Mannan Mashhur Zarif

For millennia, the Subcontinent was ruled by empires, and yet, at any given time, much of the land was under the supervision of viceroys, quasi-rulers, and as was the case in Bengal, Zamindars.

The impression of red in our prehistoric psyche is conceivably what we carry today. No child is born with a blank slate, or a palette. What we see, what we observe, and differentiate are based on footprints on our cells through thousands of years of evolution from a bestial existence to an intelligent form.

There was something about the youth of that generation. The youth simply rebelled. They rebelled against authoritarianism, rejected organised religion in any form, and devoted their attention more for a spiritual awakening.

What makes travelogues intriguing still? Why do people still make an effort to read when complementing images alone can take one through a journey into the unknown— the chaos of a city; the sublimity of wilderness?

These are more important than the don'ts for a simple reason — they are true for every traveller irrespective of the season or the country. The guidelines for travelling are general and more of a matter of judgement, a civil affair rather than a legal one.

Sparkling décor of vines and patterns on ceramic walls of a mosque, magnificent domes, and tall minarets for the muezzin to call for prayers are all too synonymous to what we consider as distinguishing features of Islamic art, or to be more precise — Muslim architecture.

Almost four hundred prime-time television recipe shows. Over 24,000 Likes on the Facebook page, ‘Alpana Habibs Cooking Club.’

As alien as it may seem to us today, baby boomers are no strangers to the fad of matchbox collecting. Millennials will remember the pleasure of removing stamps from an envelope, soaking them in water and once dry, sticking them on albums. Coins and banknotes have always been popular and even today an average Joe carefully preserves a ragged note long out of circulation.

People have the general perception that leisurely pursuits like stamps and coin collecting are dying pursuits. This is far from reality, as the exhibition — Numismatic, Philatelic and Hobby-Item Exhibition2018 — organised by Chittagong Collector's Club between Thursday, 3 May and Saturday, 5 May at the Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Gallery, Zilla Shilpakala Academy, Chittagong will show.

The belle is a likeness of the goddess to romantics; a literary or visual imagery handed over generation after generation of writers, novelists, painters and sculptors, not to mention the roadside Romeos! Times have changed, yet the look of a quintessential girl is the exact same — taant, alta, churi, feeta…

How does one pay tribute to the lifetime achievements of an artist, especially when the iconoclast is Ferdousi Priyabhashini? Growing up in Khulna, a quaint town of the then East Pakistan, she once nurtured a passion for music. Her relinquished desire to become an exponent of Tagore gave Bangladesh one of its most revered sculptors.

The finely woven sheer kurta comes out of the drawer every Friday morning. Blued at the laundry for the desired snowy-white appearance, the panjabi is stiff and comes neatly folded. The fabric crinkles as one separates the layers glued from the dip-starch, and as one walks towards the masjid chanting the takbir, the all-white ensemble complemented with a whiff of rose water completes the sanctified aura of Jumu'ah.

My culinary experiments began at the tender age of seven, and involved puddings, singaras and vegetable rolls.

In the last 14 years, Galleri Kaya, one of the leading art galleries in Bangladesh, has arranged almost a hundred shows. As organisers of various art trips, camps and workshops they are also active in promotion of Bangladeshi art.

For those growing up in postcolonial times, there was no escape from the tumultuous events that unfolded before them. Not a witness to the savagery of the Second World War, but of a world polarised as its direct result, Shahabuddin

I rested comfortably on the back of the chair at the auditorium, as a live streaming of 'epic rap battles of history' unfolded before me. And interestingly enough, it got me thinking. Hmmm…tradition; comfort; assimilation of culture; lungi!

Philately can be a useful means of garnering revenue for the postal department and can also provide young people alternatives to engage themselves in beneficial pursuits than the ills that now surround society at large.

For nine generations the Acharya family has depicted rural Bengal in their scroll paintings in a dream-like setting, where life was simpler but in no way easy.

The paper lanterns keep flying higher, and higher still; the flame beneath, propelling the 'phanush' creating a mesmerising display of colours in the sky - a fiery burst of yellow, seen through the translucent mesh of thin coloured papers.

The 1940s was a turbulent time in the Indian subcontinent; shortly after the end of World War II, the peoples' demand for freedom was ever high and division of the land between Pakistan and India seemed inevitable.