My Publications

Montobbo Nishproyojon: The Arbovirus way of saying SHUT UP! to the pseudo-intellectuals Written by The Rebel Fatman Faizul Khan Tanim In a post Shahbagh-scenario we could not expect anything other than a rebel rock album from this five-piece band and they have delivered just that. Viewed as a sensational rock compilation due to its urgent lyrics; diverse compositions; tight production; brilliant performances by all the members, ‘Montobbo Nishproyojon’ (No comments required) becomes a DhakaLeaks barometer of society, politics, love, agitation, betrayal revealed through a loud-horn of shredding guitars, break-free vocals and combat drums. It’s a spontaneous combustion of the diverse moods and views of  Bangladeshi youth at this very interesting juncture which is why maximum listeners could associate them with Arbovirus’s music as ‘their music’. It heavily reminds me of the ‘protest and message music’ era of the Beatles songs molded in the epic sound track ‘Acros...

Sehri - Eating Out before Subah Sadiq Faizul Khan Tanim Indiscriminate screams – “Sehri’r shomoy hoyechhe, uthhey porun” (It’s sehri time, wake up and have your meal) or “gorom gorom biriyani, khaya jaan, loya jaan” (Warm biriyani to eat and take away) - these lines fill up the sehri places as scores of people crowd the streets of Old Dhaka to eat out before Subah Sadiq (early dawn). The streets throb with noises of spoon banged on steel plates and loud merry shouts, many different colours and the atmosphere is taken over by the aroma of mutton leg roast, glassi, the different types of biriyanis, naan-kabab, khichuri or the conventional shada bhaat-maach-gosht-daal and more. This is where Ramadan festivity starts for many. And according to the thousands of sehri connoisseurs, these are few of the sweetest lines or catch phrases they listen and experience with pleasure while in the sehri capital – Puran Dhaka. Upon reaching the eatery Al Razzak, Star Hotel (Old Dha...

Confessions of a Swimmer by ME Swimming has been the most profound form of exercise that helps me relax, have fun and meditate apart from the usual full body workout. What we know is that this splish-splash can tone and stretch both the upper and lower body muscles while also burning calories. It strengthens the cardiovascular system, improves lung capacity and helps reduce stress. But what we know less is that an hour of vigorous swimming will burn up to 650 calories, which is more than walking or biking by the way. And the best part is, you can continue this until very old age. Swimming can be a sport, a fun activity or even meditation under water. Yes, meditation. I’m not even kidding. Swimming cures emotional sickness. So, whichever strikes your fancy, this is one activity which will never stop making you look good. Always remember the saying, If you look good, you’ll feel good! If you are member of the elite clubs in Bangladesh, then a fresh water swimming ...

Is Bangladesh ready for nuclear power generation? Faizul Khan Tanim talks to different stakeholders of nuclear power generation and also green activists and tries to find if we are ready for a nuclear power plant Bangladesh is said to be one of the biggest energy-starved countries, with the present demand for electricity at 7500 plus MW (Mega Watt) as opposed to the production of 5000 to 5800 MW. Access to electricity in Bangladesh is one of the lowest, about 40 percent of the total population are without access to adequate, cheap and quality energy. At present, we have to depend on indigenous energy resources, which are finite as well - gas, oil, furnace oil and coal to produce electricity. And about 55 per cent of our natural gas is used to produce this power. The reserve of gas is not infinite and will soon run out and before that happens, we must adopt alternative energy sources, be it renewable with a bio-ecological/green revolution or build nuclear power plant...

Krishnokoli – Bunoful by Faizul Khan Tanim Indigenous music is one of the only forms of organic folk compositions left which takes us to earthen realities, enjoy congenital mysticism and spontaneous combustions. These expressions somehow embody the beauty and significance of ‘wild flowers’. And wild flower (Bunoful) is precisely the name of the album I’m listening to, singer Krishnokoli’s latest studio compilation. This anthology is composed of indigenous folk music - Santali and Jhumur songs - which necessarily do not have great instrumental technicalities, psychedelic compositions but they do possess atmospheric diffusions, powerful words and most importantly, the vocalist, with her magnetism of vocal chords, urgently tries to transport the listeners to a realm where the jhumur dance dawns from the cluster of bells worn round the ankles (jhumur). Her songs and tunes have direct associations with particular festivals, love and everyday conversations. T...

Iron Man-3: All’s well that ends well? ….NOT!   By Faizul Khan Tanim If Iron Man (IM) is a trilogy, then part three is the perfect example of how the last of the three instalments MUST NOT end but if there is a part four then ardent fans expect Jon Favreau be brought back in to action behind the lenses rather than playing ‘Happy’. Moreover, if you believe in the phrase ‘morning shows the day’ then you’d be disappointed by how the film kicks in with the intro music I’m Blue by Eiffel 65…got the fans puzzled if we mistakenly swapped halls and watching a Chinese Kung-Fu film or a wrongly dubbed movie instead of IM-3? I mean for God’s sake where’s AC/DC or Black Sabbath? And then we realize that it is IM-3 with its semi Terminator-2 rip-off schemes; inappropriate ‘freaking out’ syndromes; no one home inside the Iron Man armours; bad dialogues; an almost fake-Mandarin sporting a villain as hilarious as Admiral General Aladeen and to top it off, Tony Stark blows up ...

