Laila Khondkar's new book, Papua New Guinea: Shorgopakhir Desh (Mowla Brothers, 2021), recounts the author's experiences in the southwestern Pacific country known for its cultural and biological diversity, home to more than known 851 languages, embellished by beaches, coral reefs, and active inland volcanoes.

A writer and development worker specialising in child rights, Khondkar studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. In Western Africa, Khondkar conducted research on the intersection of AIDS and human rights. Her work has taken her across Australia, Liberia, England, and Papua New Guinea, the latter of which inspired her to write this book.

Residing in Goroka, the capital of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, Khondkar witnessed exemplary instances of cultural diversity, friendship, natural beauty, and eco diversity. She writes of Van Gogh and the culturally significant bilum string bags of Papua New Guinea, about the musical and cultural festivities attended, and the socio-political norms she observed while staying there. 

The book is priced at BDT 240. 

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