FLASH FICTION / Chand raat at Mohakhali

Here are some books that, for their various tropes and themes, go hand in hand and allow us to relish these July evenings.

Perhaps his most significant occupation was one as a diarist who took it upon himself to document his life as he moved through some of the most interesting scenes of human history.

I want to know how you gulp down  An entire bottle of tranquil ‘love’ In this sterile, abhorrent time!

1921 I was rooted in foot amid visibly green grasslands of Bengal Holding the souls in person amateurs, experts, admirers, critics, curious, anxious, Bengali, non Bengali, in my Dhakai landscape.

A daughter of immigrant parents, Andrea Levy wrote mostly on the struggles of Jamaican immigrants in England. Critically acclaimed Small Island (2004) is one of her best-known books and it attempts to visualize the days before, during, and after the Second World War.

The problem with Netflix’s adaptation of Persuasion is that it doesn't know what it wants to be.

I remember Ma through her books as well, the little of her thoughts and ideas that she could share with the young me then.

The book poses a number of questions: which factors have contributed to Bangladesh’s growth?

Poet Helal Hafeez has been admitted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in the capital at 8 PM on Wednesday.

RM, leader of the popular K-pop band BTS, is not only a musician but also an avid reader.

It is a story of discomfort. Of calm, ruthless violence. A drag-your-hands-down-to-uncover-your-eyes gaze at the oblivion we practice not only during Eid holidays, but on any regular day in Bangladesh. 

A story from a different perspective

How did I get here? Can I unleash the wee bookworm that could devour books back? 

A campus story, "The Almond Pair" could take place anywhere!

He joined the army at eighteen; a soldier through and through. He was tall, sturdy, ruddy-faced, and almost always urbane. Mahmud was my neighbour for nearly five years. He had moved from barely inhabited hilly terrain of Khagrachhari to the city of a heightened breeding place, old Dhaka. His decision to leave the vacuous and soulless life of the barrack could be being closer to his own children– all of them were assumed to be in their primes.

I could make a kite From the petals of my heart To be flown by my son As a magic carpet, Instead of an elegy Lamenting my death. 

In a time when Bangladeshi film industry is grievously experiencing the dearth of powerful narrative and proper storytelling; be it commercial or historical or any other genre, Chandrabati Kotha (The Tales of Chandrabati) directed by N. Rashed Chowdhury shows some light for the industry.

A story about a pickpocket

Written after a visit to Stonehenge, Salisbury, on 20/6/2022.

Love Marriage (Simon & Schuster, 2022), Monica Ali’s latest novel, is set in contemporary London, and the city, along with its concurrent glory, glides in the background as a couple endeavours to bring their families together for their wedding.