Cover Story

Dear Parents, please stop fighting

Ashraf jerked awake from the same recurring nightmare he has been having for quite some time now. He woke up to muffled raised voices in the middle of the night coming in from the next room.
A Beginner's Guide To Competitive Gaming In Bangladesh

Looking back, I can clearly remember, thinking that there was no way video games could get any better than this. I was wrong. Fast forward to the present, I realise that a younger version of me would be awed at the sheer number of gaming titles, platforms and the overall innovation that exists now.
INKED IN OCTOBER

What started as American illustrator Jake Parker's personal project to improve his inking skills has now become a global phenomenon we know as “Inktober”.
BEYOND BORDERS

According to a University Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC) report published in 2016, there were 355 foreign students studying in the different public universities and 1927 foreign students studying in the various private universities of the country; these numbers are increasing every year.
A Beginner's guide to Merchandise Business

“Because why not? The idea of merchandise business has always been something with potential, but only if you can provide quality product,” says Maleena Dhrity Gomez from the other end of the phone call when I asked her why choose this particular line of entrepreneurship.
THE IDEAL TEACHER

After parents, the only people who seem to have some of the greatest impact on our lives are teachers. A seminal study by economists Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard University and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia University claims that a student with a good teacher has much more than better grades; they have greater chances of going to college, are more likely to be better off financially in terms of income and savings, might live in better neighbourhoods, and can even have greater family success.
Bad habits that we romanticise

No human being is perfect. We are all trying to do our best with the hands that we have been dealt. However, when people bond over their mistakes and failures a lot more than they do over their achievements,it plays havoc with their minds. Questionable habits become desirable, and self-restraint is thought of as boring. Someone needs to say it though, and so, throwing caution to the wind, here are a few bad habits that we tend to indulge in, and somehow end up justifying them to ourselves.
The Vampires of Dhaka

“Hello, did you reach the graveyard?” the person on the other side of the phone inquired. “Yes, I did. I'm inside now and looking for you guys. Where are you?” “What? No, what the heck, get out of there. Take a left from the graveyard, walk for about five minutes and you'll see a student mess. It's house number 42. Do you have Google Maps? I'll send you the location,” he corrected me.
Underground Football

We all know that cricket took over as the leading fandom in our country just around the time when the new millennium kicked in. But before the craze for the gentleman's game took control of our sporting arena, football sat on the throne for quite a long time. National and club level football were always at the heart of it.
Living Sustainably

The same way your mom nags at you about cleaning your room or doing household chores because it's your house too, you have a responsibility to take care of planet Earth a little, because it's your planet, don't you think?
Freelancing - A better alternative to your 9 to 5 job?

In a country like Bangladesh, the thought of becoming a full time freelancer is quite hard to grasp at first, irrespective of the field you plan to work in. The normal full time jobs which require you to attend your workstation for a minimum of 40 hours a week is what most people believe to be the only form of employment.
The perfect TV shows for Eid

Cooking shows are more popular than ever before. Children too take part in these cooking shows and many seem to be amazingly gifted in the culinary art. However, not all children have the skills needed to cook a dish worthy of being served at a Michelin star restaurant.
Grasping at the Hidden Straws

At the stage of your life when you're about to graduate from high school and enter university, you may find yourself stuck in a haze of perpetual confusion. You've just started grade 10 or 11, but your peers already seem like they have pulled ahead of you. There's a flurry of action and everyone is looking into prospects that they can cram into their repertoires to make themselves seem more “interesting”, “pro-active” or, the worst, “worldly”.
A dog sees Dhaka

I was wrong. Sitting up there, defeated and alone, I decided to do what I always do to forget and start anew. I slept.
Admission Tests - What you need to know

Admission test — the one ominous exam standing between you and your dream university, a test more gruesome than the Twelve Labours of Hercules. Admission tests can be highly challenging not only due to the sudden leap in difficulty, but also since your result directly reflects on the undergraduate programme you choose and the path your life takes thereafter.
Youngsters Talk Parenting

Aysha Zaheen, 19, an HSC graduate, thinks that the privacy of young people is an important matter that parents sometimes do not respect. “I guess it'd be nice if parents respected their kids' privacy.
Games that need reboots

One of the staples of Bangladeshi PCs in the early 2000's was this gem. Whether it was the bright and intricately detailed environments or the diversity in gameplay and enemies, anyone who played this even once was hooked.
Digital Marketing - The Invisible Skills Gap

