Life's Lyrics
Italy beckons Bangladeshis
Ten years' back my two daughters and I took a vacation to Venice, Italy. I was the only earning member, both girls were students.
Music for therapy
Samia Mahbub Ahmad, a beautiful lady sang with us on the same stage in the Nazrul Mela held in Washington DC in September 2018. I had listened to her twice before, once in the Omni auditorium and another time in the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC), on both counts in Dhaka.
Dreams do come true!
For some, dreams come true whilst for some, they don't. Take for example, my own self. As a child, I watched a procession of cinema actresses entering our house and leaving them.
Life's lyrics / Farzeen Huq
Farzeen Huq is my friend from Holy Cross school days, 1970 to be exact. We were catching up in London where she lives, I admired her beautiful garden and every corner of her home had an exquisite piece of furniture which caught my fancy.
Archiva
It was around the year 2003, Indian crooner Anuradha Padwal was going to have a live performance in the prestigious Dhaka Club and I was to host the show.
A Product of Abbasuddin Shongeet Academy
He sat there in the rickshaw, his mother holding him firmly on her lap, as the rickshaw travelled the inner roads with potholes in Banani.
Life's lyrics / Nazrul Convention 17
Anandale Washington DC had not seen so many beautiful men and women together, all dressed in colourful sarees and matching kurtas! Fall is a colourful time in USA, the leaves start taking different hues, from pale orange to deep crimson, from a subtle green to a bright spinach colour.
A true Tagorean
We had a mutual friend named Manjur Karim. Whenever he called Chanchal Khan, he would say, “Hello Chanchal, Ami shudurer o piyashi” (I have a thirst for that yonder), and both would burst into laughter.
Soulful Singing
Her father said, `So many people get admitted to the university every year, they complete their degrees, they take up positions as academics and others. How many people get scholarships to study in Shantiniketan? This is a calling, you must pursue that'.
Feroza Begum the precious one!
Feroza is a special turquoise stone available in Iran and other parts, signifying a beautiful blue, the hue bringing in a radiance and glow which stands out above all other stones.
Adieu Nayokraj Razzak
It just seems like yesterday. But it isn't. While East Pakistan TV had started and my friend Shimul Billah (Yousuf) would take part in a drama serial called Ghoroa. The handsome gentleman starring as her father was Mr. Abdur Razzak.
Carrying the music and being a winner
‘Safa’ got her name from the two hills in Mekkah Sharif. She is the daughter of former Minister Late Mr. Hafizur Rahman and Begum Anwara Rahman.
Shakila Ahmed
She was the best friend of my sister Naeela and the two of them chuckled and cackled all the time in our Purana Paltan house (in Dhaka, Bangladesh), which also happened to be the neighbourhood of Shakila Ahmed alias Torah.
Sudhin Das - End of an Era
Nazrul Academy was established by the renowned poet and Nazrul devotee Talim Hossain right after the emergence of Bangladesh.
Shabana - Lifetime Achievement
Shabana; a name that is etched in golden ink in the hearts of the Bangladeshis.
Rita Shabnam Nezami
Every year, on Christmas day, we celebrate another important event in Bangladesh. The world's first Bangla channel was inaugurated on that day in the year 1964.
Rounding up 2016
Considering the difficult times that Bangladesh has faced this year, the cultural scene has not fared so badly. If 2015 deserved an A plus, 2016 could do with an A minus, in spite of the violent spate that shook our lives.
Celebrating the birthday of a celebrity
Last week we celebrated the birthday of Mustafa Zaman Abbasi. Through an interesting design of God, it happened to be the birthday