The incident that happened earlier this year, when news of the death of a mother who was found several days after she passed away and none of her children took any notice of this matter, made us quietly realise how the busy life of Dhaka is making us lonely.

Jatra Biroti, the café portion of the store Jatra, has always been a refuge for me.

What comes to mind when you hear of Islampur? It is home to a huge wholesale market of clothes and fabrics — that sums it up, right? Indeed, the area's commercial importance oftentimes overshadows its history, which, ironically, stares down from the signboards of those very shops: the name of the locality itself.

So today I met the gentlest man in Dhaka -- and I’m not exaggerating. In Bangla we call such a soul “mati’r manush”: more than a man moulded by earth, it honours humility, humanity, and the rare gift of connecting without ego.

Goodverse Foundation is reshaping Dhaka’s social landscape with a festival for seniors that is less about charity and more about companionship

Today I take my Dhaka readers on a sugar‑high day trip into the greater Dhaka region; our stop is Louhajang upazila in present‑day Munshiganj, historically known as Bikrampur.

After a pause of more than three decades, Nawab Bari’s pond, also known as Gol Talab, came alive once again with the return of a long-lost tradition.

At first impression, Gulshan is all about modernity — tall office buildings, luxurious apartments, trendy cafes, and the tag of being a neighbourhood for the rich! But keeping aside all that, there is another side of this swanky area which often gets overlooked: its history.

Two weeks after the World Cup final, I was still refreshing old match clips at 2 AM waiting for the withdrawal to lift. It did not. Then an Instagram reel interrupted my scroll: fighters trading punches inside a cage, a caption promising KHAR X at FDC on 31 July. I tapped through without knowing what KHAR meant.

Dhaka means different things to different people. Some people loathe it for nuisances while others love it for some unexplained reason.

I often catch myself, almost involuntarily, looking towards the spot where Shishu Park once stood whenever I pass through Shahbagh.

“Track your parcel” is the new‑age “You’ve got mail.” The beep of delivery updates has replaced the once‑iconic inbox ping of the early internet era.

Reading Architectural Guide Dhaka, authored by Architect and Assistant Professor Sayed Ahmed, I found myself thinking less about buildings as static structures and more as fragile records, stories that can disappear if no one chooses to document them.

Travelling back to the British colonial era, Topkhana, Paltan, and the overall area was the cantonment of the East India Company. In fact, these were collectively called Guard Bazar.

Dhaka never ceases to amaze me with its spectrum of social life.

Some hidden sanctuaries in Dhaka never leave you the same. They make you feel as though you belong, where even strangers feel like home -- all connected through the shared wavelength of music.

Fridays in Old Dhaka begin with a distinctive rhythm, building toward Juma prayer. During Juma, the atmosphere becomes layered: sacred inside, restless outside.

The rains return, and with them, a celebration of rhythm and resilience. Arthy Ahmed Dance Academy, in collaboration with the Faculty of Fine Arts (Charukola Onushod), University of Dhaka, will stage “Ghonoghota 2” -- a monsoon dance recital following the resounding success of last year’s inaugural production.

Galleri Kaya in Uttara hosted a hands-on painting workshop for 15 JAAGO Foundation students on 9 July, held as part of an ongoing exhibition at the gallery.

Cloudbursts sound poetic; the monsoon is dreamy. Getting drenched in the rain, pouring steaming dudh cha into a saucer by the roadside and blowing across its surface, watching the city turn emerald under the downpour -- these are the images that make the monsoon feel romantic.