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Maisha Islam Monamee

The author graduated from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka and is a contributor at The Daily Star. Find her @monameereads on Instagram.

rape culture in society

Rape culture and the ordinary men who sustain it

2 October 2026
The allegations surrounding a Cornell University fraternity house offer a disturbing entry point into a much larger problem.
2 October 2026
Coffee Houseer Shei Addata.jpg

When we become the people in Manna Dey’s ‘Coffee House’

1 October 2026
Last week, I was sitting in a café in Delhi with a group of friends I have known since childhood when I suddenly understood an old song differently. We had spent years growing into people our younger selves could barely have imagined. We now live in different cities, have different careers, different relationships with money and work, and very different ideas of what constitutes a good life. Some of us have become very serious adults. Some are still figuring it out. And yet, around that table, the old dynamics returned almost immediately.
1 October 2026
T&S - New.png

Next Step / A first-timer’s guide to filing your income tax return

29 September 2026
Filing your first income tax return can feel overwhelming. Here's everything they need to know for the 2026–27 tax year.
29 September 2026
Why we keep coming back to ‘Friends’

Why we keep coming back to ‘Friends’

27 September 2026
“Friends” has spent three decades becoming one of television’s great comfort shows, the kind of series that asks almost nothing from you and gives you a familiar little world in return.
27 September 2026
19 years later, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ still feels like home

19 years later, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ still feels like home

26 September 2026
Nineteen years ago, on September 24, 2007, TBBT premiered on CBS. Created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, the sitcom introduced viewers to a group of extraordinarily intelligent, socially complicated and deeply ridiculous people living in Pasadena, California.
26 September 2026
LinkedIn work

Next Step / How to make LinkedIn work for you before graduation

22 September 2026
In an age where employers look up candidates before interviews, recruiters actively search for talent online, and networking increasingly happens digitally, LinkedIn has become one of the most powerful career-building tools available.
22 September 2026
How pop culture changed the way we see teenage sadness

How pop culture changed the way we see teenage sadness

19 September 2026
The troubled teenager arrives in pop culture with a familiar visual vocabulary: rain-streaked windows, messy bedrooms, slammed doors, lonely walks through school corridors and teenagers staring dramatically into the middle distance while an appropriately melancholic song plays in the background. Teenage suffering was usually big, beautiful and legible.
19 September 2026
iPhone Duo VS Galaxy Z fold8

iPhone Duo v Galaxy Z Fold8: Can Apple challenge Samsung’s foldable lead?

18 September 2026
Apple has entered the foldable-phone market several years after Samsung established itself in the category. Its first attempt carries the familiar ingredients of a flagship iPhone: premium materials, custom silicon, tightly integrated software, and a price firmly at the top of the market.
18 September 2026
‘Alice in Borderland’ struggles to escape its own maze

‘Alice in Borderland’ struggles to escape its own maze

The new season begins back in the mortal world, where Arisu and Usagi are living as a married couple, supposedly free of the horrors that nearly consumed them. Their peace, however, does not last. Usagi, still haunted by her father’s absence, becomes vulnerable to the manipulations of Ryuji Matsuyama, a researcher obsessed with proving Borderland’s existence.
5 October 2025
TV Series 2025,

Finished ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’? Let’s find your next binge

Plenty of shows and movies capture the exact same feelings that hooked us on TSITP—so consider this a fan-to-fan guide to what to watch next. Each of these picks delivers a flavor of TSITP, whether it’s the romance, the setting, or the emotional gut punches we secretly live for.
3 October 2025
The many faces of Durga Puja in cinema

The many faces of Durga Puja in cinema

What remains fascinating is how the aesthetics of Durga Puja on screen often mirror the aesthetics of cinema itself. Both are public spectacles designed to overwhelm the senses, to invite immersion and disbelief. A pandal is not unlike a film set, meticulously crafted, temporary, and destined to dissolve after a few days.
30 September 2025
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"The Ba***ds of Bollywood": All shine, no spine

