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<title>Counterpoint &#45; : Culture</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/rss/category/culture</link>
<description>Counterpoint &#45; : Culture</description>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Copyright 2025 counterpoint&#45; All Rights Reserved.</dc:rights>

<item>
<title>The Other Nightingale</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/The-Other-Nightingale</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/The-Other-Nightingale</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Audiences heard something unprecedented: A female voice that did not ask permission to be happy. To a socialist India grappling with the early tremors of globalized pop culture, Asha Bhosle was the unmistakable sound of modernity. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:11:11 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Irfan Chowdhary</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, R.D Burman, O.P Nayyar, Tribute</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>In Kerman, the Past Stays Present</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/In-Kerman%2C-the-Past-Stays-Present</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/In-Kerman%2C-the-Past-Stays-Present</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ This piece marks the first in a multi-part series that seeks to place a human face on the Iranian people, moving beyond the abstractions of politics and stereotype. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:45:53 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Zeeshan Khan</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Iran, Persia</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>The Syed Family of Taraf: Ushering Islamic Rule in South Sylhet</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/The-Syed-Family-of-Taraf</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/The-Syed-Family-of-Taraf</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ The sun of prosperity eclipsed for the Syeds in Taraf, as this land was conquered by the Kingdom of Tripura, which was at Bangladesh’s eastern border. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 14:50:14 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Tamim Choudhury</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Sylhet, Mughal Empire</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A Poet&amp;apos;s Burden: Rabindranath Tagore&amp;apos;s Secret Struggle for Tripura</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/A-Poets-Burden%3A-Rabindranath-Tagores-Secret-Struggle</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/A-Poets-Burden%3A-Rabindranath-Tagores-Secret-Struggle</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ A Newly Discovered Letter Exposes His Private Battle With Power and Trust ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202603/image_870x580_69ad266dc80a9.jpg" length="51657" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 10:16:32 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shahab Sattar</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Rabindranath Tagore</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Of Shahnama, Divana, Gulistan,  Rubaiyat and Mathnawi</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Of-shahnama-divana</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Of-shahnama-divana</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Firdaus embodies the Iranian identity, Hafiz brings ecstasy, Sadi offers wisdom, Khayyam presents doubt, and Rumi provides answers. The psychology of the Iranian people is more complex than Westerners might understand. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:53:19 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jaglul Ahmed</dc:creator>
<media:keywords></media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Electric Dreams and Neon Hearts</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Electric-Dreams-and-Neon-Hearts</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Electric-Dreams-and-Neon-Hearts</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ From Victorian automata to today’s AI girlfriend apps, we have sought to mechanize intimacy, to distill love into algorithms. This musing traces that arc, using Joi as a lodestar to navigate the shadows of desire, capitalism, and digital isolation. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:49:55 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Zakir Kibria</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Blade Runner, AI</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Freedom is a Virus</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Freedom-is-a-virus</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Freedom-is-a-virus</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Freedom is not a reward for being good, nor is it something we can give exclusive rights to one group of people to first. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202512/image_870x580_69477941b1455.jpg" length="125814" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 21 Dec 2025 10:35:42 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Fasihul Alam</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Victory Day, Bangladesh</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Will the Angry Young Man Ever Leave Our Films?</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/will-the-angry-young-man-ever-leave-our-films</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/will-the-angry-young-man-ever-leave-our-films</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ From Bollywood’s Animal to Dhaka’s Toofan, Southasia’s film industries are recycling a dangerous archetype, the violent, hypermasculine hero. Despite changing times, new platforms, and more diverse audiences, this “angry young man” refuses to fade from the screen. Why does he still sell, and what does that say about us? ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:02:32 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shoaib Ahmed Sayam</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bollywood, Dhallywood</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Unboxing Gen Z</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Unboxing-Gen-Z</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Unboxing-Gen-Z</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ What does this Western-originated term truly reveal, and what profound realities does it obscure about the young people of the Global South? ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2025 14:33:28 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Zakir Kibria</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Gen Z, July Uprising</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>How Dhaka Kills Me Every Day</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/How-Dhaka-Kills-Me-Every-Day</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/How-Dhaka-Kills-Me-Every-Day</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Dhaka is not for beginners. Every day you make it to the end in one piece is a good day. Even survival for another 24 hours is a victory. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2025 11:14:40 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Samridhya Sarkar</dc:creator>
