Perspective

Palliative Care: the new healthcare frontier

I came across the terminology 'palliative care' while conversing with a young couple sometime in late 2017. Being a non-medical person, I was unfamiliar with the term and other jargons that came up in that discussion.
Capturing political history in film

We at the Seba Bangla Library in Atlanta recently screened Tauquir Ahmed's Fagun Haway (In Spring Breeze). The film, based on the 1952 language movement, is a mixed bag—while it truly soars in concept and approach, its execution is flawed.
Yesterday, once more!

The title of this column is borrowed from a very popular song from many years ago which we used to hum all the time. It was a
We Can End TB

Nine year old Sabbir was ill. For several weeks he complained of chest pain and had a bad cough, sometimes coughing blood. His
Stop shaming stay-at-home women

The importance of women having financial independence cannot be overstated. It is the number one reason women stay in an abusive
Love for my language

I am sure you have heard it, being hurled at someone, by someone who claims to love their mother tongue, so much that they cannot stand any other in their home turf.
Ekushey as a 'Bideshi'

It's the fifth year that I've lived in Bangladesh, and the fifth opportunity to celebrate a day that makes me feel I am a part of something
Yellow on my mind

The iconic colour that symbolises rebirth, welcoming of spring, or even invokes fear and cowardice; yellow is one of those shades that comprises some of the most baffling, and diversified contrasting references and meanings on a global scale.
What to do with a Bachelor of Arts?

How are you going to live on a literature degree?” my closest college friends asked me over and over as we walked through campus, with me carrying “Don Quixote” and they an accounting textbook.
I read before I eat

It started out of curiosity, but soon turned into a rule of my grocery shopping -- I read the nutrition labels on foods before buying them.
Friends or just friendly?

Among the countless hangouts at neighbourhood 'tongs', making friends at school never quite seemed like a big deal. Yet, the minute you hit adulthood, genuine friendships become a rare sight.
Myanmar's irrational denial of citizenship to Rohingyas

The exodus of Rohingyas, one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, from Myanmar to neighbouring countries is not a new phenomenon.
Witness to victory

If there is a price for freedom, what is it and who pays it? And if the debt remains unsettled, how does a generation get absolved of the sins of the last?
Consanguineous marriage - Yes or No?

Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Franklin Roosevelt, Saddam Hussein, Queen Victoria, King Phillip II of Spain, Satyajit Ray- people from different religions, upbringings, eras, vocations and regions of the world. But surprisingly, they had one thing in common- they had all married their cousins.
Vaping or smoking — the lesser evil

Are e-cigarettes the route to diminish the tobacco epidemic? Or is it just choosing the lesser of two evils? Let us look into the details, and shatter the myths relating to the various smoking and vaping trends circulating around our concrete jungle Dhaka.
Surviving air pollution

Breathing seems to be a chore in Dhaka, and no wonder either, since the air pollution index for the massive and growing city that serves as our capital has been measured at an alarming level of 298; cementing its place as among the most polluted cities in the world.
Student hostels for females: An inside story

Born and raised in Narayanganj, Farhana Zaman moved to Dhaka in 2003 in order to pursue a career in medicine. Her family had been permanent residents and having their business neatly settled in Narayanganj for generations, moving to Dhaka was simply not an option.
Green is the new black

Even though many claim global warming and the entire concept of climate change to be a hoax, it is very evident how global warming is causing various disrupting changes around us.
Is reading becoming redundant?

I remember summer holidays during my middle-school years. On most days, I would be lazing around on the carpeted floor at one corner of the British Council library, with just a Roald Dahl classic in my hand.
Terrors of Hindi cartoons

In the modern age of Doraemon, and Motu Patlu, children are bound to embrace the language they hear the most; the one they associate entertainment with!
Changing at 25

After that 20th birthday, time seems to pass by an awful lot quicker than it ever did before. Juggling jobs and sometimes higher studies, while trying to keep in touch with friends from college, all the while trying to live a decent healthy life is what one can expect from someone in their late twenties or early thirties.
Making friends as an adult

The more we grow up, the harder it seems to get to know new people, and even more difficult is to make new friends. Somewhere along trudging through school to college to work, most have lost the concept of making new friends.
Living the simple way

Most of us have made a list of resolutions for the year. With nine months down, I wonder how many of us have actually been able to stick to those. By now we are all back on our messy tracks. But with only a little of 2018 left, we don’t much time to simplify things around us.
Just another mom- The fight against exclusivity

Saharsha, now three, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she turned one. Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for a condition that limits a person's ability to move. The neurologist got off from his chair and walked with an exaggerated gait, showing how the legs might scissor if Saharsha eventually learns to walk.
Female attendants at lingerie stores

For many, the process of shopping for lingerie at New Market or Gawsia and having to interact with male shop attendants is something they'd like to avoid as much as possible. The whole situation can easily get really awkward for some.
The friendship complex zone

As a child of growing interest, the idea of having friends and partners to play afternoon games with seemed like the best part of the day. However, as we grow up, our ideals and environment change, and so do we. With those changes around us, people seem to come and go. Before you know it, you are in your 20s or 30s and you think life through all over again and the true friends you make. But what even is a “true” friend?
Decoding Family Dynamics in 2018

If children are allowed to use gadgets at a very early age, it can affect their brain development, posture and vision in the long run. More subtle but as assured are the changes these gadgets can cause on a child's interpersonal and communication skills. Many children who spend longer amount of time on gadgets have been
G. Sumdany Don's Guide to Success

Driving home past midnight were Ghulam Sumdany Don and his wife. They were returning to their Bashundhara residence after dropping one of their friends off at the airport. As their car stood at the gate of their home, waiting for the guard to unlock it, they found themselves in an unprecedented and baffling situation. A biker gang had encircled them with one of them demanding Don to come out of the car. He
An ode to loss and victory

Nine months, which undeniably felt much longer than they were, had passed and thousands of lives had been lost. The lionhearted freedom fighters who had been in constant battle for days and nights persevered with every ounce of strength and courage they had left in them. Their resilience and unity had managed to weaken the nerves of the enemy to a significant extent and when the Indian forces joined
Birangana, representations of lost stories in the contemporary

Only recently, as International Women's Day was observed throughout the world; the demise of freedom fighter Ferdousi Priyabhashini just two days before the day we celebrated womanhood, and the preparation to commemorate our Independence Day within a few days create both a sense of loss and joy in our hearts and minds.