"The Ba***ds of Bollywood" arrives like a party that knows it is both entertaining and dangerous to attend. It is gleefully loud, crammed with cameos and inside jokes, and built out of the familiar ingredients of commercial Hindi cinema. At the same time, it repeatedly lets loose sharp, uncomfortable flashes that refuse to be smoothed over. Watch it as a satire and you will laugh often. Watch it as an indictment and you will feel the edges. The series wants to do both things at once, and that ambition is its central thrill and also its chief flaw.
28 September 2025
Memory, music and the fragile shape of modern romance

Memory, music and the fragile shape of modern romance

At its heart, the film is a story of Krish Kapoor, a volatile and ambitious young musician played by Ahaan Panday, and Vaani Batra, a lyricist played by Aneet Padda, who together discover not only the soaring highs of romance but also the fragility of time when Vaani is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. What begins as a meeting of music and words gradually turns into a meditation on the meaning of love when memory itself starts slipping away.
24 September 2025
maisha_tasnim_sreshtha_65.png

The summer I learned what first love feels like again

I remember the first time I heard about "The Summer I Turned Pretty". It was in a group chat with my friends, where two of them were fighting as Team Conrad vs Team Jeremiah. "You have to watch it," they said and I was skeptical at first, dismissing it as just another teen drama. But when I watched the first episode, something clicked. I know it is super embarrassing to be obsessing over a teen drama as a twenty-something year old but this show really had its sweet way of pulling me in. I never thought a show about a teenage love triangle could make me feel like a teenager again, but here I was, waiting eagerly for a new episode each Wednesday.
23 September 2025
AI for job application

How AI can transform your job search

The sheer volume of administrative and creative tasks when applying to multiple jobs can feel overwhelming, and that is where AI can genuinely become a personal productivity partner. When used thoughtfully, AI can save time, reduce errors, and help you present your best self to potential employers.
23 September 2025

‘Metro… In Dino’ captures love in its chaos

“Metro… In Dino,” currently trending at No 4 on Netflix, plunges viewers into the messy, unpredictable, and deeply human world of modern love. Director Anurag Basu returns with his signature intertwining narratives, tracing the lives of four couples across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, and Pune as they wrestle with desire, loyalty, heartbreak, and self-discovery. At its core, the film probes the nuances of contemporary relationships, exploring the spaces between desire and fidelity, longing and responsibility, routine and excitement. Basu never shies away from the uncomfortable: questions of infidelity, emotional neglect, and the tension between individual ambition and shared life are addressed head-on, yet never in a preachy way. His storytelling is deliberate, oscillating between comedy, melancholy, and romantic whimsy in a way that mirrors the characters’ own emotional unpredictability.
18 September 2025
AI colleague

AI - the new colleague on your desk

From language models to workflow automation, AI tools are increasingly integrated into everyday work, promising efficiency and insight. Yet adoption remains uneven, in part because misconceptions abound.
16 September 2025
iPhone 17 worth buying

Is the iPhone 17 worth buying?

Every September, Apple asks us to upgrade. And every September, we wonder whether the shiny new iPhone is worth stretching our wallets again, or if last year’s model is still good enough. How much better is the iPhone 17 compared to last year’s iPhone 16? And if you are already thinking of spending big, how does it hold up against Android’s superpowers?
10 September 2025
Ducsu election 2025

An election that could return Ducsu to the students

There is a sense of possibility in the air, a rare, almost tangible feeling that something is different.
8 September 2025
‘Wednesday 2’: A spellbinding return to Nevermore Academy

‘Wednesday 2’: A spellbinding return to Nevermore Academy

When Netflix released the second season of "Wednesday" in two parts, I initially wondered whether this decision was driven by narrative necessity or simply by the platform’s strategy to keep the conversation alive for longer. After all, the first season had been a global phenomenon, and splitting the follow-up into two halves carried the risk of breaking its rhythm. Having now seen the complete season, I can say that while the release format interrupted its flow, the content itself proves that the creative team paid attention to the lessons of season one and delivered something richer, darker, and more confident. This time, the show leans further into the shadows while still delivering the sharp wit and macabre humour that made its first season so irresistible.
7 September 2025
A musical, a satire, a lament: The many faces of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

A musical, a satire, a lament: The many dimensions of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

