Of losses and languages: reviewing Han Kang’s 'Greek Lessons'
There is a sense of inexorable catharsis, and dare I say— spirituality—when the protagonists begin their journey into one another since they alone embody the ideas and predicaments of the text.
21 July 2023, 09:00 AM
21 July 2023, 09:00 AM
CREATIVE NONFICTION / On rainy days and reading
The fact of the matter was this: the poem had been written, the call had been answered, and as lofty as it sounds—at that moment there I was, as Frank O'Hara put aptly—"the center of all beauty! / writing these poems!/ Imagine!".
23 June 2023, 18:00 PM
23 June 2023, 18:00 PM
Mother's Day / On mothers and reading
I wonder at how these frugal, accessible pleasures define her daily existence and get elated with the fact that reading takes up a significant space on the shelf
14 May 2023, 12:55 PM
14 May 2023, 12:55 PM
How I feel about Virginia Woolf being part-Bengali
Maybe I loved her so because we were daughters of the same soil, to some extent, at least. It made me smile. But I also sneered at myself a little bit, because her soil had also ripped apart mine for over 200 years.
13 August 2022, 10:40 AM
13 August 2022, 10:40 AM
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Mundanities, magic realism, Bangladesh—Shahidul Zahir’s novellas
The personal space is the same as the political sphere, the individual on the same strand as the collective.
27 July 2022, 18:00 PM
27 July 2022, 18:00 PM
MUSINGS / Notes of a first-time English teacher
As the white hot sun pierced through the soufflé clouds on an afternoon a lifetime ago, my aunt and I leaned back a little too precariously on our rattan armchairs while talking about the allure of academe.
27 April 2022, 18:00 PM
27 April 2022, 18:00 PM
Ode to the book, my forever Valentine
In a particularly American but artsy, cinematic production depicting the friendship between David Lipsky and David Foster Wallace,
9 February 2022, 18:00 PM
9 February 2022, 18:00 PM
Before midnight strikes
Even if the statement is now a cliché, the energy behind the words remain youthful as ever. Every single stage of our life has its own beauty, however late teens and early twenties have their own distinct sense of unbridled excitement, nervous anticipation and colourful fervour.
8 January 2018, 18:00 PM
Gardening in the crowded city
A cup of steaming hot coffee paired with your favourite book, clad in periwinkle pyjamas and bathing in the winter sunshine. Obviously, you would have to be surrounded by beautiful greenery and colourful flowers with maybe yellow butterflies roaming around. Can it get any better?
4 December 2017, 18:00 PM
Designs in drapery
Curtains are the most popular form of window treatments in Bangladesh, but which sort of curtains are in vogue at the moment with the Dhaka dwellers? The key words are gorgeous yet classy, with a touch of modern sophistication.
4 December 2017, 18:00 PM