An evening with your special one

Farzana Zahan is a housewife who came to the "You+Someone Who Matters" event with her daughter Shucheta – a third year honours student.

Farzana said, "I did not expect her to bring me as her special guest. I am overwhelmed."

Shucheta also felt good to have brought her mother as her "someone who matters" as they do not get to spend much time together.

This is what the organiser of the event, Iffat E Faria Rong, wanted – to make your close ones see that you care for them.

Iffat, founder of Pastels and organiser of the event, said, "Living abroad – far from family and friends – for a long time made me realise their importance in life. Now I seize every moment even from my most hectic schedule to spend with those who matter to me. I just wanted to create a scope for others to celebrate the relationships."

She feels it imperative that people realise the value of spending quality time with their important ones.

The evening of August 31 at Hangouts was a celebration of varied relationships.

Like all other participants, Shamsul Alam registered for the programme. He brought his wife Tamanna as a date. They feel that going on regular dates is the secret to a happy marriage, but they say there is a lack of appropriate environment for a date.

Tamanna said, "My husband told me about this programme and I thought an evening in a nice environment with good music and food sounds like a perfect date."

The band Blue Jeans was performing there. One of the participants dedicated the song "Tumi amar ghum" to them.

Cousins Tonni and Lopa wore blue saris according to the colour code of the event. They were overwhelmed when they got gifts from the organisers. Tonni said, "We are cousins but more like friends. We get little time to meet these days. I thought this would be a good opportunity to catch up on each other."

Project Director of Start Up Bangladesh Joint Secretary Mojibur Rahman and Nasima Akhter Nisha, President of WE were present among the guests.

There was a buffet and the event ended with a raffle draw and prize giving ceremony.

Entrepreneur Lina was one of the sponsors of the event who finds the initiative really commendable. She said she would like to sponsor such programmes again where people would spend time with their close ones.

This was not Iffat's first event. She organised Daddy-Daughter and Mother-Daughter dinners in 2017 and 2018. She hopes to keep arranging such events celebrating relationships.