A Villager’s Guide to Feeding Foreigners
If you’re a straightforward villager like me, you’ll be curious to entertain the foreigner. Before you do there are things to consider. Foreigners have foreign ways; allowances are required. Yet, despite the inherent challenge it’s good to feed one. Even foreigners need to eat.
4y ago
Corporate training needs a Bangladeshi spin
Importing corporate training modules is fraught with danger. It’s time to recognise the uniqueness and strengths of Bangladeshi corporate culture, and for training providers to tailor sessions accordingly.
4y ago
Life lesson in Sylhet
Away from the news. Away from the enormity of a planet on the brink. Away from inner restlessness there is yet life. It’s what I learnt in Sylhet.
4y ago
At home in the saddle
She's determined and courageous: at the tender age of twelve, Tasmina Aktar from Chak Subolpur village in Naogaon's Dhamoirhat upazila has quite a reputation in horse racing circles. The seventh-grade student is accustomed to placing first or second in any race. As a jockey she's participated in around fifty events. Tasmina is a girl undeterred, happy to compete in a sport usually reserved for men.
5y ago
Natore's princess poet
For seven generations from the early-eighteenth century, the zamindars of Dighapatia near Natore were landlords of a vast estate,
5y ago
When darkness falls
Morzina Begum from Daktarpara in Rangpur town works in a bidi factory, rolling cheap cigarettes. Aged 75, it's not an ideal
5y ago
Bloom and grow, forever
In and around Mathorpara village, in Gaibandha's Shaghata upazila, it's become usual for every newborn child to be welcomed into the world with the planting of a tree. The tradition began three years ago by 28-year-old visual artist Gopal Chandra Barmon, as an extension of a tree-planting hobby carried from boyhood.
5y ago
Cost of floating farms on the rise
In wetland areas of Pirojpur, farming on floating seedbeds called “dhap” is a tradition that spans centuries. Primarily constructed from water hyacinth, the seedbeds that are up to 180 feet long, four feet wide and two feet thick, allow farming in areas otherwise unavailable for regular crops. But this year, the rising cost of floating cultivation has farmers worried.
5y ago
May 30, 2018
The joy of colours
Atanu Patranabish Chhoton, 54, from Boro Pukurpar in Netrakona town, always led an active life. Alongside his pursuit of various careers as family breadwinner, Atanu indulged his flair for creativity at cultural and literary events.
May 17, 2018
Organic mango farmers overlooked for exports
The sweet scent of mango is in the air once again. But, instead of rejoicing, Rajshahi's orchardists are feeling uneasy. And the cause
May 5, 2018
Going to Hatiya Island
At first sight of our island, I confess
April 2, 2018
'A' is for 'orange'
A is for apple, b is for bear, c is for cat... English spelling is easy enough at the beginning. It clearly deteriorates thereafter. Yet one must have extra sympathy for Bangladeshi students of English because for them, sometimes 'a' is for orange.
March 29, 2018
Towards a new Cold War
Did you ever get sick on a plane? Some years ago, in Sydney, I was told by someone in the know, “I have a friend who travels a lot and he never eats on planes.” In terms of poisoning, a plane offers advantages. The event will occur in international airspace. National laws prohibiting such activity may not apply and even if they do, will be impossible to enforce.
February 25, 2018
Khirsapat mangoes to get GI status
An internationally-recognised sign used on specialty products, geographical indication links products with their specific origin, be it a country, town
February 23, 2018
School attendance crisis on Bogra's Jamuna chars
On the Jamuna river shoals (char landmass emerging from riverbed) in Bogra's Sariakandi upazila, all too often school isn't as
February 18, 2018
She's a superhero
Jobeda isn't the only woman whose husband divorced her when her father couldn't pay the full dowry. Nor is the 32-year-old tailor
January 28, 2018
C'nawabganj public health services dismal
A little good advice: don't get sick in Chapainawabganj town. Health services at the Adhunik Sadar Hospital are in a deplorable state
January 27, 2018
Saving crops from pests
Nationwide, for some years now, farmers have been using bags to protect ripening fruits, including mangoes, guavas, litchis and papayas. In Tangail, the same technique is being enlisted to protect vegetable crops from pest attack.
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