The Heart of the Matter

There is a rush hour traffic out there. People after spending a short Eid escapade are frantically returning to the capital as the lockdown tolls the knell of a parting holiday.
23 July 2021

Maracana, Wembley, Cannes and Narayanganj

Last week, all eyes were fixed on Neymar’s ripped shorts, Badhon’s jewelled blouse or English rogue fans’ red-crosses, when something terrible happened:
16 July 2021

The problem with academic bureaucratisation

When an esteem-ed member of our university’s syndicate board died recently, we requested the government for a replacement.
9 July 2021

Mother of All Bangladeshi Universities

The institution that one attends for education is often attributed with the honorific title alma mater, literally meaning "generous or nourishing mother". The phrase "alma mater studiorum" (nourishing mother of studies) was first used in 1088 as a motto by the oldest university in the Western world, the University of Bologna.
2 July 2021

Street violence and gang culture 2.0

A female student of mine walked out of her dentist’s chamber at Bailey Road at around 8pm on June 7, 2021.
25 June 2021

A Canary in the Mine

Normally, you and I would not see fairies or hear them singing. They exist in a world where we fear (or do not care) to tread (anymore). Even if we do, we will not admit it in public.
18 June 2021

‘Please forgive me…’

It reads like a Netflix blurb of a horror movie. A young man took a machete from a street coconut seller, uttered his last words: “please forgive me”, and then slit his own throat in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
11 June 2021

Students getting a slim slice of the budget pie

At a preparatory meeting for ULAB’s planned virtual convocation, I suggested that we use the iconic image of Keanu Reeves dodging many bullets in the Matrix trilogy as our promotional campaign.
4 June 2021

Desperate Times, Desperate Journeys

During the latest rerun of the biblical David and Goliath narrative in a changed context, the age-old conflict between the Israelites and the Philistines has come alive.
28 May 2021

How do I hate myself? Let me count the ways

The holiday lethargy has caused me self-loathing. Let me count some of the factors as to why I am beginning to hate myself.
21 May 2021

The Tortoise, the Hare and the UGC

A breath of fresh air: the University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to allow public universities to hold online examinations.
7 May 2021

The Covid-induced stress factors impacting our students

There have been changes in the way we live and the way we die. We have learned to live carefully during this time of the pandemic, yet we have been dying carelessly.
23 April 2021

Education in a post-Covid-19 world

The onslaught of Covid-19 shows no signs of relenting. While the infection-death curve has been arrested by some countries, our one is still climbing, as if it wants to put a flag of our collective irresponsibility at a greater summit.
16 April 2021

The Colours of Life

The cargo vessel involved in a hit and run incident in Narayanganj on Sunday, leading to the capsize of a passenger launch that killed at least 34 people, was seized at a dock in Gazaria, Munshiganj.
9 April 2021

Binge-watching borderless borders

"Why do they even try? They don’t sound like us!” My mother was referring to the “bong” accents emulated by some of the Indian actors who occupy our living rooms every evening. That does not stop these characters from becoming regular guests of our evening party.
26 March 2021

The saga of a three-finger salute

News of the pandemic waves of Covid-19 and political waves of the three-fingered protest is making the rounds.
19 March 2021

When the Deaf is Heard

The footage is harrowing. A speech-impaired girl is pushed off a running bus for not being able to pay her fare. She was wearing a note saying that she did not have any money on her.
12 March 2021

Off-shore campuses

During a trade dialogue held at the Ministry of Commerce on February 17, the UK envoy to Bangladesh announced that at least nine British universities are keen on coming to Bangladesh and opening their campuses.
5 March 2021

The Mosquito and the Ear

There used to be a TV advert in which a husband was rebuked by his judgmental wife for not being able to kill even a mosquito that was sitting on her cheek.
26 February 2021

Dhaka’s paradoxical delights

Dhaka is growing right before our eyes. Every day it is birthing new projects.
19 February 2021