Mannan Mashhur Zarif

The singing troupes are, more often than not, amateurs. In wealthy households, professional musicians, or geedal as they are

At every refugee camp in the neighbouring country; at every training camp where valiant youth of the nation, farmers, day labourers, and able men and women learned warfare in the spirit to free their native land; at every liberated zone of Bangladesh — there were travelling musical troupes singing songs of freedom and victory.

Decem-ber 6, 1971. Three days into Pakistani pre-emptive strikes on Indian bases, the escalation of tensions in the subcontinent led Bhutan to accord diplomatic recognition to Bangladesh, followed by India only hours later.

Whenever one hears that I had spent eight straight days at St. Martin Island in the Bay of Bengal, most quizzically ask, “What did you do for so many days?”

The events were attended by my uncle and luminaries living in our neighbourhood at that time. I was only a child and they never let me pass by a chance of dancing before the audience wearing keys and anklets for ghungroos.

For the past few years, brides have chosen bejewelled pieces as their style statements. While they still reign supreme, there is a slow trend moving back to good old gold, in their myriad forms and hues even.

My TV time is somewhat restricted to snippets I get to see while getting out of the bedroom, only to reach the dinner table, and back.

While it is possible to buy four to five different saris, just for the sake of it, there are reasons to put some good thought into your purchases. Remember, the post weddings’ Second Act is where you once again emerge as a couple, and there needs to be coordination between you two.

As much as we want to avoid, we are now faced with weddings that have layer upon layer of hullabaloo before the big day, to the extent that one often gets exhausted. More so for the bride, but not so much for the rebellious kind.

Weddings are a celebration of life, and a chance for the bride and the groom to share the flair on stage, as they embark on a journey together, hand in hand.

If you are thinking this is yet another piece on our fantasy regarding the quintessential Bengali belle and their mesmerising eyes, then pause. This is exactly that…and perhaps, a little more.

I Googled “Sharing food,” and the results were as bizarre as the search itself. But it proved a point.

Eid day; the men, the women, and the children have all returned from Eid prayers. The butcher — amateur in all aspects — gets busy with his new found profession; he is the ubiquitous ‘butcher for a day’ on active service!

The TV channels are already airing trailers; celebrities promoting their shows on Social Media, and control freaks jotting ‘to-dos’ on notes and pasting them all over the monitor. Setting aside the fact that a downpour on Eid day is highly probable, we are all set for a picture perfect Eid — and isn’t it just as always?

“How do seasons change?” And on philosophical lines — “Why?”

Galleri Kaya is set to celebrate their 15th anniversary through an exhibition featuring a selection of art works done between 1957 and 2019 by 43 modern and contemporary artists from Bangladesh and India, from 15 to 20 July, 2019.

Mercury has hit 40, and Earth is squirming under the fury of the blazing sun. We await a downpour; only a downpour can quench this thirst. Somewhere deep in our hearts, it is almost the same longing for the company of a special soul. Perhaps you have heard of saris speaking

The sari, they say, is like a book — a sonnet, or a song. One that can make the soul dance like the peafowl with feathers spread on a gloomy day. The colours we borrow from nature, the motifs, and how we interpret, is all that it takes to make things extraordinary.

Think fish. Think sweets. Think heritage loom — that’s Bengali life in a nutshell. With roots firmly anchored in ancient Persia, the Jamdani found new meaning at the banks of the Shitalakshya. Fashion has seen its fair share of turns, but the saga of this timeless textile is a never ending.

Took six yards of glory and like twiners that grip by tendrils, draped like they owned it. The sari is more than just feminine yards and they went wild with flora splattered, and the shades smeared all over. A rumour was doing the rounds — “faux pas!” They laughed over because when it comes to gossip