Gulshan Society held a two-day language festival at the Gulshan Lake Park, curated by Sadaf Saaz and Jatrik. The event took place over the weekend of 21-22 February that saw discussion panels, original musical performances, and poetry recitations, surrounded by an array of book stalls and food courts.

The opening ceremony began with a poetry recitation celebrating our different languages. Many talented poets of different ethnicities bared their souls to the audience with original pieces of poetry in English, Monipuri, and Garo language based both on the Language Movement of 1952 and their personal experiences with their language. After hearing from poets Adrita Zaima Islam, Mithun Raksam, and Maibam Sadhon, the event followed with a panel discussing "Language of Resistance" with artist and curator Shehzad Chowdhury, artist Dhrubani Mahbub, and Assistant Professor at the Department of Bangla at Dhaka University and author Rafat Alam, moderated by Nazia Manzoor,  the Editor of Star Books and Literature, The Daily Star, and Assistant Professor and Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages at North South University.

Nazia Manzoor prompted the conversation by asking "Can art itself be a form of resistance?"  to which Dhrubani Mahbub replied "I think art itself is a resistance. Rebellious is its nature. We artists will always strive and fail to find happiness because we are always protesting against unfairness caused by people in power." She continued, "However, I believe, I am alive and I am capable of love and that is also an expression of art." She ended by saying "We all owe something to each other, as artists, as humans, as Bangalis and that is love."

The event followed with a discussion, "Crafts and confessions: A deconstruction of flash fiction" led by Sabrina Fatma Ahmed and Abak Hussain, founder and director of Talespeople respectively, discussing the flexibility of approaching flash fiction as a writer and the inauthenticity of AI writing. They also spoke of the lack of individuality and intimacy in AI writing, reassuring how humans will never be short of stories to tell.

In addition, another conversational panel followed, "Other Tongues: Immersed In Translation" with Kaiser Haq, Rifat Munim, Mojaffor Hossain, Srabonti Datta, and Noora Shamsi Bahar discussing the diversity of different languages in our culture and the importance of engaging in translated works. The panel challenged the overrated notion of prioritising English literature while emphasising the need to embrace translated works by authors from diverse backgrounds.

During the event, attendees explored the wide variety of books and food stalls. Next, a riveting hour ' 'Jiboner Saathe Golpokotha'  with Shayan was followed by the all-female indigenous band, F minor, who entranced the audience with singing in different languages of Bangladesh,  and covers of songs inspired by the language movement. There were then recitations of classic Bangla poetry by veterans Dahlia Ahmed and Shimul Mustapha, and the day ended with the book launch  Da Vinci Club, a thriller by Mohammad Nizamuddin.

On the final day, 22 February, several more panels were held throughout the day, including an inspiring 'In their own words' panel. One of the most interactive sessions was "The Art of Reading and Writing", featuring Farah Ghuznavi, author of the book Fragments of Riversong (Daily Star Books, 2013). She encouraged the aspiring writers in the audience to draft out their ideas as much as possible and emphasised the importance of building a relationship of respect and familiarity with readers. Following this, an insightful discussion was held on fiction writing with author Saad Z Hossain discussing struggles of storytelling in politically sensitive climates. The event concluded with an engaging performance by Warda Ashraf.

Bashirah Tahreema is a poet chasing a life in STEM but her dream is to live in a falling-apart castle in a forest that is probably cursed, and watch reruns of Modern Family forever.