TRIGGER WARNING: Agency, autonomy, and female smoking
A month ago, as I waited for a friend in Banani, I decided to grab a packet of cigarettes. I’m not good at calculations for loose change and the vendor, old and seemingly disoriented, was having a hard time too.
1m ago
The sound of Dhaka city
Once on a particularly smothering hot day, on a CNG ride to work, I was stuck in the most heinous traffic for over two hours. Over the yelling drivers, honking cars, and incessant cursing over why the CNGs were trying to overtake the expensive cars, I was listening to my usual cycle of songs. As coincidence would have it, David Gilmour in his seraphic voice posed the question: “So, so you think you can tell/ Heaven from hell?”
6m ago
In the sand dunes
His face was growing warmer, it seemed as though the intangible entity that was stinging his closed eyes was growing stronger.
7m ago
Of ‘BONOBIBI’ and music as a form of storytelling
The verses remind us that a withering, war-torn Earth can still birth new life and hopes of freedom.
1y ago
On Coke Studio Bangla x Meghdol’s ‘BONOBIBI’ and music as a form of storytelling
When Coke Studio Bangla released Meghdol’s Bonobibi, their second song of season 2, listeners found themselves torn between loving the song and questioning it. Questioning as to why the song was done under the banner of Coke Studio, a project funded by an American-based multinational corporation; questioning what qualifies Meghdol, a band known for singing about urban life in Dhaka city, to sing about tales originating in the Sundarbans; and why the song didn’t delve deeper into the history and background of the stories they were trying to tell. It has raised a wider question about how music plays a role in storytelling.
1y ago
Afternoons at the Bijoy Sarani signal
“I wonder what she’ll wear tomorrow,” he mumbled as his eyes drooped shut.
1y ago
‘Bonbibi’: When music has a soul
I’m no musician; my knowledge of good and bad music goes much beyond the superficial but, what do I know of the technicalities that goes into creating something that emerges as an enchanting composition?
1y ago
January 3, 2023
Rifat Munim releases anthology, ‘Bangladesh: A Literary Journey through 50 Short Stories’
The book will be launched at the Dhaka Lit Fest starting Thursday, January 5, where Rifat Munim is also hosting a session.
December 18, 2022
Six of my favourite winter reads
Be it for their nostalgic pull or the promise of escaping into a rich, evocative world, these tales have been consistent go-to’s for me over the years.
December 15, 2022
An ordinary day, with monsters in our jungles
Even the Bangladeshi protagonist—merely referred to as Agontok (a stranger)—is established as an anti-hero, in contrast with the traditionally heroic Hercules, which I thought was an exciting change.
October 26, 2022
Bookworm Bangladesh to vacate shop after 30 years of serving readers
“We tried our best to keep the shop but the tides of change are upon us”, Bookworm announced on their social media today.
October 20, 2022
Can a city hold a home? - Shagufta Sharmeen Tania’s short story, “What Men Live By”
“What Men Live By” opens like a children’s story—the way Matilda or most Roald Dahl books would start out—with simple, everyday events and straightforward descriptions. Eventually, though, one line caught my attention and I couldn’t help but smile:
October 6, 2022
Your favourite fictional blackout companions
“Free light source plus [a] dude I can sit and ruminate with, it’s perfect.”
September 28, 2022
Shaheen Akhtar’s ‘Beloved Rongomala’ (trans. Shabnam Nadiya) in a new edition from Westland Books
Based on an 18th century legend from Bangladesh’s Noakhali region, Beloved Ronglomala tells the story of one Queen Phuleswari, a child bride, and of Rongomala, a woman of legend.
September 28, 2022
Shabnam Nadiya, Wasi Ahmed only Bangladeshis among English PEN Presents shortlist
Shabnam Nadiya was selected for The Ice Machine, her translation from the Bangla of Bangladeshi short story writer and novelist Wasi Ahmed’s Borofkol.
September 15, 2022
All that matters
The office started to clear out once the overhead clock struck five.
August 17, 2022
2023 International Booker Prize judges announced
Chairing next year’s judges’ panel will be Leïla Slimani, the French Moroccan novelist known for books like Lullaby (2016) and Adèle (2019).
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