Grief…. we know how to grieve family and friends, but what about the therapist, hairdresser, guard, bookseller, or housemaid who quietly became part of our lives? This essay explores the grief we rarely speak about and the gentle ways we can honour those who stood just outside our family circle but left a lasting place in our hearts. Just a few days ago, our family’s acupressure therapist passed away. For almost twenty years, he had been only a phone call away whenever someone in our family suffered from back pain, frozen shoulders, muscle spasms, headaches, or simply the aches that…

Discover my personal journey with Buddha, from childhood to daily practice, the history of Buddha in Bengal, and how his teachings transformed my life. Buddha: My Quiet Place in a Restless World Some people discover Buddha through philosophy. Others meet him during grief, illness, or loss. I honestly cannot remember how he entered my life because, as far back as my memory reaches, he has always been there. Every home I have lived in has had a Buddha figure somewhere nearby, quietly watching over my days without asking for anything in return. As a child I never thought deeply about…

A personal reflection on Jibanananda Das, his haunting metaphors, solitary mind, poetic genius, and why reading him feels almost psychedelic. I’d be lying if I said I had been meaning to write about Jibanananda Das for a long time, or that I read him every day. I don’t. Yet his books are never too far from me. They rarely stay neatly arranged on my library shelves because I have a habit of keeping one close to wherever I read or sit quietly with a cup of coffee. And still, months pass without my opening them. Then, without warning perhaps on…

A deep and personal Prodoshe Prakritojon book review exploring history, identity, caste, Bengal’s transformation, and the poetic brilliance of Shawkat Ali’s masterpiece. Prodoshe Prakritojon is not just a historical novel. It is one of those books that completely rearranges the way you think. I have read many important books on Bengal, history, identity, religion, and culture, but very few books have affected me the way this one did. This novel did not simply tell me a story. It pushed me into a lifelong search for answers about Bengal—its people, its transformations, its wounds, and its forgotten history. As a student…

“You Don’t Know How to Do Nothing. That’s the Problem.” Why dolce far niente—the art of doing nothing—is harder than work, and what it quietly fixes in the mind and body. Why Dolce Far Niente Feels So Difficult in Real Life I realised something mildly humiliating the other day. I cannot sit still without turning it into a project. Give me five minutes of silence and I will mentally redesign my life, solve three imaginary problems, and remember something embarrassing from 2004. So when people talk about dolce far niente—the Italian art of doing nothing—I don’t feel inspired. I feel…