The people we meet in Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees (Viking, 2021) are haunted by terrible tragedies from several years past, by a beautiful island divided into two.
I have evaded wreaths of venomous, moving flowers that have invaded the dilapidated manor, writhing and sliding up and down the walls like snakes, ready to strike any moment. I had to tread carefully down the corridors, staying as far away from the walls as possible.
Even though we moved out of our grandmother’s house in Dhaka more than a decade ago, my sister and I still associate the word “storm” with the smell of the unripe mangoes that the kalboishakhi would force down from the trees in her backyard. There are many other quirks we share, things that might seem insignificant to someone who was not a part of our lives back then. But to us, the house with its long corridors and leafy backyard, and a front yard that turned into a badminton court each winter, is nothing short of a wonderland, a place that nurtured us even as it introduced us to the harsher realities of life, a place that remains a living, breathing character in the many dreams and nightmares that we have.
“She is a feminist – a man hater,” an acquaintance says while talking about a certain person.
Knowingly or unknowingly, men enjoy these privileges in every sphere of life.
Why is it that there is a kind of hypocrisy among people when it comes to women smoking?
“If there is a women’s day, why can’t there be a men’s day as well?”
"Not All Men" alters the course of discussions, accomplishing nothing except making things worse and hindering progress.
The pandemic does not discriminate, whether you live in Dhaka or New York City.
Someone told me the music went on even after the fall of the very last curtain, the end of the very last act. The young violinist played away, hidden behind the ancient curtains and the many Corinthian columns.
Disclaimer: Contains spoilers. But then again why haven’t you watched it already?
I was rewatching The Lord of the Rings trilogy a couple of weeks ago. It had been a while since I last watched the three films and while I remembered the basic storyline and the main characters,
Telephone wires do not exist anymore. They went extinct in my house
The ocean roars and the sky above Breaks open and reveals the birds
“…because when everybody starts hovering over me, I get cross, then sad, and finally end up turning my heart inside out, the bad
The fortress has walls made of
In the conservative and patriarchal society of Bangladesh, gender-based labels and roles are strictly defined and imposed on children. Children are not only assigned to certain roles and activities, but they are also rebuked harshly if they show any interest in any other
Dealing with an emotionally shut down partner can be difficult and unnerving, particularly when you are very expressive but next to
