RIP Eleanor Callahan

This has nothing to do with Bangladesh, but... Eleanor Callahan, wife, model and muse of the great photographer Harry Callahan, passed away today.

Callahan was an amazing photographer, up there among the best of the best. And Eleanor provided him inspiration and a subject.

Slide show of photos by Harry of Eleanor here.

SoftExpo Photos

SoftExpo, the annual trade fair of BASIS (Bangladesh Assoc. of Software and Information Services), took place last week. It was a comprehensive affair, with software developers, inventors, freelancers, hardware vendors, and of course customers - all meeting up for five tech-heavy days.

Here are some photos.

Sundarban Again

Nypa palm (golpata) trees in Sundarban.

Not only is it a beautiful tree, but it provides livelihood for thousands of people who collect its leaf for making roof thatching.

This week my Tangents column is on the beauty of Sundarban.

February 21st

Taken at Shaheed Minar on Feb 21, 2012.

February 21, known as Ekushey February, is a special day in the history of this country. On this day in 1952, students at Dhaka University rose up against an edict (by West Pakistan) to impose Urdu as the national language on us, Bengali-speaking people. The rest, as they say, is history.

Ekushey has turned into a massive observance. Everyone brings flowers to remember the martyrs. I try to come here on this day, not the least because my father was among those who demonstrated - and was wounded - in 1952 when he was a student at Dhaka University.

As I was wandering there, I kept on thinking, is this the nation they would have liked to see? To be proud of?