Not just child’s play: Bengal’s rhymes as cultural memory

34 MIN(s) ago Culture
Folklorists have long recognised multiple categories within Bengali folk literature—songs, proverbs, riddles, and rhymes. Rhymes are not homogeneous; they appear in distinct functional types: nursery rhymes, social or satirical rhymes, occupational rhymes, ritual rhymes, and those associated with games. That diversity signals not triviality, but embeddedness. In their rhythmic repetition are folded patterns of labour, hierarchy, crisis and adaptation.
EVENT REPORT / Unveiling ‘The July Resolve': Stories of resilience & resistance
14 January 2026, 16:01 PM
On the chilly afternoon of January 10, Bookworm Bangladesh, in collaboration with Voices Shaping Society, hosted the book launch of The July Resolve, a collection of 36 narratives that depicts the strength and struggles of people from all walks of life during the Monsoon Revolution of 2024.
EVENT REPORT / NSU DEML Winter Fest 2025 celebrates storytelling, art, and youth voices
14 December 2025, 08:17 AM
North South University’s Department of English and Modern Languages (DEML) concluded its first-ever Winter Fest spanning December 10-11, bringing together literature, performance, film, and visual art in a two-day celebration of creative expression on campus.

Himu taught me it was okay to not be normal

Himu not only made me look beyond goals that lead to a luxury of life, but he also taught me to enjoy the tiny bits that make life agreeable.
13 November 2022, 11:45 AM

An encounter with Sandeep Ray

"I have lifted from these stories. I’ve stolen from these stories. But you know, I’ve remade the characters so they don’t directly relate to anyone’s biography. But I cannot deny that a lot of the anecdotes, events and arc of the story come from certain family experiences", states Sandeep Ray.
12 November 2022, 11:50 AM

'IN SENSORIUM' BY TANAÏS: The scent of the motherland

The reader might have encountered in their grammar books that the pronoun ‘tara’ in cholito bhasha comes from its shadhu form ‘tahara’. For some of us, years of formal schooling has cemented this etymology in our heads, rendering us unable to find an alternate reality. Breaking these moulds, the author declares, “The word ‘they’ is tara, the word for star”, encouraging one to take a pause and consider these homographs in a new light.
12 November 2022, 08:58 AM

ULAB’s 6th literary salon discusses the local publishing scene

The event is being hosted today, October 12, between 5 and 7 pm at The Auditorium, 6th Floor of ULAB Research Building, House 56, Road 4/A Dhanmondi. It is open for all.
12 November 2022, 06:46 AM

Oh Firebird, Can You Ever Fly Away from Us!

“Are you sure he can make it? The Rupsha in March is not safe, nor are the Sundarbans.”
11 November 2022, 18:00 PM

The Greatest Irony of Lal Miah’s Life

JHALMURI (Puffed rice chaat) Preparation time: 2 minutes
11 November 2022, 18:00 PM

The Female Companion 

Not so easy to assure someone 
11 November 2022, 18:00 PM

The Old Man

After cremation everyone returned To their respective destination. The neighborhood was desolate 
11 November 2022, 18:00 PM

'Slam Poetry Nights', organised by SHOUTxDS Books, returns with gusto for its third installment

Around 17 participants took centre stage to perform their poetry at the event.
10 November 2022, 16:30 PM

Panihar Public Library: A heritage in ruins

A library containing more than 7702 periodicals, encyclopedias and books on literature, religion, poetry, science and economics—all wasting away from neglect.
10 November 2022, 03:45 AM

Baatighar sale for Humayun Ahmed Boi Mela

Baatighar Humayun Ahmed Boi Mela 2022 will span from November 5 to 15.
9 November 2022, 11:55 AM

5 new books we recommend this week

When you go to a book-store, it is often difficult to choose from the plethora of newly released books available. The following list should help when deciding what new books to buy.
8 November 2022, 11:50 AM

Book app connects Ukrainian fathers with refugee children

The books are helping her family process difficult emotions, Bilan said, as her son Pasha showed visitors his favourite, a book called The Day War Came To Rondo.
8 November 2022, 08:50 AM

Tanwi Nandini Islam: Winner of Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction

Tanwi Nandini islam of Bangladeshi heritage wins Kirkus Prize in nonfiction
7 November 2022, 19:18 PM

Nothing matters, but Albert Camus’s 'The Stranger' does

Because of Camus, I started to believe in the idea of relative truth and realised how differently people may weigh the different aspects and incidents which occur in their lives.
7 November 2022, 11:42 AM

Matthew Perry insults Keanu Reeves in new book

Canadian actor Keanu Reeves was as startled as the rest of the Internet by fellow actor Matthew Perry’s insults in his new memoir.
7 November 2022, 07:36 AM

Z-library banned, students in a frenzy

On November 4, domain names of Z-Library, the website which claimed to be the world’s largest ebook library, were seized by the US Department of Justice. 
7 November 2022, 03:42 AM
7 November 2022, 02:22 AM

Lawyers say plagiarism claims over ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ are unfounded

On October 4, this year’s Booker Prize winning author Shehan Karunatilaka posted on his social media that a claim has been made by a “journalist from Colombo” that the idea for his novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was “stolen”.
6 November 2022, 06:48 AM

The special bond between bookshops and readers

For avid readers, bookshops hold a special place in their lives.
5 November 2022, 16:03 PM
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