For readers with a keen eye, or even a lazy one, this week’s SHOUT should look very different. It’s prettier, and it’s also an issue consisting only of fiction pieces.

When my grandmother was initially diagnosed with dementia, we were not fully prepared for what was about to come our way.

Growing up, my family would always have Friday morning breakfast together. Everyone had to wake up in time for breakfast, no excuse.

The thrill of getting your first instrument is incomparable. After playing around on a harmonium for a while trying to learn Bangla music, one day when I was at my grandmother’s house, my dad called to say our new instrument was here. It was an upright piano and all I could ask on the phone was what colour it was.

After every new app gains popularity among the youth, it is inevitable that soon its reputation is to be tarnished after some unfortunate news surfaces about the platform being misused by certain users.

The Internet has been on my mind this week. That is not to say it isn’t on my mind constantly, every breathing second of my life is spent thinking of things on the Internet, of how to be on the Internet. I even think about how others have been on the Internet and whether I like what I see.

As humans, we are no stranger to comparison. Even a newborn gets their physical features compared to those in their families. A couple years later, they might be compared with other kids on the basis of their talking manners.

Being a reader comes with its own sense of guilt. In my head there’s a certain number of books you have to read per month to retain the status of a “reader”, sort of like renewing your membership to some kind of cool club.

I often think of my time at school like a wildlife documentary. Students are the dominant species of course, owning the space, adapting to the

Mother’s Day is around the corner and I’m sticking with my usual routine of ordering flowers and avoiding watching Mother’s Day the movie for yet another year (it’s because of the colourful reviews).

One thing we don’t want to live with is uncertainty. Sure, there may not be assurance or guarantee with everything but even that’s better.

A Ramadan under lockdown is not something I’ll ever get used to. The lack of human interaction, the absence of communal iftars,

At the time of writing this, the lockdown has just begun. However, it is as lenient a lockdown as one can be.

When we are spoilt for choice by the seemingly endless variety of product options and tempted to splurge by the baffling affordability of pricing,

In terms of national events, most of us won’t be experiencing anything nearly as important as the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence in our lifetimes.

Think about it. Are you the same person in front of everyone? I really don’t think there’s a chance for debate here because you probably aren’t.

A lot of the time when I try to introduce my friends to the world of Korean dramas, I hear, “I’m not really into TV romance.” Here is my list of recommendations for K-dramas where romance is not the main focus.

I like to believe my parents are rational, logical beings which they (mostly) are. They haven’t tried making us do breathing exercises, or sitting outside in the sun to fight corona, although my mom did try making us drink ginger tea.

A young me in class 8 held strong prejudices against all studies that were not related to science. I didn’t know any better, to be honest.

Sylhet. Synonymous with tea and blessed with some of the most serene natural sceneries this land has to offer.