friends have vehemently tried to
prove paternity. Such is the popularity of "ho-jamal-ho" that many
groups have tried to claim themselves to be the progenitor.
I somehow give credence to the Josephite claim. I studied at Green Herald
awhile, which adjoins St. Joseph's. I have had plenty of oppurtunity to
observe the antics of the Josephites. "Ho-Jamal-Ho" may well have
originated from their fertile minds. Note: The word fertile here has
dual intent. ;)
Some of my best friends are Josephites. I think I am beyond redemption. :)
Example:
Josephite-der ***** ****** ****** ******
Ho-Jamal-Ho
After this, I may have to go into protective custody. :)
-- Zunaid Kazi
Naeem Mohaiemen
In article <1992Mar11....@udel.edu> ka...@bugs.cis.udel.edu (Zunaid
Kazi) writes:
I have been trying to trace the origin of this "war-cry" ["Hojamal Ho"]
for quite a while. My Josephite [Of St Joseph's] friends have vehemently
tried to prove paternity.
----------------------
Are bhai, ey soc.culture.habijabi.alochona.adnauseum er chyangra polapan
jokhon nappy pore ghurche [ba bilath e bangali pona the advanced degree
nicche], thokhon amar bap dada St. Joseph er class 10 [onnyo kono class
e tho shahosh i paytho na] e boshe "Hojamal Ho" er chithkar thule
janla r kach fatatho. E byapar e paternity r kono proshno hothe
pare na. St. Joseph er eshmart polapan ek bochor e ja kore gese, hoggol
English Medium [ha bhai bujhlam, annerai shudhu harbhard e chance pan]
shara jibon eo korthe parlo na.
Josephite-der ***** dia ****** dia
Ho-Jamal-Ho
------------------------
Apnar choddo gushti keo.
After this, I may have to go into protective custody. :)
-- Zunaid Kazi
-------------------------
Eyshob chayra den. Ekhon Umrika aysi, buddhiman hoysi. Eyshob koyya ar amader
bhulano jaybo na.
--Naeem Mohaiemen
St. Joseph '85 [Jodio okhane thakthe amare shobai 'dom' bole daktho karon
disku pant portham]
--
Naeem Mohaiemen na...@occs.cs.oberlin.edu snm8696@oberlin 216-774-1993
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Shohid dibosh palon kori
Bangla bhasha r thore
English medium e kinthu
Amar sawal pore
Bhayre mone amar uccho asha
Bangladesh e future nai
Koythe gele lojjae moyra jai
Ey jomanae jemon dekhthe pai"
[Chime]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zunaid Kazi
>
>In article <1992Mar11....@udel.edu> ka...@bugs.cis.udel.edu (Zunaid
>Kazi) writes:
>
> I have been trying to trace the origin of this "war-cry" ["Hojamal Ho"]
> for quite a while. My Josephite [Of St Joseph's] friends have vehemently
> tried to prove paternity.
>----------------------
>
>Are bhai, ey soc.culture.habijabi.alochona.adnauseum er chyangra polapan
>jokhon nappy pore ghurche [ba bilath e bangali pona the advanced degree
>nicche], thokhon amar bap dada St. Joseph er class 10 [onnyo kono class
>e tho shahosh i paytho na] e boshe "Hojamal Ho" er chithkar thule
>janla r kach fatatho. E byapar e paternity r kono proshno hothe
>pare na. St. Joseph er eshmart polapan ek bochor e ja kore gese, hoggol
>English Medium [ha bhai bujhlam, annerai shudhu harbhard e chance pan]
>shara jibon eo korthe parlo na.
Amar chiro kaler dukhho jay, "hojamal" jekhan thkey uponito hoechhay
shekhanney ami kono-din portay parlam na. Shob shotto shikar korlay
obosshoi St Joseph -kay pitritto upadhi arpon koray-chhay.
Deshi bhashae :) : Arey mia, English Medium-e dui bocchor porsilam. Tao
to akhon harbhard boisha roi nai. Ojo paragai angul chushtisi.
Tobay hoja-mal-er ditio bap-e [Notre Dame] poira nijekeo hoja-maler
ongshidar monay kori. Abar koi-o na jay Dhaka College NDC thay
bhalo. Erokom koilay abar scb-tay ad nauseum, ad infitum, reductio
ad absurdum alo chona shuru hoibay.
