September 4, 2020
Air travel in the time of corona is surreal
I don’t know why I was expecting that I would not be fazed at embarking on a journey across the Atlantic at a time when just stepping out of my bedroom had the potential to kill me.
August 18, 2020
Remembering Murtaja Baseer: The master of ‘abstract realism’
At 75, Murtaja Baseer is as agile and hyperactive as a child, with a mind as sharp and clear. In his cosy apartment in Manipuripara, Baseer eagerly shows his oil paintings stacked against the walls...
July 10, 2020
A distressfully uncertain future created by the latest US foreign student guideline
Monday July 6 proved to arrive with ominous news for international students studying in the US, some of them still in the US, others back home for the summer as well as those who were scheduled to...
July 3, 2020
Glimpses of the man behind the visionary
I have often been tongue-tied in the presence of Latifur Rahman. Was it his impassive face and intense eyes that would look right through you, his relentless demand for accurate, precise answers?
March 27, 2020
The universe is shutting us down. Can we restart?
After washing my hands for the eleventh time today, I am still not completely sure whether I touched something contaminated—the metal tap, the metal doorknob, the metal part of my pen.
March 7, 2020
The Shackles of Womanhood
No this is not about all the stuff that will make you want to exterminate the male members of the Homo Sapien species. Let’s leave that to the regular pages. Let’s talk about the heaviness of...
March 3, 2020
The Unhappiness Factor
When we read about a woman being “gang-raped”, then raped again by her “rescuer” (The Daily Star, October 28, 2019), how long do we spend thinking about the unbelievable trauma this woman has gone...
February 7, 2020
The privilege of being a brown South Asian traveller
One of the interesting perks of being a brown South Asian, travelling anywhere in the world, is the special attention you get from various official quarters.
January 8, 2020
A DU student’s trauma
Even before we can catch our breath as we enter a new year, a new decade, rape continues to haunt us, reminding us of its presence...
November 29, 2019
Why we need weekend magazines
So it has finally happened. Hard as it is to accept it, the Star Weekend magazine is about to close the curtain after an impressive run of 23 years.