September 11, 2021
Obhoy’s Insomnia
An abrupt noise woke Obhoy up in the middle of the night and throughout the rest of the night his eyelids would not shut. What was the matter with him? He had been sound asleep; then suddenly he woke up as if someone was battering at the gate of his senses.
July 24, 2021
The Puddle-Jumper
It was a hot August afternoon when I stood on the tarmac at the St Louis airport staring at the tiny 7-seater that looked like a toy plane. What? I thought. I would have to get on that? Was this some kind of a joke? Three other passengers were also waiting, but they seemed strangely unperturbed.
March 27, 2021
Why Doesn’t the Myna Speak?
Solayman rolled off his bed in terror. Twisting his body, he dived under the bed stand and lay flat. His whole body was trembling. The freedom fighters must have surrounded his house!
March 10, 2021
When women want to study abroad
Last summer, one of my dissertation supervisees approached me as she plans to go abroad for higher studies.
January 16, 2021
Say “Hello” to the Skunks
“Have you met Mr. Skunk? In case you have not, he is a short black and white fellow that you might often see at the bottom of the stairs, or near the dumpster.” Joe paused for breath.
August 22, 2020
Substitute Cook
Last November, our elderly maid servant Fatema’s ma who works full-time at our house, wanted to take leave to get her son married. Of course, I agreed immediately. But she would be gone for about two weeks and hence she proposed that her eldest son’s wife might work in her absence.
July 18, 2020
Sparkling Elizabeth and Timid Anne: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Readers over the last two centuries have generally liked the bright and sparkling world of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, whereas Persuasion has often been described as “a departure from the rest of the novels, a turning away from the brilliant and public play of the mind for the deep and private truths of the heart” (Morgan 168).
June 28, 2020
When harassment is the norm
Sometime during the pre-lockdown era, I was standing in queue at the Dhanmondi branch of a renowned bank.
April 11, 2020
Baishakh at the Wake of Covid 19
It all started with someone responding to a Facebook post on Coronavirus—wishing that all the problems would be over before the
March 21, 2020
Where to?
Some weird things happen sometimes. It was just midday when his mother was done with her cooking. She got up from sitting position with her two hands on her knees and went to sit in the yard to relieve rheumatism in the sunlight. On her way, she called out to her second daughter, “Mitu, serve Milu his lunch. I’ll rest awhile.”