i cant believe within 3 years of the last one, students in Dhaka are demanding for road safety once again. i mean Bangladesh has a history of student protests but the road safety protest of 2018 was one of the most well-organized ones . although the govt said that the protests were done to stir up anti-nationalist sentiments, i think its the most patriotic thing ive seen my generation do and im so glad i got to be a part of it. the fact that the police attacked teenagers in retaliation says so much about the whole situation. aand here we are. school-going children are still being killed cuz the govt wont stop handing out driving licenses like candy
that feeling when you come home after sitting for an exam and you just start to realize all the mistakes you've made
this might flop but i’m curious, in bangla when someone calls out to you like -“hey auntie” you (the aunt) respond with -“yes auntie?” or -“hey big sis” -“yeah big sis?” (im translating the words obvs.) is that a thing in other languages too?
since the dark academia aesthetic is awfully eurocentric, here is a little post about desi dark academia :) writing this made me romanticize my culture so much...i fell in love with it all over again!
Literature:
A few classic literary works include:
The Mahabharat by Vyasa
Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chottopadhay
Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chottopadhay
Amost everything by Rabindranath Tagore( e.g Kabuliwala , Gitanjali, Shesher Kobita, Chokher Bali, Charulata etc)
Toba Tek Singh by Saadat Hasan Manto
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Film:
Satyajit Ray's works like Charulata, The Apu Trilogy, Shonar Kella etc
Dipu Number Two, based on Mohammad Zafar Iqbal's novel
Haider , an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet
Padmavat
Kai Po Che
Rang De Basanti
Masaan
Lootera
3 Idiots
Music:
Oldies by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi
Sufi music like Qawwali and Kafi, by Kazi Nazrul Islam, A.R Rahman, the Pakistani sufi-rock band Junoon etc.
Ghazals (a form of poetry)by Pankaj Udhas, Jagjit Singh, Ghalib and Ghulam Ali
Flutist Hariprasad Chaurasiya
Sitarist Ravi Shankar
Fashion:
Jamdani sarees made of dhakai muslin (a delicate ancient fabric made by the Mughals that were given names like "baft-hawa", meaning "woven air")
Chikankari kurtas!!
Wearing gajras (flower garland made of jasmine) in your hair
Colourful bindis and bangles (the larger your collection of bangles the cooler you are, its the south asian dream)
Payals and jhumkas <3
Old silk shawls and dupattas during winter >>
Using attars(alcohol-free perfume)
Wearing mehendi on your hands
Styling almost anything with gorgeous nagras
Classical Dance: a few forms
Bharatnatyam
Kathak
Odissi
Manipuri
Kathakali
Activities:
Roaming around historical sites and grand havelis
Visiting old zamindar baris and mosques and temples then being enchanted by the architecture
Watching jatras ( folk-theatre performances)
Growing up listening to your grandparents read folktales to you ( e.g Thakumar Jhuli, meaning grandma's bag of tales)
Trying to learn ancient languages like Sanskrit and Persian
Learning classical dance since you were like 4 and bragging about how many different forms you know (look me in the eye and tell me madhuri dixit was not your childhood idol)
Boat trips on the Padma river, pretending to be Tagore
Waking up to the azaan at the break of dawn
Having steaming hot tea at a small tea stall on a rainy day
hope y'all enjoyed this :)
i firmly believe the new ABBA single could raise neil perry from the grave
just gave an interview for the IB program at school and i think it went well.manifesting acceptance mail
thinking about the time my mom was enraged because i accidentally took one step out of the door wearing my inside shoes and then walked back in to change em
non asians will literally sit with their shoes on the bed
what others call a rebellious phase I call the sudden realization I don’t deserve to be treated like garabge
𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸, 𝟷𝟿𝟸𝟷 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝙾𝚏 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚣 𝙺𝚊𝚏𝚔𝚊, 𝟷𝟿𝟷𝟺-𝟷𝟿𝟸𝟹
I blog for the girls who cry on their birthdays and lose a little bit of themselves during the summer months