Tamanna Khan

Learning Bangla made easy: Bangladeshi-Canadian's app gaining popularity among NRBs

An amusing incident unfolded on March 30 at Farhana Rajib’s home in Minneapolis, US. Her mother-in-law Shawkat Ara Begum received a note from her 12-year-old granddaughter Ella Rajib. Handwritten in Bangla, the note read: “Dida darun boka” (Grandma is very silly).

Why does Canada hide its shameful history and its consequences for Indigenous peoples?

Travelling was my hobby before I emigrated to Canada. During my trips both within and outside Bangladesh, I always tried to taste local and regional food to appreciate the culture of the place I visited.

From the archives: Sayeeda Khanam, living through the lens

Mid-twentieth century Pabna: Upon her aunt's insistence, a frightened little girl hesitantly stands in front of the one-eyed box covered in black cloth. The object looks like a square-headed monster on a tripod. Who would have imagined then that the little girl would one day capture the world with this very object? “I never thought that this camera will one day become my life partner,” chuckles Sayeeda Khanam, Bangladesh's first woman photojournalist.

A simple act of kindness

On March 25, The New York Times ran a story about Americans stepping up to face the coronavirus pandemic by sewing masks for their healthcare providers as well as the general public.

Agonising wait for organ transplant act amendment

Still bearing the trauma of her last dialysis, Marjia Rabbani Shoshi was speaking with a smile until the subject of the Organ Transplantation Act 1999 (amended in 2018) came up.

Female artists paving the way

Women have always been a common subject in visual art, but not so much in the role of an artist. For centuries, their thoughts and expressions remained hidden from public view and crushed under the weight of patriarchy.

Blood, sweat, tears

“…Then after dark, a tentative ‘Joy Bangla’ in the back streets. Older men came out and persuaded the lads back into their homes; ‘there is still a curfew’. Then a more determined ‘Joy Bangla’. The Mukti Bahini had taken over the streets.

Kidney Donation: Patients suffer for legal constraints

Fahmida, who has been undergoing dialysis for the last two years, now desperately needs a second kidney transplant. Her mother Fatema Zohra had donated her a kidney in 2015, but it got damaged within a year.

Where is Kalpana?

An Amnesty International poster with the sketch of a young woman appears on the screen when googled for #myunseensister. The question “Kalpana Khudu?” (Where is Kalpana?) glares beside the pictures.

Times well spent

When Farida Akhter, 65, first took up the responsibility of accompanying her granddaughter between home and school, she had no idea of the things she would gain from this otherwise tiring, five-days-a-week journey between Dhanmondi and Bailey Road.

Nazrul study in neglect at DU centre

Although many seminars and discussions are going to be held to mark the 117th birth anniversary of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam today, only a handful of research has been done on the poet in the last few decades.

The becoming of Nurjahan Begum

The colourful and picturesque pages of the National Geographic magazines were what enchanted little “Nuri” and

All the torchbearers

The excerpt (translated) above is not from 2016. It is from an article written by Hamida Banu, which was published in

A long, insulting walk to justice for rape victims

Her dark-circled, deep-set eyes gave her a hollow look. The eyes were full of fear and mistrust. The girl gave sideways glances as she hesitantly walked into the office of the One-stop-Crisis Centre (OCC) at Dhaka Medical College Hospital last month. She looked afraid, and when she noticed a man sitting in the room, she immediately cringed.

Sculptures for survival

Shepu Rani Das, 20, was busy braiding wax hair on a statue of black molten wax, while her sister Shilpi Rani Das, 18, looked on and recounted their rescue from under the debris of Rana Plaza.

Beware when on easy bike

All she felt was a sudden jerk and then her limbs went numb. Twenty-year-old Sumaiya Sweetie was paralysed for life from the neck down.

Mentoring makes the day

Considering the importance of role models in the lives of young people, the Royal Danish Embassy in Bangladesh yesterday celebrated the UN International Women's Day (IWD) in a different way.

Govt to bring back 20 from India

The Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi has recently taken steps to bring back 20 Bangladeshis, who have been languishing in different prisons and shelter homes of Indian southern state of Kerala.

Workplaces not friendly at all

It was not her inefficiency why Sumi (not her real name) had to quit her job. Rather, it was the operation hours of an elevator that made it impossible for her to reach her workplace every morning on the 4th floor of a building.

Coming back to life

Chhaya (shadow), the Bangladeshi woman whose poetry collections titled Ahoto Ami (Injured Me) was published in Malayalam language

Indian war veterans relive '71 glory days

Col MM Kapoor had to wait 44 years to come to the country that he had fought to liberate in December 1971.

Reeling from terror blow

The recent attacks on two young publishers have further shrunk the space for the country's creative book publishing industry, which is already struggling to survive against the advent of digital technology. Publishers and writers say that despite the vacuum created by the death of popular writer Humayun Ahmed, who had attracted a huge pool of young readers since the late 1980s, the publishing scene has been vibrant with young publishers setting a new trend to bring out books on science, philosophy and humanism.

Where babies safe without mothers

Entering HR Textile Mills Limited in Savar, one would be surprised to see babies playing and mumbling in a 3,500-square-feet area designated for childcare.

The indomitables

A garment employee, Aklima Akhter shoulders the responsibility for her family from whom she was taken away by

They need love, care

The picture of a smiling child in a green sleeveless shirt caught attention of many after it was published in a national Bangla daily last month.

Nepalese face similar ordeal

Sunil Koirala of Nepal's Dhading district was lured to a job in Malaysia with a monthly income of Nepalese rupees (NPR) 20,000 per

“We must never have people standing while children are beaten and killed.”

Ruthless violence against children seems to have become a recurrent concern in today's Bangladesh. While the extent of the cruelty

Hospital of neglect

It was around noon. The 2nd and 3rd floors of the old home and hospital were quieter than its ground and 1st floors.

A different experience

Like many other offices, Eid holidays left an impact on three public hospitals in the capital, but the scene of the burn institute at Dhaka Medical College Hospital was a little different.

Limon losing hope

For Limon the glitzy shopping malls in the capital, jam-packed with Eid shoppers, did not mean much when he came to Dhaka recently on a short trip from Savar.

Hurdle Goes

Indigenous children growing up in remote villages of hilly Bandarban often find it difficult to adjust and adapt to formal education when they go to primary

V for a mother

Even after having freedom fighters' blood on their hands, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and his cohorts once ran free on this land.

Justice on the horizon

Families of the martyred intellectuals heaved a sigh of relief at the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the International War Crimes Tribunal's death sentence handed to convicted war criminal Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed. Asserting their faith in the country's legal justice system, they said the apex court had brought them one step closer to getting justice.