There comes a time when every civilisation faces a conundrum. Without a doubt, it is the thought of what lies ahead.

Culinary knowledge distinguishes man from beast. Not my words! The thought was explicated in a 16th century Mughal text when detailing the workings of Emperor Akbar's kitchen.

How does one put city life within the proverbial parenthesis? In this concluding edition of The Daily Star Anniversary Supplement, we try to capture snippets from what can be termed as “Dhaka living.”

It would not be an understatement that Jazz, as a musical genre, defies all definitions.

For solving the jigsaw puzzle that is history, we look into a wide plethora of heritage items/symbols — from monuments to artworks to chronicles and to even myths for that matter! Another such significant piece of that puzzle is numismatics, the study of coins.

An old dented jolly tin box, a lock of hair, a torn sari anchal, a tiny note from a mother to her son in a hostel, and a copper half pice Victorian Indian coin from the 1900s; that's the closest I got to my grandmother while cleaning my father's almirah.

Most rational human beings like to hedge our bets, minimise risks, whatever you call it. In my usually hare-brained shopping, I do like to check for the expiry dates on the juice packs and such, and the “actual” sale that the markets offer, whenever I remember to.

It's amazing how the clothes we wear, so seemingly utilitarian and mundane, has superpowers. Now, before getting told off for a dramatic choice of word, allow me to elaborate —

Formal events are the best places for experimentation. It is true, at least in this part of the world, when it comes to men and formal wear, the only forms of jewellery men are seen wearing is a ring or watch, and maybe cufflinks once in a while.

For Bangladesh, the challenge is to focus more on the practical side rather than aesthetical perspective. More often than not, aesthetics is applauded, while functionality is set aside.

Every parent of a child who misses their developmental milestone is slightly anxious, worrying that their worst fear might come true, but autism is hardly an endemic to the 21st century.

One of the first set of story books I received, read, and till date cherish, are about the Sirah — the life of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (S).

In the spirit of the #10yearchallenge that seems to be the gripping trend in social media at the time of this writing, why don't we look back at our own lifestyle 10 or 20 years ago?

Linia Baksh, 28, and a graduate from a reputed private university of Dhaka now works at a multinational company located at the central district of the capital.

Venturing to other countries is no longer a challenge, time-wise. It sometimes boggles the mind as to how it took over months for ships to travel from the Indian subcontinent to the British Isles, but that is how it was!

To understand sexual violence, it might be helpful to shed some light on sexuality and gender first, which are often the underlying issues of sexual violence. Being cognisant of the fact that sexuality and gender are both very complex and vast subjects, I'll only touch on issues relevant to this topic.