Mannan Mashhur Zarif

Empty nest? More like an empty heart: How one family turned loneliness into love

A woman facing an empty nest found renewed purpose by taking in her house-help's daughter. Despite restrictive adoption laws in Bangladesh, her family secured guardianship, focusing on emotional support and building a fulfilling bond.

3w ago

Think you've seen it all? Wait till you visit this 8th-century gem in Bangladesh

Somapura Mahavihara — “the Great Monastery situated in the locality of the moon” — is one of the oldest monuments in the country, and a UNESCO heritage site. Located to the northwest of Bangladesh in the district of Naogaon, the ruins of the Buddhist vihara at Paharpur serves as a cue to what was once a flourishing Buddhist culture.

1m ago

A postcard from memory lane: Revisiting Dhaka’s GPO

My earliest recollections of the city’s General Post Office are linked to my late grandmother.

1m ago

Unveiling the goddess within

Durga Puja celebrates Goddess Durga, highlighting her strength, courage, and compassion. These divine traits are present in every woman, empowering them to face challenges and embrace their inner goddess during the festival and beyond.

1m ago

Sharat’s graceful homage

Fall brings a whole new meaning to Bengali fashion. In this day and age, we love taking cues from global trends and fusing them with our versatile styles the rest of the year, but come this season we still lean towards more traditional forms and hues.

1m ago

Kashful fields and starry nights: The magic of autumn in Bengal

Fall, in this part of the world, may not be marked by a profound stillness. Nevertheless, even in Bengal, the season brings about noticeable changes.

2m ago

Tourism in turmoil: How political unrest and floods crippled Bangladesh

Currently, the Bangladeshi tourism sector is witnessing unprecedented problems. While this was supposed to be one of the peak seasons, due to the recent political situation and the current flood that is sweeping many parts of the country, the hospitality industry seems to have come to a standstill.

3m ago

Cultural heritage in a bowl: The taste of Bogura’r doi

Bogura, once a quaint town, is now a bustling metropolis, but its legendary curd, Bogura’r doi, remains a symbol of tradition. This gourmet delight blends age-old recipes with the finest local ingredients. Artisans meticulously craft it, starting with fresh cow’s milk, boiled and reduced, then fermented in clay pots.

3m ago
August 7, 2018
August 7, 2018

Timeless yet changing architecture

Sparkling décor of vines and patterns on ceramic walls of a mosque, magnificent domes, and tall minarets for the muezzin to call for prayers are all too synonymous to what we consider as distinguishing features of Islamic art, or to be more precise — Muslim architecture.

July 31, 2018
July 31, 2018

Alpana Habib — “the happy homecook”

Almost four hundred prime-time television recipe shows. Over 24,000 Likes on the Facebook page, ‘Alpana Habibs Cooking Club.’

May 4, 2018
May 4, 2018

Collector's Exhibition - A celebration of passion

As alien as it may seem to us today, baby boomers are no strangers to the fad of matchbox collecting. Millennials will remember the pleasure of removing stamps from an envelope, soaking them in water and once dry, sticking them on albums. Coins and banknotes have always been popular and even today an average Joe carefully preserves a ragged note long out of circulation.

May 1, 2018
May 1, 2018

An exhibition of collectibles in Chittagong

People have the general perception that leisurely pursuits like stamps and coin collecting are dying pursuits. This is far from reality, as the exhibition — Numismatic, Philatelic and Hobby-Item Exhibition2018 — organised by Chittagong Collector's Club between Thursday, 3 May and Saturday, 5 May at the Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Gallery, Zilla Shilpakala Academy, Chittagong will show.

April 3, 2018
April 3, 2018

Alta…Churi…Feeta

The belle is a likeness of the goddess to romantics; a literary or visual imagery handed over generation after generation of writers, novelists, painters and sculptors, not to mention the roadside Romeos! Times have changed, yet the look of a quintessential girl is the exact same — taant, alta, churi, feeta…

March 20, 2018
March 20, 2018

The portrait of an artist

How does one pay tribute to the lifetime achievements of an artist, especially when the iconoclast is Ferdousi Priyabhashini? Growing up in Khulna, a quaint town of the then East Pakistan, she once nurtured a passion for music. Her relinquished desire to become an exponent of Tagore gave Bangladesh one of its most revered sculptors.

March 20, 2018
March 20, 2018

The honesty of a white Panjabi

The finely woven sheer kurta comes out of the drawer every Friday morning. Blued at the laundry for the desired snowy-white appearance, the panjabi is stiff and comes neatly folded. The fabric crinkles as one separates the layers glued from the dip-starch, and as one walks towards the masjid chanting the takbir, the all-white ensemble complemented with a whiff of rose water completes the sanctified aura of Jumu'ah.

January 30, 2018
January 30, 2018

Recipe for change

My culinary experiments began at the tender age of seven, and involved puddings, singaras and vegetable rolls.

January 16, 2018
January 16, 2018

When M F Husain comes to town

In the last 14 years, Galleri Kaya, one of the leading art galleries in Bangladesh, has arranged almost a hundred shows. As organisers of various art trips, camps and workshops they are also active in promotion of Bangladeshi art.

December 12, 2017
December 12, 2017

Speed

For those growing up in postcolonial times, there was no escape from the tumultuous events that unfolded before them. Not a witness to the savagery of the Second World War, but of a world polarised as its direct result, Shahabuddin