Not just child’s play: Bengal’s rhymes as cultural memory

34 MIN(s) ago Culture
Folklorists have long recognised multiple categories within Bengali folk literature—songs, proverbs, riddles, and rhymes. Rhymes are not homogeneous; they appear in distinct functional types: nursery rhymes, social or satirical rhymes, occupational rhymes, ritual rhymes, and those associated with games. That diversity signals not triviality, but embeddedness. In their rhythmic repetition are folded patterns of labour, hierarchy, crisis and adaptation.
EVENT REPORT / Unveiling ‘The July Resolve': Stories of resilience & resistance
14 January 2026, 16:01 PM
On the chilly afternoon of January 10, Bookworm Bangladesh, in collaboration with Voices Shaping Society, hosted the book launch of The July Resolve, a collection of 36 narratives that depicts the strength and struggles of people from all walks of life during the Monsoon Revolution of 2024.
EVENT REPORT / NSU DEML Winter Fest 2025 celebrates storytelling, art, and youth voices
14 December 2025, 08:17 AM
North South University’s Department of English and Modern Languages (DEML) concluded its first-ever Winter Fest spanning December 10-11, bringing together literature, performance, film, and visual art in a two-day celebration of creative expression on campus.

Memories at War

I often consider war as a quasi-synonym for memory. After all, memory is nothing but our present in constant war with our glorified, vilified, expressed, suppressed, erased, and fragmented selves floating in past space and time.
20 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Hedonist

A thorn in the bushes they beat around
20 March 2020, 18:00 PM

The Journey Back Home

During the Pakistan days my father was in the army, and we moved frequently, every few years. Soon after I finished Grade 10 in 1966, we made a big move: from Chittagong to Rawalpindi.
20 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Where to?

Some weird things happen sometimes. It was just midday when his mother was done with her cooking. She got up from sitting position with her two hands on her knees and went to sit in the yard to relieve rheumatism in the sunlight. On her way, she called out to her second daughter, “Mitu, serve Milu his lunch. I’ll rest awhile.”
20 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Short-Lived

Unloved and unnoticed
13 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Original vs Derivative: Reading Syed Shamsul Haque’s Ballad of Our Hero Bangabandhu in Translation

To aptly celebrate the Birth-Centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, one initiative, among others, by Bangla Academy has been to publish Syed Shamsul Haque’s Ballad of our Hero Bangabandhu, together with its translation in English, as part of its grand project named “Birth-Centenary Publications of the Father of the Nation Bangabadhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
13 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Charlotte Brontë’s Villette: Food for Thought

Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is widely read as a classic feminist novel. Published in 1953, Villette, however, still resides in a shadowy region.
13 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Bangabandhu, the 1947 Partition and Healing its Wounds

In the intellectual evolution of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 played a decisive role.
13 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Late Night Love Note to Self

Things are dark and bleak?
6 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Separation: A Soliloquy

Doesn’t anyone get that my soul cringes for a call?
6 March 2020, 18:00 PM

The Phone Call

Aum impatiently held on to his phone, hearing it ring without being answered. He hated having to start the day without hearing her voice. Then again, he also hated going to bed without talking to her. It was going to be a bad day.
6 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Two Poems

Psychedelic noises – a cacophony so harmonious
6 March 2020, 18:00 PM

NEW BOOK

Rashida Sultana’s much-admired novel, Shada Beralera has been translated into English as The White Cats, recently.
6 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Language Attitude Anxiety and Remedial Propositions: A New Approach to ELT

Asantha U Attanayake’s first exchanges with me were over e-mail. She was travelling across the Subcontinent to collect and develop materials for her forthcoming book.
6 March 2020, 18:00 PM

Sweet Dreams and Distressing Nightmares

Those haunting lyrics of the British band Eurythmics, “Sweet dreams are made of this…”, followed intermittently by “…everybody is looking for something…”, and “…some of them want to use you…” fairly accurately encapsulate the theme of the dozen short stories that make up Rummana Chowdhury’s slim volume,
28 February 2020, 18:00 PM

RUN

The ruby red kite fluttered above head, contrasted against the aquamarine sky, and it all was picture perfect for a split second, so perfect that it was a spoiler to the fact that something horrible was about to follow, like it did almost always.
28 February 2020, 18:00 PM

History Animated through Words

No matter Lawrence Durrel defines history as “an endless repetition of the wrong way of living,” we must study it closely for gaining insights into our very own existence and setting our future course of actions.
28 February 2020, 18:00 PM

What Makes Good Writing Good?

To answer this question, let me hazard an analogy -- good writing is much like good food. Good writing tickles our senses the way good food does.
28 February 2020, 18:00 PM

NEW from The Daily Star Books

The book comprises a curated collection of essays written by Professor Fakrul Alam on various occasions for The Daily Star, starting from 1999 until now.
21 February 2020, 18:00 PM

New Books: Ekushey Boi Mela, 2020

The poems in this collection explore issues plaguing the world right now—poverty, class inequality, climate crisis, warfare and
21 February 2020, 18:00 PM
Show in Mobile App Off
Show Sub Category Off
Show in Homescreen Off