Sadya Afreen Mallick

I woke up before dawn on Wednesday to a call from my younger sister, Nazia. The ICU doctors had asked that the family come in. A quiet fear settled in my chest.

He created two lasting popular characters in Bengali literature—the debonair detective Felu Da and the brilliant scientist Professor Shonku. The brilliance of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Isaac Asimov neatly packed into one creative mind that was Ray's.

Initially published on June 15, 2007 It was one of those rare moments when I caught a glimpse of renowned composer Alauddin Ali, oblivious to the world around him, humming a catchy tune he probably just came up with. As I continued working on my songs in Sruti Studio, I occasionally saw him from the other side of the glass window.

It was May 1990. World renowned singer Feroza Begum was on a three-month tour of the United States as part of the first Nazrul Conference in North America. I had the rare privilege of accompanying her on the tour and observing a legendary personality from up close.

In the shade of the mighty Himalayas, the Torsha, Dhorla and Kaljani Rivers flow gently across the village of Balrampur in Cooch Behar. It was in this peaceful place that Abbasuddin Ahmed, the doyen of folk songs, was born on October 27, 1901 to Zafar Ahmad, a lawyer and Hiramon Nesa.

Sufia Kamal, (June 20, 1911–November 20, 1999), lived a long and eventful life. She not only witnessed great cataclysms in history but played a major role in empowering women in an oppressive society.

Besides sending a strong message to shady traders, the picture of RAB destroying 40 tonnes of chemically ripened mangoes felt as if the fruit was on the verge of taking the baton of the “forbidden fruit” from the “infamous” apple. Mango lovers fervently hope that this batch would be a drop in the ocean and that the overwhelming proportion of the harvest would instead bring back the smile on our faces.

Born in 1920, in Chhoto Bakal village of Sathkhira District, Luthfur Rahman was the son of Sheikh Abdul Huque, a schoolteacher who was proficient in music. At the age of nine, Rahman developed walking disabilities, resulting from acute typhoid. While studying at a convent and later at a local madrassa, his enthusiasm for music led him to abandon studies.