<media:keywords></media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>From Zia to Now: The Empty Chair of Leadership</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/From-Zia-to-Now%3A-The-Empty-Chair-of-Leadership</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/From-Zia-to-Now%3A-The-Empty-Chair-of-Leadership</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ This short story was first written and published in 1994. Today, it has been reimagined for our present moment -- not as nostalgia, but as a challenge, in the hope is that it stirs voters to question themselves, and in doing so, sparks the debate our nation desperately needs. ]]></description>
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<pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2025 08:22:16 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kawsar Chowdhury</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Ziaur Rahman, 1975</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>What Can Bangladesh Learn from Singapore?</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/what-can-bangladesh-learn-from-singapore</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/what-can-bangladesh-learn-from-singapore</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ We have often heard rhetoric from our leaders about Bangladesh following the Singapore model. But what would that mean in real terms and what are the key things that Singapore did right that Bangladesh can realistically follow? ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202510/image_870x580_68f89f5224370.jpg" length="79336" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Wed, 22 Oct 2025 14:46:10 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>A Gafur</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Singapore</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Preserving Our Heritage From the Bengal Sultanate</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Preserving-Our-Heritage-From-the-Bengal-Sultanate</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Preserving-Our-Heritage-From-the-Bengal-Sultanate</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Neither did our history begin in 1971 nor is it something we must leave behind, as we face the future. Let us truly embrace our past and understand where we came from as a people and a nation. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202510/image_870x580_68f329b228bf3.jpg" length="140756" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 2025 10:46:14 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Tamim Choudhury</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Bengal Sultanate, Shankar Pasha Mosque, Heritage</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Who Will Pay Bangladesh?</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/Who-will-pay-Bangladesh</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/Who-will-pay-Bangladesh</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Bangladesh needs to protect itself and its intellectual property in the age of artificial intelligence. Do our leaders and decision-makers understand what is at stake? ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202509/image_870x580_68c9471d5da8c.jpg" length="60993" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 14 Sep 2025 05:47:41 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Omar Shehab</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>AI, Artificial Intelligence</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A Return to Roots</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/A-return-to-roots-%E2%80%93-Reviving-Bengali-Islamic-Architecture</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/A-return-to-roots-%E2%80%93-Reviving-Bengali-Islamic-Architecture</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ We need to revive Bengali Islamic architecture. The eight new mosques recently announced would be the perfect place to start. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202508/image_870x580_68981f3c7c7ee.jpg" length="133163" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:25:43 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Zeeshan Khan</dc:creator>
<media:keywords></media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>A metaphorical presence</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/A-metaphorical-presence-94</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/A-metaphorical-presence-94</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Reflections on The Djinn Waits for a Hundred Years, a haunting, lyrical novel blending family secrets, loss, and magical realism, set in a decaying mansion by the sea -- where love, memory, and womanhood quietly shape every story ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202507/image_870x580_686a034262849.jpg" length="136875" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 06 Jul 2025 04:54:14 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Atiya Rumni Mahmood</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Book Review</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>Chronicles of Coups Foretold</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/chronicles-of-coups-foretold</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/chronicles-of-coups-foretold</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Now that Hasina is gone, it is time we explore these deep fissures in our formative years, not just through political thrillers, but also serious, scholarly enquiries. ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202506/image_870x580_683cff98820ca.jpg" length="55653" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jun 2025 08:40:20 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jyoti Rahman</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>Book Review</media:keywords>
</item>

<item>
<title>When the world was ours</title>
<link>https://counterpointbd.com/when-the-world-was-ours-22</link>
<guid>https://counterpointbd.com/when-the-world-was-ours-22</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Harkening back to a more hopeful time amid war cries ]]></description>
<enclosure url="https://counterpointbd.com/uploads/images/202505/image_870x580_6824833e4bb45.jpg" length="271315" type="image/jpeg"/>
<pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2025 11:22:59 +0600</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Jyoti Rahman</dc:creator>
<media:keywords>India-Pakistan war, partition, Bollywood</media:keywords>
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