Ack bochhor NDC tay fazlami = lifetime onno jaegai fazlami ;)
1980-82'r Group 1-er polapan koi?
> Josephite-der ***** dia ****** dia
> Ho-Jamal-Ho
>------------------------
>
>Apnar choddo gushti keo.
Keno jani monay hoitesay tumi ack Josephite. Akhon shob buijhlam :)
Obossho amar choddo gushti shara jibon onnoder hojamal dia jibon
kataisay. :)
Mind khaitey partam, baper nam tuila gali dawatay. Khailam na. Kalkay
polau korma ranna koray nijaykey appaito korar prochestae lipto
chhilam. Ami tripto.
> After this, I may have to go into protective custody. :)
>
> -- Zunaid Kazi
>-------------------------
>
>Eyshob chayra den. Ekhon Umrika aysi, buddhiman hoysi. Eyshob koyya ar amader
>bhulano jaybo na.
Jaha shotto taha bolibo. Jaha miththa taha goponn koribo. [Z Kazi, 1986]
>--Naeem Mohaiemen
> St. Joseph '85 [Jodio okhane thakthe amare shobai 'dom' bole daktho karon
>disku pant portham]
Tomra bhai bhaloi chhila. Amar boyosh atoi beshi jay amra 70's kotha shoronay
poray ar shorom ashay. Bhaggish Bell Bottom uitha gasay. Tobay beshi heel
ala juta portay apotti chhilona. Amar uch-chota kinchit kom. :)
>--
>Naeem Mohaiemen na...@occs.cs.oberlin.edu snm8696@oberlin 216-774-1993
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Zunaid Kazi ka...@udel.edu 302-456-3493 University of Delaware
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naeem Mohaiemen
Abar koi-o na jay Dhaka College NDC thay bhalo.
Dhaka College Notre Dame theke better, erokom claim korar motho pagol
ekhono jonmae ni. After all 80% Josephite tho shob NDC the gie pore,
so much so that we are targeted minority group for abuse ["St. Joseph
er bandor ra nijeder khub chalak mone koro thai na?", etc]. Thobe too
much practical lab korae bole NDC theke stand korthe pare na.
--Naeem[Dhaka College er bhuktho bhogi]
--
Naeem Mohaiemen na...@occs.cs.oberlin.edu snm8696@oberlin 216-774-1993
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zunaid Kazi
>ekhono jonmae ni. After all 80% Josephite tho shob NDC the gie pore,
>so much so that we are targeted minority group for abuse ["St. Joseph
>er bandor ra nijeder khub chalak mone koro thai na?", etc]. Thobe too
>much practical lab korae bole NDC theke stand korthe pare na.
As has been my wont, I start threads where none exists :) Your comment
about students from NDC unable to "stand" because of an excess of
practicals leads me to ask, "How important is it to stand?"
[Definition of "stand" with respect to HSC in Bangladesh: To have scored
enough in the HSC examinations to be placed in the Combined Merit List]
In addition to the emphasis on rote learning, another of my objections
to the system of secondary education in Bangladesh is the tremendous
pressure for one to have a position in the merit list. The result has
been an emphasis on how much one can regurgitate and not on how much
one can learn.
One of the reasons very few of the students who have stood in the SSC
students go on to Notre Dame College is the fact that the type of
education imparted there is not entirely conducive to "standing".
In order to stand, the factors as important as intelligence are
a] The college you go to: A lot depends on this. Scripts from
colleges with a lot of clout are graded properly and
occassionally quite liberally. On the other hand scripts
from powerless colleges are often sent out to village
colleges where many teachers are unfortunately quite
unqualified.
As an example consider three students from NDC, 1980-82
batch. Let us call them A, B and C. This really happened.
Student A: Senior Cambridge:[GH] 6 points. 1p in both English
and English Literature. GRE: Verbal: 760 [99th percentile]
Percentage obtained in HSC English: 45
Student B: O Levels: A in English. SAT: Verbal: 740
Percentage obtained in HSC English: 33
Student C: SSC: Record Mark of 80% from St. Joseph's
O levels: A in English. SAT: Verbal: 760
Percentage obtained in HSC English: 33
b] The teachers from whom you get coached:
There is a tremendous demand to be coached by a special
group of teachers whom everybody know will be question
setters. The aim is not too learn anything from them
but to obtain a list of "suggestions". I don't think
it will surprise anybody if I say that most questions
which will appear in the HSC examinations will be common
to the list of suggestions.
c] Knowing somebody at the Board Office:
It is also possible to have your marks increased by the
head examiner of each subject. Each Head Examiner has the
the authority to raise grades by as much as 10%.