I found myself wondering why an animated film had suddenly taken the world by storm, topping Netflix’s global charts. Animated titles rarely reach this kind of universal acclaim unless they are tied to a massive franchise, and yet here was "KPop Demon Hunters", a seemingly niche story about idols battling demons, sitting at number one. Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to dive in. What I found was a film that managed to wrap a playful premise around a surprisingly layered commentary on fame, identity, and the relentless machine of modern pop culture.
3 September 2025
The weight of myth and maternal fury in ‘Maa’

The weight of myth and maternal fury in ‘Maa’

Every few years, Bollywood offers a story of maternal heroism, where a mother becomes both protector and saviour, taking centre stage in a narrative traditionally dominated by male leads. "Maa" enters this lineage with Kajol in the titular role, a choice that immediately draws attention. The film, currently streaming on Netflix, blends horror with mythology to weave a narrative that pits a mother’s fierce love against supernatural forces rooted in Bengali folklore. Set in Chandrapur, West Bengal, the story is anchored in the legend of Raktabeej and the fierce presence of Kali Maa, aiming to merge ancient myth with contemporary familial stakes. On paper, the premise is ambitious: a mother willing to defy mortal and supernatural odds to protect her child, all while exploring broader social themes, particularly the value of a girl child in a patriarchal setting.
31 August 2025
The summers we obsessed over teen love triangles

The summers we obsessed over teen love triangles

This summer, we, the netizens, turned Instagram into a courtroom to decide whether Belly should pick Conrad or Jeremiah. My feed, once a respectable mix of vacation reels, fit checks, work memes, and unsolicited life advice from people who barely graduated high school, has turned into a teenage courtroom where strangers plead their case for fictional love triangles. We type furiously about the fate of a girl whose biggest problem is which handsome boy gets to stand in the rain with her, and read captions declaring loyalty to a boy who exists only in Prime Video’s servers. It feels as if the world pressed pause on adulthood and collectively moved into a beach house where heartbreak is cinematic, summers are eternal, and every decision feels like a new episode. And we—fully grown, allegedly serious and busy people—are here for it.
28 August 2025
Productivity apps

Gen Z’s guide to planning: five apps that actually work

Whether you are a student juggling classes and part-time jobs, or a young professional navigating hybrid workdays, effective planning tools can make all the difference. So, here are five apps that can help you plan, prioritise, and stay on top of your day.
26 August 2025
Networking guide

The Gen Z guide to networking

For students and recent graduates, networking can provide access to internships, mentorship, industry insights, referrals, and even long-term career opportunities. But how do you begin building a network when you are just starting out?
19 August 2025
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The weight of Monsoon in ‘Troubling Rain’

My first instinct, when walking into “Troubling Rain” at Alliance Française de Dhaka, was to recall how often rain has been romanticised in this city’s cultural memory. Generations have sung about it, written about it, danced to its rhythm. The monsoon, in Bangla literature, has been the backdrop for longing, love, and lyricism. From Tagore’s verses to Nazrul’s songs, it has always been imagined as something that enhances beauty and deepens emotion. And yet, what Abir Abdullah does in this exhibition is strip the rain of its poetry and return it to its grit.
18 August 2025
Understanding ‘cliffhanger economy’: Why OTT platforms split seasons

Understanding ‘cliffhanger economy’: Why OTT platforms split seasons

Every time I settle in for a binge-watch, armed with snacks and the delusional belief that I have “just one more episode” worth of self-control, an OTT platform finds a new way to personally offend me by splitting a season into two. You open Netflix or Prime Video, click on a highly anticipated series, and halfway through, realise you are too early for the binge-watch. “Stranger Things” did it. “The Witcher” did it. “Bridgerton” and “Squid Game” Season 3 did it—and, more recently, the second season of “Wednesday” just did the very same. And don’t even get me started on the “Money Heist” final-season split, which had the entire internet in a chokehold for weeks.
14 August 2025
Exploring love, loss, and literature in ‘My Oxford Year’

Exploring love, loss, and literature in ‘My Oxford Year’

Over the past week, my Instagram feed has been practically throwing "My Oxford Year" at me, with Tumblr-text captions over softly lit stills, reels romanticising ancient libraries and English cities, and teary-eyed confessions that claim this film destroyed them, in the best way. And like any curious cinephile, I clicked to watch it on Netflix. What I found was a film trying to be both the dream and the ache, the fantasy and the wake-up call.
12 August 2025

Pagination

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