Realities of a virtual world

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed

For better or for worse, our everyday lives have changed forever. Our lives are now seemingly wrapped by giant leaps in technology that takes us closer to a science fiction prophesy.

The netizens of this city now lead a dual life, one lived in the jumble of this metropolis, and another parallel existence lived in the world wide web. Yet at some point both existences converge, where borders get blurred and boundaries vanish. 

The third decade of the new millennium has dawned upon us, making one thing very clear: that life is headed towards a future dominated by technology.

The Internet is bigger than ever and social media dominates our lives. While we bask in the positivity of the world wide web, we cannot deny its negatives.

Our collective urban experiences have taken twists and turns, and life in 2020 Dhaka has experienced a paradigm shift. Change is perhaps the biggest theme we have tried to portray in this supplement; be it the case of businesses gaining stronger footholds on cyberspace, the youth rising up, bringing forth new innovations through start-ups without having to rely on bigger entities to bring fruition to their ideas, or our increasing number of smart devices and how their functions enhance our day to day functioning.

This phenomenon of change also applies to our offline lives; our rich culinary heritage for example, its slow evolution, and now, slowly reaching out to other parts of the world to spread the message of our Bengali culinary prowess. Our creative outlets are also on the verge of spilling over onto the global scene, if the works of our makeup artists and designers are anything to go by.

Our country boasts beautiful locales that can rival just about any other spot on the planet, and worthy of being experienced by us, as well as the world at large. In order for that to happen, we must develop our tourism industry so as to celebrate tourism, not impede its progress.

"The only constant in life," Heraclitus claimed "is change." And commemorating the 29th anniversary of The Daily Star, our second segment of the anniversary supplements brings forth Dhaka as we find it today, shaping up for what could be a foreseeable tomorrow.

Model: Efa

Styling: Niharika Momtaz, Zabin Iqbal

Wardrobe & Jewellery: 1972, Niharika Momtaz

Makeup: Farzan Shakil's Makeover Salon

Location: Durjoy's Classic Workshop