Living In Harmony

“Celebrating Life” is a composite competition, inviting films, photographs and lyrics entries that showcase various aspects of life in Bangladesh. Organised jointly by Star Showbiz of The Daily Star and Standard Chartered Bank, this initiative is our attempt to provide participants with a massive platform for creative expression.

Weeklong festivals are organized in districts and universities of Bangladesh throughout 2014, showcasing winning entries from the previous years' and the current year's contests. We take the spirit of Celebrating Life to remote areas and villages of Bangladesh, and make sure that the whole nation can participate in the celebrations!

The over-arching theme for Celebrating Life 2014 is 'Living in Harmony'. Although it is seen as a homogenous country more than 10 percent of Bangladesh's population is non-Muslim and hundreds of ethnic communities make up the demography of the country.

The History of Bangladesh tells us the same story where, for thousands of years, different ethnic groups have come here to visit and settle. Just to name a few, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, British,  French, Portuguese, Biharis, Punjabis, Assamese and many more have come here for trade and  commerce. They have married women from local communities and hence diversified the genetic pool. Along with these settlers have come their cultures, traditions and lifestyles making this country rich in diversity.

Here are the top twelve entries that tell the story of Bangladesh's heritage of harmony.

1st Pankaj Sikder

 

2nd Noor Ahmed Helal

 

Shaikh Mohir Uddin 3rd

 

Shaikh Mohir Uddin (Honourable Mention)

 

Probal Rashid (Honourable Mention)

Honourable Mention: K M Asad

 

Honourable Mention: Md Zakirul Mazed konok

 

Honourable Mention: Kazi Golam Quddus Helal

 

Honourable Mention: Noor Ahmed Helal

 

Honourable Mention: Faisal Azim

 

Honourable Mention: Abdur Rahman

 

Honourable Mention: Mahfuz Hasan Bhuiyan