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.
Nazrul Islam's Islamic songs
Rachel McDermott works as a Professor in Columbia University, USA. She studied Bangla in Santiniketan and started translating some of the songs and poems written on the Goddess, Kali.
Runa Laila is Runa Laila
This was the summer of 1990. I had taken a taxi cab to reach the Hawaii East West Centre in Hawaii, USA. I was selected by the centre to take part in a training titled 'Micro-computers in Demography.'
Two lunch breaks
There were three of us. We were all in our PhD programme under London University but when we met over lunch, we laughed and giggled like teenagers. One friend was from Zimbabwe, the other from Belgium and as well as myself.
Epar Bangla, Opar Bangla
As part of Indian PM Narendra Modi's visit a leading TV channel included the names and short interviews of luminaries who came to Bangladesh from West Bengal and vice versa.
Leena Alam
Every time I hear the name Hemayetpur, it reminds me of a village where people send patients for mental health treatment.
A long lost face...Sakina Sarwar
I worked hard to obtain her phone number. I was adamant. I tried all possible contacts and then finally dropped her a line through a post card as I had her address.
BHUPOTI BHUSHON BARMAN
With the arrival of almost 30 channels in Bangladesh, we get to listen to the interviews of many men and women who are lauded for their achievements.
SUNIL GANGOPADHYAYA
When I met him in Kolkata, the first question that I shot at him was “Why your autobiography is called Half my life?”
G.P. MITRA
I still remember his youthful face. He taught us Physics and Mathematics in Holy Cross School. He warned us that the 'Notredame students' were working harder than us.