Till Death Do Us Part: 20 Years of Cryptic Fate They call their rock Brutal... no-holds-barred Heavy Metal and the only way to listen to them is to turn up the volume and blow your mind (and hopefully not the speakers!). Writes Faizul Khan Tanim Arguably the greatest rock act of the country, Cryptic Fate’s four members – Farhan Samad, Farshed Mahmud, K Sarfaraz Latifullah and Chowdhury F Shakib - are in a rock relationship with each other for the past two decades and are still going strong. Fate developed and maintained a sound that was completely unlike of any others in the scene. With a heavy metal influence and an alloy between their individual musical styles, they emerged as one of the most successful heavy metal bands on both the concert and recording circuits of Bangladesh. Today, Cryptic Fate is respected, revered and they have revolutionized Bangla rock to a point where listening to them equals fighting your own demons, waging war against the 1971 rajaka...

Jute Life Style Expo 2013 Sweeping away carbon footprints with jute revival in Bangladesh Jute used to be the country’s largest foreign exchange earner till the 1970s and then slowly with its decline, we saw the largest jute mill in the world – Adamjee in Narayanganj – shut down in 2002. Recently, the discovery of jute genome sequencing has made us more optimistic about revival of the fibre. Bangladeshi scientists have successfully decoded the vital genome sequence of jute, of which this country is the world’s largest exporter. After this discovery, opportunities have been created to evolve different stress tolerant (salinity, drought, insects and pests) jute varieties. And in the series of this success, Traidcraft Exchange (TX) and TARANGO organised Jute Lifestyle Expo’13 from May 10-12.  The Opening Ceremony was held on Friday, May 10 at Dhaka Art Centre in Rabindra Sarovar, Dhanmondi. Around 5500  people thronged to the exposition and or...

Measuring the ‘White Elephant’ Curse Faizul Khan Tanim writes on a dissemination seminar which discloses that mitigation of domestic violence against women costs 2.10% of Bangladesh GDP Domestic violence against women has accelerated to such heights in the country that these incidents have ceased to shock us. It not only became a social epidemic but as disclosed at a recent dissemination seminar in the city on September 25 – Preventing Violence Against Women: Lessons From Innovative Practices in South Asia, a project by CARE Bangladesh – that 2.10 percent of the country’s national GDP is spent to mitigate different issues of violence against women (VAW). This is the first time; such a thought-provoking initiative of putting a price-tag on VAW, funded by USAID Bangladesh was structured in the country. Moreover, the combined cost of violence to the nation in the amount of Bangladesh Taka is 14,084.56 million. This amount is almost equal to the total government ...

Glorious coffee from Gloria Jean’s Faizul Khan Tanim is mesmerized, sipping on a hot cup of warmth and satiating the fruitilicious brain-freezing chillers from Gloria. Every sip reminds of how good coffee tastes and keeps us awake Around 450 to 500 drinks are sipped each day – be it the classics cappuccino, café latte, espresso, macchiato; specialties Irish nut crème, white chocolate mocha; the classic hot chocolate with marshmallow glace or the espresso and fruit chillers like Voltage or Mango - the glorious Gloria Jean’s Coffees(GJC), conveniently located in Gulshan-1, is brewing plenty of coffee aficionados along with good cafe. And not so long ago (even five years back), it used to be the lounge decor overpowering the aroma of roasted black beans but that has changed with the soothing love affair between water and coffee beans, the right amount of steaming milk, with or without saccharin but plenty of affection is poured while preparing...they make sure that the...

special issue on superheroes - collectibles Superheroes United in Dhaka Faizul Khan Tanim writes on theeccentric evolution of superpower in Dhaka,which comes in diverse size and shape of action figures, merchandises andaccessories One of the saddest things in my life ensued on the day when I was pushed to believe, and I abhorred it – my well-known and earth’s mightiest superheroes stay behind the silver screens or their spirits preserved in action figures and that they are only residents of comic books and graphic novels.It was a doom… a life-shattering statement because, not only do they save ‘good’ from the ‘evil’ but they respite us from the mediocrities of our mundane life. And thanks to the management of our first high-end movie theatre Star Cineplex at Bashundhara City Mall, for trusting in the strength and significance of the thousands of superhero and comic book followers and fans all over the country. This Cineplex showed quite a few blockbuster titles ...

7th International Conference on community-based adaptation to Climate Change Faizul Khan Tanim writes on the recently concluded CBA conference in Dhaka and how climate change today is regarded as one of the greatest human-induced environmental threat which affects a very significant aspect of Bangladesh's development Bangladesh is a riverine country and despite having only seven per cent land mass of South Asia, it drains 90 per cent water of the region into the Bay of Bengal. The country also happens to be an active deltaic region literally criss-crossed with rivers and canals which play a significant role in the livelihoods of millions of people. Given its population density, climatic changes will have serious consequences on the people of the country which has about 150.5 million with around 60 million living below the poverty line. Over half the population of the country depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and even minor changes in the agricultural calend...