The hope is not there
It feels wrong in myriad ways to say that hope isn’t there when an autocrat fell
7 January 2025, 03:00 AM
THE SHELF / Post-July remembrance
With the departure of an autocrat and the period of semi-expected-still-frightening chaos after, comes the period when we have to sit down to think of what comes ahead, know what we must not do, and get some direction on how we are supposed to go on. In light of this, the following articles and/or chapters have been curated for perspectives that might be needed in this unprecedented situation we’ve found ourselves in.
6 November 2024, 18:00 PM
Apathy, Han Kang and the Nobel Prize for literature
At this point, controversies should not be a surprise when it comes to the Nobel prizes, especially not for literature.
18 October 2024, 03:52 AM
The psychological costs of an uprising
The systemic issues make even the admission of one’s struggles a minefield
10 October 2024, 02:00 AM
‘Workers must be allowed to speak up’
In light of the recent development in the RMG sector, where factories have started to open, Taslima Akhter, president of Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati (BGWS), talks about the workers’ protest and their demands and plights in an interview with Aliza Rahman of The Daily Star.
18 September 2024, 03:00 AM
Protests, deaths and a collective breakdown
It is a special kind of horror to see the semi-abstract theories you studied for your semi-abstract major come to life, and begin to apply to events 20 minutes away from you.
23 July 2024, 18:00 PM
Sudan crisis explained: Why wars are not a matter of the past
To look away from Sudan, at this time, is tantamount to complicity.
26 June 2024, 11:22 AM
Is it enough to just have female heads of state?
We have seen that women who are able to helm a country are often able to do so through their associations with powerful men.
8 June 2024, 08:50 AM
The hope is not there
It feels wrong in myriad ways to say that hope isn’t there when an autocrat fell
7 January 2025, 03:00 AM
Post-July remembrance
With the departure of an autocrat and the period of semi-expected-still-frightening chaos after, comes the period when we have to sit down to think of what comes ahead, know what we must not do, and get some direction on how we are supposed to go on. In light of this, the following articles and/or chapters have been curated for perspectives that might be needed in this unprecedented situation we’ve found ourselves in.
6 November 2024, 18:00 PM
Apathy, Han Kang and the Nobel Prize for literature
At this point, controversies should not be a surprise when it comes to the Nobel prizes, especially not for literature.
18 October 2024, 03:52 AM
The psychological costs of an uprising
The systemic issues make even the admission of one’s struggles a minefield
10 October 2024, 02:00 AM
‘Workers must be allowed to speak up’
In light of the recent development in the RMG sector, where factories have started to open, Taslima Akhter, president of Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati (BGWS), talks about the workers’ protest and their demands and plights in an interview with Aliza Rahman of The Daily Star.
18 September 2024, 03:00 AM
Protests, deaths and a collective breakdown
It is a special kind of horror to see the semi-abstract theories you studied for your semi-abstract major come to life, and begin to apply to events 20 minutes away from you.
23 July 2024, 18:00 PM
Sudan crisis explained: Why wars are not a matter of the past
To look away from Sudan, at this time, is tantamount to complicity.
26 June 2024, 11:22 AM
Is it enough to just have female heads of state?
We have seen that women who are able to helm a country are often able to do so through their associations with powerful men.
8 June 2024, 08:50 AM
What could the recent ICC warrants mean?
The recent arrest warrants may create an impression that there is an equivalence between Hamas leaders and Netanyahu and Gallant.
23 May 2024, 05:00 AM
Who was Raisi and what does his death mean?
Given the turbulent state of the Middle East at the moment, the repercussions of Raisi’s death could have effects in not only Iran but also the wider region.
21 May 2024, 09:40 AM
Zadie Smith’s rhetorical tricks
Smith’s framing runs into the same blind spot in other criticisms levelled at student protests, i.e. it detaches the student’s cause from the activists, academics, and journalists, Palestinian or otherwise, who have been documenting Israel’s settler colonial project for 75 years.
18 May 2024, 13:17 PM
Will we finally take student suicides seriously?
This tragic phenomenon, though shocking each time, is unfortunately not new.
17 May 2024, 06:00 AM
Beyond the page: Podcasts discussing POC authors
The following are podcasts that focus on POC writers, a list made because of the heavy Eurocentrism still present in the lists and bookstores known around Bangladesh.
14 May 2024, 13:45 PM
The devaluation of the sacrificial mother
Even as she is glorified, her work is devalued.
12 May 2024, 04:00 AM
‘Shubeik Lubeik’, wishes, and the vulnerability of human beings
In Deena Mohamed’s Shubeik Lubeik (originally published in 2015 and translated in 2023 by Mohamed herself), wishes have not only drastically altered the fabric of daily life in Egypt, but the world at large.
27 March 2024, 18:00 PM
Technology for when writing feels tough
A bunch of free places on the internet that allow me to complete assignments or personal projects when the going gets rough.
17 March 2024, 09:19 AM
Romance and unfulfillment in the past and the present
Much like most media geared toward women, romance novels have frequently received flack for its supposed shallowness, absurdity, and flamboyancy.
16 February 2024, 18:00 PM
Sad girl lit and trivialising women’s writing
When I read the title of Charlotte Stroud’s article “The curse of the cool girl novelist” and the accompanying description of said type of novelist, I had a solid image of what she was referring to. Stroud describes “cool girl novelists” as “depressed and alienated”, “incurably downcast”, and “terminally sad”. It had similarities with “sad girl” literature, a supposedly new genre captivating readers and publishers alike.
17 January 2024, 18:00 PM
The Continuing Relevance of Munnu
A review of 'Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir' (Fourth Estate, 2015), a stark portrayal of Kashmir, not through the eyes of a foreign individual looking in from the outside, but a Kashmiri living through the Indian occupation
29 December 2023, 14:00 PM
The progressive depiction of women in ‘Devdas’
In some ways, Sharatchandra places the blame for Devdas's ensuing sorrow on his lack of courage, made all the more noticeable in comparison to Parbati's courage in breaking social norms despite the dire consequences it could have for her.
17 November 2023, 18:00 PM