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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
A Wedding Movie Playlist
Movies showing truer pictures of what weddings are really like.
8 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Understanding Political Labels
Where do you fall on the spectrum?
11 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Online Activism Is Here for Good
Creating a huge difference when it comes to making real change.
9 June 2021, 18:00 PM
50 YEARS SINCE
Hopes, dreams, and grievances of a young Bangladeshi.
24 March 2021, 18:00 PM
In death, he became visible
Vivek Oji, the titular character in Akwaeke Emezi’s second novel, is dead; this is stated in the title, the first line, and throughout the book. However, in every chapter, Vivek keeps coming alive, images of him rising out of the text’s surface only to dissolve again.
24 February 2021, 18:00 PM
Fashion shows, but not really...
YouTube channels that talk fashion. Yes.
27 January 2021, 18:00 PM
On discovering the poetry of Louise Glück, Nobel Prize in Literature 2020
Louise Glück’s poetry is at once deeply personal and ubiquitous. Articles explaining her work demur from calling it confessional, and they may be right. It doesn’t feel like the thoughts and feelings of another; the speaker confessing seems more vulnerable, as if they’re opening up directly to you. The sceneries she weaves are odd and alluring, and behind the deceptively simple lines are layers of meaning.
14 October 2020, 18:00 PM
Living with Autism
Even though children with autism are a part of the youth and society, we fail to include and invite them in our lives.
30 September 2020, 18:00 PM