The sound of Dhaka city
Once on a particularly smothering hot day, on a CNG ride to work, I was stuck in the most heinous traffic for over two hours. Over the yelling drivers, honking cars, and incessant cursing over why the CNGs were trying to overtake the expensive cars, I was listening to my usual cycle of songs. As coincidence would have it, David Gilmour in his seraphic voice posed the question: “So, so you think you can tell/ Heaven from hell?”
In the sand dunes
His face was growing warmer, it seemed as though the intangible entity that was stinging his closed eyes was growing stronger.
Of ‘BONOBIBI’ and music as a form of storytelling
The verses remind us that a withering, war-torn Earth can still birth new life and hopes of freedom.
On Coke Studio Bangla x Meghdol’s ‘BONOBIBI’ and music as a form of storytelling
When Coke Studio Bangla released Meghdol’s Bonobibi, their second song of season 2, listeners found themselves torn between loving the song and questioning it. Questioning as to why the song was done under the banner of Coke Studio, a project funded by an American-based multinational corporation; questioning what qualifies Meghdol, a band known for singing about urban life in Dhaka city, to sing about tales originating in the Sundarbans; and why the song didn’t delve deeper into the history and background of the stories they were trying to tell. It has raised a wider question about how music plays a role in storytelling.
Afternoons at the Bijoy Sarani signal
“I wonder what she’ll wear tomorrow,” he mumbled as his eyes drooped shut.
‘Bonbibi’: When music has a soul
I’m no musician; my knowledge of good and bad music goes much beyond the superficial but, what do I know of the technicalities that goes into creating something that emerges as an enchanting composition?
AI generated Bangladeshi comic ‘Manobjatir Grohon’: An initiative with potential
We find out that civilisation underwent the threat of extinction, where only a few survived. About 100 years later, Anika, a 19-year-old girl, comes across an orb-like glowing “machine” that is meant to “change the fate of the current humanity forevermore.”
Surviving in a stagnant industry: What are emerging publishers doing differently?
Preexisting publishers are struggling to sustain in the market since the Covid-19 and the recent rise in paper prices. How are smaller and emerging publishers faring?
October 7, 2023
The sound of Dhaka city
Once on a particularly smothering hot day, on a CNG ride to work, I was stuck in the most heinous traffic for over two hours. Over the yelling drivers, honking cars, and incessant cursing over why the CNGs were trying to overtake the expensive cars, I was listening to my usual cycle of songs. As coincidence would have it, David Gilmour in his seraphic voice posed the question: “So, so you think you can tell/ Heaven from hell?”
September 2, 2023
In the sand dunes
His face was growing warmer, it seemed as though the intangible entity that was stinging his closed eyes was growing stronger.
March 18, 2023
Of ‘BONOBIBI’ and music as a form of storytelling
The verses remind us that a withering, war-torn Earth can still birth new life and hopes of freedom.
March 18, 2023
On Coke Studio Bangla x Meghdol’s ‘BONOBIBI’ and music as a form of storytelling
When Coke Studio Bangla released Meghdol’s Bonobibi, their second song of season 2, listeners found themselves torn between loving the song and questioning it. Questioning as to why the song was done under the banner of Coke Studio, a project funded by an American-based multinational corporation; questioning what qualifies Meghdol, a band known for singing about urban life in Dhaka city, to sing about tales originating in the Sundarbans; and why the song didn’t delve deeper into the history and background of the stories they were trying to tell. It has raised a wider question about how music plays a role in storytelling.
March 16, 2023
Afternoons at the Bijoy Sarani signal
“I wonder what she’ll wear tomorrow,” he mumbled as his eyes drooped shut.
March 3, 2023
‘Bonbibi’: When music has a soul
I’m no musician; my knowledge of good and bad music goes much beyond the superficial but, what do I know of the technicalities that goes into creating something that emerges as an enchanting composition?
February 6, 2023
AI generated Bangladeshi comic ‘Manobjatir Grohon’: An initiative with potential
We find out that civilisation underwent the threat of extinction, where only a few survived. About 100 years later, Anika, a 19-year-old girl, comes across an orb-like glowing “machine” that is meant to “change the fate of the current humanity forevermore.”
February 2, 2023
Surviving in a stagnant industry: What are emerging publishers doing differently?
Preexisting publishers are struggling to sustain in the market since the Covid-19 and the recent rise in paper prices. How are smaller and emerging publishers faring?
January 3, 2023
Rifat Munim releases anthology, ‘Bangladesh: A Literary Journey through 50 Short Stories’
The book will be launched at the Dhaka Lit Fest starting Thursday, January 5, where Rifat Munim is also hosting a session.
December 18, 2022
Six of my favourite winter reads
Be it for their nostalgic pull or the promise of escaping into a rich, evocative world, these tales have been consistent go-to’s for me over the years.
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