The net result has been the production of a large number of intelligent
cretins [as opposed to idiot savants :)].
[Warning: What follows may be considered by some to be biased opinion]
In Bangladesh, the least hide-bound institute of higher learning is
Bangladesh University if Engineerinf and Technology [BUET]. In BUET
the emphasis on rote-learning is much less than in other Universities
in Bangladesh. During my 7 years of association with BUET, both as
a student and as a lecturer, I found that students from Notre Dame
Collge, [Or St. Joseph's] do consistently better in a relative sense
than students from other colleges [Bangladesh definition]. Just as
an example, of the top 10 gradating students in EEE of my batch, 3
were from NDC. Of them only one had stood in the HSC. The percentage
of students from NDC in that batch was 16.67%. Notre Damians also
has the highest percentage of First Class as a group. There were
8 Notre Damians in the top 20.
I am happy that I joined Notre Dame and resisted the Dhaka College's
blandishments.
>--Naeem[Dhaka College er bhuktho bhogi]
--Zunaid [NDC-er shukhi alumnus]
=====================================================================
Zunaid Kazi 302-456-3493 Computer and Information Sciences
41-8 Thorn Lane ka...@udel.edu University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19711 Newark, DE 19716
=====================================================================
Naeem Mohaiemen
"How important is it to stand?"
---------
Not too much. basically parents will be proud of you forever and will
have a heart attack[sic] if you don't.
In order to stand, the factors as important as intelligence are
a] The college you go to: A lot depends on this. Scripts from
colleges with a lot of clout are graded properly and
occassionally quite liberally.
-----------
Example [and i know I will get bash for this]: Cadet college. They
are allowed to give exams in their own school [no one else is]. I
have even heard myth[not:i cannot vouch for this] that sometimes their
profs let them have a few extra mins. Mirjapur, etc occupy all the top
spots in ssc [some years all 7 top spots], but then in HSC they disappear.
Ifthekhar Anam [st. joseph legend] was supposed to be 1st in ssc[84], word
was already out. But then he was 6th, all 5 spots before him were taken by
Mirjapur[or foujdarhat, memory fails]; very interesting. Strong rumors
within prof circles taht last minute deals were made [and I am not saying
this cos he was josephite]. Anyway in the end, he was 1st in hsc and is
now 1st in buet.
b] The teachers from whom you get coached:
There is a tremendous demand to be coached by a special
group of teachers whom everybody know will be question
setters. The aim is not too learn anything from them
but to obtain a list of "suggestions".
---------------
famous example: legendary math prof from du, Zaman sir, gave out 10 questions two weeks before hsc and said that 60% of these would be on final. Some
people actually only learnt those thoroughly. Not a single one came, 'Kha'
set[second set, in case first set gets leaked] came , very hard questions,
lots of zaman's students got bash.
--
Naeem Mohaiemen na...@occs.cs.oberlin.edu snm8696@oberlin 216-774-1993
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"God forbid if Pakistan is dissolved, Bengali Muslims will have to die a
death of indignity" [Golam Azam, Aug 14, 1971; Curzon Hall]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ex-cadet
Kazi) says:
>
>I don't think any discussion on Bangladeshi culture can be complete
>without discussing the rousing "war-cry" of the youth in Bangladesh:
>
> Ho-Jamal-Ho!
>
>events. The "ho-jamal-ho" is preceded by a debatably vulgar expression.
>
>I have been trying to trace the origin of this "war-cry" for quite a
>while. My Josephite [Of St Joseph's] friends have vehemently tried to
>prove paternity. Such is the popularity of "ho-jamal-ho" that many
>groups have tried to claim themselves to be the progenitor.
>
>
>
He did not like that school very much. I wonder whether ho-jamal-ho
had anything to do with it. What an unlucky coincidence !
>-- Zunaid Kazi
>
-Cadet #902
ex-cadet, MCC