The thrills of Rakib Hasan
Rakib Hasan took Western adventure tales and breathed into them a Bangladeshi heart.
Why we dream big but struggle with small acts
Perhaps saving the Earth really does start with helping Mom do the dishes. Because dishes are real.
How Bengal discovered Japan: A 150-year chronicle
As Asia's first Nobel laureate, Tagore's visit to Japan created an unprecedented stir among the Japanese people.
What Bangladesh can learn from C. N. Yang’s legacy
As Bangladesh aspires to transform itself into a knowledge-based economy, Yang's story carries both inspiration and instruction
The disappearing snails of Sundarbans
Snails and mud clams also play a vital role in maintaining aquatic ecosystems by absorbing harmful substances from river and canal beds.
In search of Rajnagar: A city devoured by the Padma
Rajnagar was adorned with grand temples, palaces, festive grounds, and bustling bazaars – its architecture was unique and original even in the context of the entire subcontinent.
Signing without consensus: Will the July Charter deepen division?
By failing to specify the path of implementation, the July Charter has placed Bangladesh in a precarious position.
Who cares about Bangladeshi women prisoners in India?
As I read the news of the political crisis in Bangladesh unfold in August 2024, I was reminded of Salma, Hasina, Rumpa (pseudonyms have been used for reasons of anonymity and confidentiality) and several other Bangladeshi women I met in prisons in India between 2010 and 2011.
Why our salary structure fails
In the 21st century, how can any modern nation demean its citizens by labelling them “third class” or “fourth class”?
Writing the Padma
The first experience of the great river Padma is nothing less than overwhelming, and slightly terrifying. I first came to face the mighty river as a young lad in my teens sometime in April of the momentous year of 1971. My first sighting came with two terrors. My father was fleeing Dhaka with the family with the hope of crossing the river to escape the brutal onslaught of the Pakistan army. Arriving at the banks, there was the Padda (Padma) before us with its glorious panorama. It seemed like an oceanic river, with no sight of the other side, and the frightening prospect of crossing it.
Forgotten Currents / Bengal’s Ties to the Straits World
Medieval Bengal’s links to the Straits world, a narrow stretch of water connecting to Southeast Asia and beyond, are overlooked. This world saw not only ocean-going vessels, but also coastal and localised traffic which, like riverine transport, has gone largely unrecorded.
Muktadhara / How Tagore Exposed the Tyranny of Nationalism
Rabindranath Tagore, whose genius touched nearly every branch of the arts and literature, left an indelible imprint on the world of drama—not merely as a playwright, but as an actor, director, and visionary of the stage.
Why we dream big but struggle with small acts
Perhaps saving the Earth really does start with helping Mom do the dishes. Because dishes are real.
What Bangladesh can learn from C. N. Yang’s legacy
As Bangladesh aspires to transform itself into a knowledge-based economy, Yang's story carries both inspiration and instruction
What are we really running from?
The moment a meeting lulls, a conversation pauses, or a task feels a bit too long, my phone is in my hand. It lights up. And I’m gone.
In praise of slowness: Rethinking life in a fast-moving Bangladesh
Slow living isn’t just a trend – it’s a necessity in the fight against burnout, anxiety, and stress related to climate change
The disappearing snails of Sundarbans
Snails and mud clams also play a vital role in maintaining aquatic ecosystems by absorbing harmful substances from river and canal beds.
Mirpur factory fire / How many more workers have to die before impunity ends?
We need a new image of the labour movement, and a new class of entrepreneurs who will see workers not merely as tools for profit but as partners in progress.
The slow death of Lawachara Forest
Dawn no longer breaks with the chirping of birds in Lawachara National Park — only with the rustle of leaves falling from dying trees. The cries of monkeys echo through the emptiness where deer once danced.
Scars of July: How are the injured now?
Despite promises of financial support and rehabilitation, many are still waiting for aid to arrive.
Encroached and evicted: The vanishing Rakhines of Bangladesh
The very land that the Rakhines once regarded as their mark of existence is now shrinking
How salinity corrodes the lives of Sundarbans women
Satkhira is one of the areas most affected by salinity, where both surface and groundwater are increasingly saline.
Red July, one year on: The fight for unity, dignity, and justice must continue
It has been a year since Bangladesh freed itself from the murderous clutches of a tyrannical regime that had made corruption the rule of business, extreme arrogance of power the norm, and brutal repression its operational style.
Our finest representative of liberal politics
I did not personally know Tajuddin Ahmad, but he was a contemporary of ours, and the politics he practised was within the Awami League—though there were different strands within the party.
Remembering Tajuddin Bhai
I first met Tajuddin Ahmad—or Tajuddin Bhai, as I knew him—in the 1960s, during the pre-Liberation period. After I joined the Awami League, Bangabandhu told me to meet Tajuddin Ahmad, as he would answer all my questions on politics and the party, and that he possessed deep knowledge of both politics and people.