RBR

Spring or boshonto is the last of the six Bangla seasons and happens to fall between winter and summer, spreading over the Bangla months of Falgun and Chaitra (mid-February to mid-April).

Traditionally, seafood did not suit the deshi palate. We were more accustomed to having freshwater delicacies. Time, however, is changing and we now enjoy delightful, seafood dishes. The following is a recipe of a popular seafood dish, with added cheat codes that make it easier to make.

If you have a veranda decked out with plants and ferns, place two garden chairs and the setting is perfect for a tea. Simply spread the tea table for your spouse and yourself, with just two cups of steaming milk tea and ghee toast, and it is party enough. In this busy metro-life of yours, you two do not have the luxury to spend quality time together let alone enjoy a cup of tea in silence.

In this day and age, it’s very difficult to find time to do just about anything, meaning much less time in the kitchen, save for the weekends. But if the mood demands something scrumptious, lack of time is the last thing that will work as an excuse! These recipes are dedicated for those express situations where time is short but craving is not.

Jewellery, especially the ones given at weddings, hold special meanings in their intricate designs. Each piece has its own story to tell. The olden ‘tikli’ (the forehead pendant that had the star and moon designs carved up in red rubies and whitish yellow ‘pukhraj’ or yellow sapphire stones) promotes prosperity, wealth, and marital bliss. The lover’s knot or ‘prem fash’ designed chain holds its meaning in the name. ‘Prem’ in Bengali is love, and ‘fash’ means a grip, so as the name suggests, it is a lover’s grip, a treasured design construed in a bangle or chain given to the beloved as a wedding-night gift.

Each street popular for its food has a story to tell. From the narrow lanes of Old Dhaka, the bustling Taltola or Banani 11, to Uttara — they all have their flavour for us to relish. Each experience is richer than the next one but hands down, it's time to re-discover Mohammadpur's street food this winter, for its warmth and vivacity.

Upcycling is the act of taking something no longer in use and giving it a second life and new function. In doing so, the finished product often becomes more practical, valuable, and beautiful than it previously was. While recycling involves the destruction of waste in order to create something new, upcycling creates something new from it in its current state.

Unfortunately, the clothing industry has drilled this idea into our heads that the biggest fashion crime you can commit is to repeat your clothes. It is time to undo and ditch that unsustainable idea promoted by advocates of fast fashion.

Teas are a joy, be it chamomile, Earl Grey, Makaibari or just good old deshi milk tea. A light sip of hot black tea with a slight squeeze of lemon or brewed heavily in cardamoms and cloves, or frothy milk tea; it makes you happy and keeps you going. So, with the advent of chilly evenings and misty midnights, go for your favourite warm fuzzy brew to add a little liveliness to your day’s itinerary.

The ilish is a versatile fish as it can be used to prepare a variety of dishes. Hilsa is as suitable for preparing delectable dishes on those special occasions, as it is for cooking a regular everyday curry. The hilsa season is almost coming to an end. Now is the time to get your fresh ilish from the bazaars of Chandpur and Mawa. The following are some easy to make recipes with hilsa. Try them out and you will not be disappointed!

Modest and fashion might be two words seldom put together, but changing global perspectives made its popularity a reality. It is by no means a new idea, as people, and women, who preferred to dress modestly have always been around, but the idea to cater to this growing population specifically is only just catching on. Some choose it to comply with religious practices, others for simple personal preference; however, modest fashion is not about the hijab or headscarf alone. It relates to anyone who is partial to loose, flowy clothes, often in multiple layers, like capes, wraps and loose jackets, with the intention of not displaying the shape of their bodies prominently.

The real joy of eating a mango is peeling off the skin and eating it right away, with delicious juice runs down your hand; it might be offensive to many, but a true Bengali would love to eat it that way. However, the civilised way to eat a mango would be to slice it into pieces and have the pulp with a fork. Now that the season is over and we have satiated most of those cravings, we can safely shift our attention to chilled sweet mango desserts for this scorching summer. Mangoes are high in calories; hence, everyone will ask you to keep your mango count in check. But, if you pair it with cool foods like yoghurt, you can have that extra one too. So, no reason to stop the mango binge.

As I have grown older, my mind is calmer but it’s a void now, empty of any voice.

Imagine a Doza Market or Bongo Bazar but for ceramics only. If you cross Uttara and drive towards Tongi and Gazipur, you will shortly reach a turn which takes you to Cheragali Ceramics Market tucked inside a dusty, debris piled corner. The narrow alley takes you to the treasure troves.

While mango has a cemented spot as the king of summer fruits, in its many varieties it also easily overshadows our other seasonal favourites like jaam or the java plum. The festivity around mangoes often makes for a lacklustre season for other bounties of summer. This dark purple, bordering on burgundy, lozenge sized fruit is fleshy, juicy with a hard seed and stains everything it touches a deep purple, including your mouth.

Monsoon is dreamy for some and exasperating for others, yet it is the best season in Bangladesh. The rivers are full and abundant with sweet water fish, nature is at its greenest best.

What I failed to realise is that the price hike is a constant thing, it is steadily increasing every month or rather every week it now seems, and never coming down actually.

There is a legitimate reason behind the adage — children not only mimic, but also develop their social mannerisms, ways of interaction and behavioural traits by observing and acquiring information from the adults around them. 

“If you are the bread earner, then I am the butter earner” — rounds with my husband always starts with this sentence. And indeed, it is true!

labbayka -llāhumma labbayk, labbayka lā šarīka laka labbayk,  inna -l- amda wa-n-ni mata laka wa-l-mulka lā šarīka lak