Amiya Halder

Amiya Halder works as In-Charge for Daily Star's weekly career supplement Next Step. She has the daunting task of turning dull, sleep inducing articles into interesting content. She often steps in to create info-graphs which happens to be one of her specialties. Amiya has a recurring worry that her arms are too short for taking selfies, rather like the Tyrannosaurs Rex. This IBA student refuses to let her poor selfie taking skills hamper her team building activities. Most of that involves accepting LAN games of NFS and beating the guys most of the times at races. It's called team building exercise and she practices what she edits.

Nobody the Girl

It was the hour of waking on Winter Solstice and yet a radiant sun was rising on the already bustling borough of Colony. From the first glimmer of sunlight on the shortest day of the year, the citizens of Colony would take the Choice, till the World were momentarily plunged under the cover of darkness. Once the sun rose on the new season, a new Commandant would be named.

5y ago

Invoking the “Mantoiyat”

“This is a particularly timely film and in many ways, and perhaps self-contradicting ways, a comforting film.

6y ago

ALTERED CARBON

Although it's been out for over two months, the visually-thrilling, ultra-pulp tech-noir Altered Carbon has enjoyed relatively little fanfare. Created by Shutter Island screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis, Altered Carbon is set in a depraved new world 400 years in the future. Human consciousness now exists on “stacks”, and if you're rich enough, it can be downloaded and

6y ago

Priyabhashini's orchestrations of carbon

That Ferdousi Priyabhashini's driftwood creations are more sentient than inanimate becomes apparent the second you enter Shilpangan, a contemporary art gallery tucked away in a cosy corner of Dhanmondi 13. Her current exhibition, Megher Shongi, is a tribute to the monsoon, her most loved of the six seasons, and the inspiration for her woodwork orchestrations. With boats and boatsmen, long-legged water-birds, and stranded figurines, her characters and forms look like they've emerged straight out of a tempest.

6y ago

Tickle your intellect this Lit Fest

It's that time of the year again—to soak in the muted, winter sun on the dewy early-morning lawn, sipping shatkora and lotkon sherbets as you give up body and soul to rapturous lines of poetry, all eyes and ears for the literary luminaries and cultural icons who grace the grounds of Bangla Academy this weekend-and-a-half as Dhaka Lit Fest (DLF) returns for its third year.

7y ago

Rules of engagement

A nine-to-five workday spent dangerously close with the opposite sex in a sequestered office cubicle makes it painstakingly difficult for things not to get steamy once in a while.

7y ago

Tall, handsome and deathly—the enduring allure of vampires

Growing up, vampires were never quite the James Deans of the undead that they are today. Vampires that I would encounter were middle-aged, had an unwholesome pallor, the same coiffure as Alfalfa from The Little Rascals, and god-awful vaguely-European accents.

7y ago

Phoenix of Longadu

“After the landslide, it became all too clear where the aid was headed. Of course there would be an inclination to send relief to the Bengalis,” says Mrittika Kamal, Director of Terracotta Creatives and one of the curators of Phoenix of Longadu, a charity exhibition, held between October 16 and 19 at Drik Gallery, dedicated to raising funds for the affected families.

7y ago

October 28, 2016

3 things you tell yourself to avoid tailoring your application

We probably tell you to customise your cover letter or tailor the summary in your CV every other week. But how many of you actually do it?

October 7, 2016

The science of drinking coffee [INFOGRAPHIC]

Chances are you're drinking your coffee all wrong. Here are 7 science-backed ways to drink coffee smarter.

October 7, 2016

How to boost your team's morale when you're not the boss

If you're hearing more sighs and seeing more dejected expressions than usual, show your co-workers some love with these simple tactics.

September 23, 2016

The trick women in the White House use to stop being interrupted

If you thought a White House aide was pretty much set for life because she or he has gotten the metaphorical foot in the door, think again. Because once you get your foot in the door, you have to get a seat at the table. And 21st century or not, for women, it's double the work.

September 9, 2016

The resume checklist [INFOGRAPHIC]

Do you have everything ticked off?

September 3, 2016

When did torture become the norm?

It has become apparent that we live in a country where being signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child means little more than a perfunctory nod to the accepted international code of propriety.

September 2, 2016

How to shut down negative people

Here are five ways to respond to people who whine non-stop without ruining either of your days.

August 26, 2016

Secrets to making your underlings happier

The brain works much better when a person is feeling positive. But how exactly do you achieve that in a work setting?

August 26, 2016

Why your organisation should celebrate more

If your organisation is celebrating a big anniversary—like we are at Next Step with our three year anniversary—you shouldn't neglect to mark the occasion. But does your organisation tend to go overboard and celebrate every other special day or is the mildest form of excitement frowned upon in your circles?

August 19, 2016

9 tricks to appear smarter in e-mails

E-mail skills are up there somewhere with handshaking skills and paraphrasing skills in the list of non-specific job skills required to succeed in the corporate world. Here are 5 tricks to get your e-mail game in shape.