SHIFTING IMAGES
Post-Covid musings: After the deluge
Now that we have stepped into a new year, it may be time to take a brief pause from our hectic schedule.
Begum Sufia Kamal: A moral hero
Today, after a period of hiatus, I have once again taken up my pen (metaphorically) to remember and celebrate a hero—a woman of courage and integrity who changed the world, not with fire and fury but with her soft touch.
Isolation and solitude: Life in the time of corona
It has only been a month of isolation, yet it feels like “One hundred years of solitude”.
SHIFTING IMAGES / When will America be ready?
As my daughter and I drove to the polling booth last week to vote at the Democratic Primaries in the United States, I asked: “So,
The shift of ‘soft power’
Over the past three months, I have lost many nights of sleep, abandoned my favourite political TV programmes, and ignored household chores.
Happy 20/20
I am sitting at my desk, with a hot cup of tea, peering out at the foggy winter morning enveloping the placid Gulshan Lake.
Passage to freedom
Forty-eight years have elapsed since we overthrew the yoke of exploitation and oppression and gained our Independence, through blood, sweat, and tears.
The Age of Alternate Reality
Common sense tells us that life’s experiences should help us acquire a degree of certainty about most issues. However, I seem to be the exception to this conventional wisdom.
The bell also tolls for you
The Pahela Baishakh festivities bring out the best in us Bangladeshis. Apart from its creative and cultural aspects, Pahela Baishakh
Being Muslim – a pre-existing condition?
Recently, I have started reflecting on the implications of being a Muslim in a world that is predisposed to think that Islam is a religion of violence and hate.
Love – the best revenge
There is no silver bullet for raising a child since parenting is a complex task with uncertain outcomes. Perhaps the hardest part of parenting is imparting a value system to children. It's hard because values are often subject to cultural, ethnic and social biases.
What's in a word?
Nelson Mandela aptly said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”.
“Then they came for me”
In his bestselling book, The Black Swan (2007), Nassim Nicholas Taleb developed an interesting theory.
Goodbye, Barack Obama
All good things must come to an end, but some things leave us with a lingering “feelgood” emotion. Such was the Presidency of Barack Obama.
The complexity of simplicity
Recently, I have been reflecting on the act of giving gifts. My thoughts were partially triggered by the frenzied shopping sprees I witnessed during the Christmas season in the United States.
Living in a post-truth world
I have been racking my brain for a positive New Year message. But the US election outcome, the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Aleppo, the brutalities against the Rohingyas in Myanmar have plunged me into despair.
Cuba:Looking back to move forward
Following Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro's death on November 25, numerous columns and articles have been written about his achievements and failures.
An open letter to Donald Trump supporters
Let me begin by congratulating you on a stunning victory after an unprecedented campaign that your candidate conducted for more