From Medha with love

In a world where the timeless art of calligraphy is fading from the pages of printed designs, Miftahul Jannat Medha, a 14-year-old ninth-grader at Bogura's Government Girls High School, has chosen the artform as a way to pay tribute  to her favourite newspaper.

She combined her love for both The Daily Star and calligraphy by hand-drawing the front page of the newspaper's December 1 edition.

She worked at a stretch for eight hours to create what her peers and teachers are now calling an aesthetic masterpiece.

And they are right. At first glance, one might mistake her drawing as an actual newspaper, which in reality, is a heartfelt creation of a 14-year-old.

When she shared pictures of the hand-written newspaper  on social media, her friends and classmates flooded her with praise.

In a Facebook group, she wrote, "First time writing an English newspaper, I hope everyone will like it."

Lemon, a member of the group, wrote in the comment box below, "At first, I thought someone from the school was showing an actual newspaper, but then I realised it's handwritten. Good try!"

Contacted, Medha said, "The Daily Star is my favorite newspaper. My father, a local government primary school headteacher, buys it for us every week. I also make an effort to find alternative ways to read it on other weekdays to learn English and stay updated about the country."

"And I have a passion for calligraphy. So, I decided to combine my two hobbies and create a handwritten version of the newspaper."

When asked what inspired her, she said, "I came across a hand-written Bangla newspaper a few years ago, which my senior from school, Nisha Apu, had crafted, and her work inspired me."

"I spent eight hours crafting the front page of the newspaper. I worked secretly as I didn't want my parents to know that I was skipping my homework," Medha said with a smile on her face.

"When my father saw it, he was surprised and asked me how I did it. I could tell he was a bit proud too," she added, her sweet smile expanding even further.

"My mother inspired me in crafting the newspaper. After crafting The Daily Star, I received many praises. Motivated, I hand-wrote another Bangla newspaper last week. I would like to continue this further," a confident Medha said.

Her father Md Abdul Mozid and mother Ruma Akter couldn't agree more.