Words from a commoner

Tagore songs take me back to my childhood. They remind me of the nights when my mother would stay awake well past midnight to watch over me while I studied for my board exams.
1 August 2019

A Perpetrator’s Prerogative 

About a month back, a 20-year-old man—a university student—was accused of sexual harassment and assault by multiple girls who came forward on social media. Following the circulation of posts exposing his alleged behavior, he faced, at max, a blast of “angry” emojis and hateful comments.
1 August 2019

The changing pattern of dengue

Dengue, the notorious mosquito-borne menace in the country, is back and so is the familiar paranoia that accompanies its advent every monsoon. Splashed across the front pages of newspapers and the headlines of news channels are the alarming numbers of new cases of dengue every day.
1 August 2019

The link between violence and mental health

Ismail* is about 16–years–old, and lives in Korail bosti with his mother. He comes over once a week to help me clean my house.
1 August 2019

Is anyone safe at the hands of a mad mob?

Md Shajib Mian, an 18-year-old youngster, is one of the many destitute youths of Kamlapur railway station who can be seen peddling water bottles, cigarettes, newspapers and sometimes carrying heavy luggage of the passengers on his short, lean body and dirt-covered hair.
1 August 2019

Snapshot

What the devil is the point of surviving, going on living, when it’s a drag? But you see, that’s what people do.
1 August 2019

MAILBOX

It is true that there are very few options for entertainment in Bangladesh, making the national zoo a popular spot for tourists and families on weekends. But the animals kept caged there for this purpose do not have the basic facilities they need to thrive.
1 August 2019

About Town

Flamenco and Jazz with Parijat Moumon & Kaartik
1 August 2019

How to survive mosquitoes even if it seems impossible

If you know your enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. - Sun Tzu
1 August 2019

In the real and mighty jungle…

When we were kids, my younger cousin and I had a favourite game. Smaller and more agile, my cousin would hang off the side of the bed or a table, his squishy feet dangling and threatening to land painfully on the floor.
1 August 2019

Polygamy in the CAMPS

Earlier, I wrote on sexual and gender-based violence in the camps as well as the psychosocial support provided in the camps to Rohingya women in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
1 August 2019

“Our studies prove that we are on the brink of a public health catastrophe”

On June 25, Professor ABM Faroque, the chief investigator of a nine-member research team unveiled that a study found detergent and antibiotics for human-use in several samples of widely sold pasteurised and non-pasteurised milk.
25 July 2019

20 hours of bliss in Prizren

I arrived in Prizren on a hot day in late May, after an overly complicated bus journey from Shkodër in Albania. What should have been a three-hour bus ride took a total of eight hours, including two hours of transit in Tirana.
25 July 2019

World’s marrow

The old demon king was named Jael and he had a hunger for meat.
25 July 2019

What do you read on the road?

My copy of Zadie Smith’s Autograph Man is special for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s the only one of my favourite author’s books that I haven’t read in its entirety.
25 July 2019

The Rape of the Rohingya

When Rohingya refugees first enter Bangladesh, they are greeted with questions. What happened? Who were they with? Where?
25 July 2019

Four Challenges to Governance in South Asia

Although there is no universally accepted definition of the term governance, it has become a buzzword since the 1980s.
25 July 2019

Journey by train… sitting on a bucket

For years now, the Bangladesh railway has been suffering constant losses. In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the net loss of this vital public transport system was more than Tk 180 million.
25 July 2019

The one thing missing from the conversation

What Priya Saha cited to Donald Trump is a statistical fallacy, and downright irresponsible, but what is way more problematic was our reaction to it.
25 July 2019

Snapshot

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
25 July 2019