HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE

Before the Internet and social media, us kids didn't have much to go on with. The TV was mostly Indian channels with cartoons thrown in. Rising Stars was the only thing that talked to us and was one of us. My own journey with RS was quite strange. Back in 2006 or 2007, I got rejected by RS because my writing was too crude and politically incorrect. Instead of being discouraged by it, I went ahead and created Rantages to host my own brand of toxic writing. Fast forward 6 years, I join Rising Stars during its last few months and got to experience the strong culture of writers it hosted throughout the decades. I ended up writing 25 articles in a single month before one of the sub-editors told me to slow down. If anyone is plying their trade in the English writing business in Bangladesh, they owe a lot to Rising Stars for giving them that push to get where they are now. Whether it be rejection or acceptance, we all have our own RS stories.

– Rumman R Kalam, Sub-editor, SHOUT