Regardless of the current generation's various woes, no one can deny that we are a privileged generation. What we have in the palm of our hands today is more information than our ancestors could gather in their entire lifetimes. If we don't utilise our privileges to their fullest, or are not given the opportunity to do so, we are wasting precious opportunities that previous generations would kill to have.
A world cup for the rejects

This past Sunday the first-ever World Tournament of Rejects pulled down its curtain in the ad hoc capital of the football world, Italy. A nail-biting final between the Argentina Rejects and Rest of the Rejects XI marked the end of the tournament, a game which ended 2-1 in favour of the former. This result made it official that Argentina had the best group of rejects among the five participating teams.
Take the Plaantik

Football is the author of Cinderella stories; whether it is Iceland reaching the quarter finals in the Euros and qualifying for the World Cup or Gabriel Jesus going from painting streets only four years ago to spearheading the Brazilian national team's attack on the biggest stage, football has its own unique way of amusing people with tales of joy. We have our very own version of such a success story today, the story of “Plaantik”.
Not the salami you want but the one you deserve

Salami is a token of love. And ever since childhood, love has been synonymous to Pokémon. So why not just give that to the eager salami enthusiast? The best part about this is the amount of variety you have in your hand. Do you give them the overpowered Mewtwo card or the classic holo Pikachu card? There are so many options for you to think about. As for the person on the receiving end, they can trade that Pokémon card they got as salami with someone else and build his own deck. Your gift of Pokémon card will help them be the best like no one ever was. And we think that's beautiful.
Day in the life of a Bangladeshi Martian

Hours turned into days, days into months and finally, the months into a whole year on this red planet. A dream that was a bit of a laughing stock at first. An idea that was thought of decades ago. All this is now a reality for all of mankind. Colonising Mars. It all seemed like a concept that had no possibility to be turned into an actual reality. But after all the hard work put in by us and Space-TreX, we are finally here.
Surviving the Transition from O Levels  to A Levels

If the O Levels is Twilight, know that A Levels is Fifty Shades of Grey. However, it is possible to survive the transition, so here's an article with the collective advice and knowledge of everyone with some experience of A Levels.
The Best Years of Our Lives

University can be considered an inexplicable place exempt from the traditional rules of time and space. One moment you walk in as a freshman with eyes full of wonder and a heart full of optimism, and in the next second you walk out as a person -- years older with slumped shoulders carrying the wisdom you wish you had before. In between there is a blur of moments that are impossible to distinguish from one another.
Dhaka: the role-playing game

Many moons ago, before chaos had sprung upon the land, there was peace. Hundred years of prosperity till that fateful day. The winds of fury had risen long before, but it wasn't till the fat lady was breathing down his neck that Tazrian would take matters into his own hands, thus giving birth to the legend whose story would echo through the ages. The descendants he would never have would be proud.
Preparing for your first pet dog

Puppies are insatiable floof monsters who'll try to destroy anything within grasp. Therefore, you have to make your living space safe for its arrival. Take a good look around your house, especially the room your puppy will be spending the most time in, and try to identify all the items it can bite, chew, or pull down. Be especially wary of things made of leather, faux leather and PVC (mostly bags and shoes) as teething puppies love to sink their teeth into anything soft and rubbery. Objects with sharp edges and breakables should be stowed away as far as possible.
Cyber Privacy - why it should matter to you

You've heard the age old adage “don't talk to strangers”, but funnily enough in the internet we end up talking a lot to strangers. In fact on the internet, information we'd formerly be conscientious about, like our daily activities that we'd probably once keep private in a diary, are now openly share without so much as a second thought. Given the massive boom in social media, and how easily we let our information be accessed, it's no surprise that data we share can be misused. And that brings us to our topic of today, cyber-privacy.
Is MBA a must after BBA?

BBA is one of the most sought after degrees in the country today. With Bangladesh's promotion to a “developing” status on the horizon, more and more students are expected to pursue business degrees to take on newly emerging executive roles.
So You Think You Can Dance in Dhaka?

Matching steps to your favourite beat and swaying like nobody's watching, dancing truly lets you find and lose yourself, all at the same time. Ever since I was a little girl, dance has always held a special place in my heart. I would participate in every dance competition my school had to offer, danced/choreographed in every gaaye holud I was asked to be a part of, and grooved to Macarena, The Ketchup Song, and almost every Bollywood hit like there's no tomorrow.
Once upon a Pahela Baishakh

Sunlight peeks in through my curtains and gentle rays glimmer into the corner of my eyes helping me wake up earlier than usual. “Okay B!ng, prepare my morning coffee,” I mumble to my home assistant as I get ready to take a shower. The cold water sends jolts all the way to the small of my back till it finally alerts me to how important today is.