#bangla food

[creamcaramel21]

[deshifoodchanneldfc]

গাছের কাঁচা তেঁতুল দিয়ে মজাদার কাঁচা পেঁপে মাখা Farm Fresh Green Papaya...

[gmohi]

https://fb.watch/pz74JYoOV-/

[banglarannaghorbd]

Bangla Rannaghor

Welcome to "Bangla Rannaghor" Bengali cooking recipe channel!

Bangla Rannaghor is basically a home made recipe preparation and display channel. From here you will get the complete video content of latest Bengali food preparation methods. So stay tuned by subscribing to the Bangla Rannaghor channel, and watch Bengali food preparation and serving.

Thank you.

[techtipusa]

Why IELTS book PDF Bangla version?

IELTS is a cambridge test 1 depending on the curriculum. And all Cambridge books are English versions. Buy why we are saying here Bangla version? Because of some country, we are saying ELTS book PDF Bangla version. Cambridge ielts book pdf is same in the world. You read any country’s cambridge ielts book for your exam. 

In the country some IELTS books including Cambridge name can be different based on country. But their curriculums are the same as dedicated rules. Know more

[banglakhobor]

হিমোগ্লোবিন বাড়ে হুড়মুড়িয়ে, হার্ট ভাল রাখে, ইলিশের ডিমের উপকারিতায় চমকে যাবেন

*বারা��াত, হাবড়া, অশোকনগর, মধ্যমগ্রাম-সহ বিভিন্ন বাজারে এখন তাই দেখা মিলছে ইলিশের পাশাপাশি মাছের ডিম বিক্রি করতে। আর এই মাছের ডিম বিভিন্ন পদ্ধতিতে, নিজেদের পছন্দমত রান্না করে স্বাদ পূরণ করছেন ভোজন রসিক বাঙালি। Source link

[eppysboys]

Interview with Nancy Lee Andrews, March 2008 for 'Daytrippin'.

Daytrippin’: Let’s start from the beginning. When did you first meet Ringo Starr?

Nancy Lee Andrews: I met Ringo on a Monday afternoon in May 27, 1974.  John had rented actor Peter Lawford’s infamous Santa Monica beach home where he and May Pang hosted many get-togethers. Girlfriends and wives were cooking in the kitchen and kids were swimming in the pool.  It was a family get-together, rock ‘n’ roll style.  A seat was offered to me at the poker table and I found myself next to Ringo.  He was so charming, playful, witty and cute as hell. He might have had sad eyes, but they were twinkling at me that day.

Two months later, I got a call from May, who announced she and John were back in town.  They shuttled back and forth between New York and Los Angeles so I kept their funky ’68 Barracuda in my garage.  She asked me to bring the car to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and we would hang out and have some dinner.  I knocked on the door to the suite expecting to see John or May, but Ringo answered instead.  It took me by surprise and I said, “Oh, hello.”  Ringo smiled and said, “I remember you… you’re my poker partner!”

After we exchanged flirtatious pleasantries, we headed down to Sunset Sound Studios where Ringo was working on Goodnight Vienna. John, May and I spent hours encouraging Ringo as he laid down vocals.  When he finished we ventured to The Fiddler, a favorite Sunset Strip hangout that stayed open late and served delicious fried fish and chips.  It had an old Wurlitzer jukebox. The two boys drank, dropped quarters in the jukebox, singing and discussing women, wives and life while May and I chatted, watching them.

Ringo turned more melancholy as we approached two in the morning, holding my hand, touching my face, and looking at me with those big blue watery eyes.  He weaved his way to the jukebox and punched in Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” over and over again.  At one point he was on his knees, resting his head against the speaker, which was at the bottom of the Wurlitzer.

“That poor guy,” I said to John and May.  “He’s still in love with his wife. Look at him, his heart is broken.” John said softly, “Nancy, he’s a good lad��� give him a chance… you two will be good together.”  At that moment I didn’t realize just how prophetic John’s statement would be.

Daytrippin’:  So you knew John Lennon before you actually met Ringo?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  Yes.  I met John through my old boyfriend and legendary bass player, Carl Radle.  Carl played bass for Leon Russell and Eric Clapton and did many sessions in LA.  So I met John at a recording studio.  I can’t recall exactly what session it was but May and I instantly became friends that night and John gave me the thumbs up.

Daytrippin’:  So what was John like as a person?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  He was high energy.  He loved a good conversation. He liked facts about a subject.  And he was simple when it came to his needs, music, food and friends.  He was a night owl and liked to go to the movies after midnight.  One night we went downtown to a funky theater with Bob Dylan to see a Bruce Lee marathon.  Those were the days when a Beatle could make a run in the middle of the night to Pinks for a pig out on hot dogs.  He would get so excited in the recording studio and start sort of dancing when he was hearing what he wanted.  He just loved to get groups of us at the microphone for backup vocals. We had a lot of fun.

Daytrippin’:  And you met George Harrison before all of them. (Her boyfriend at the time, Carl Radle, played bass on All Things Must Pass and The Concert for Bangla Desh.)  What was George like?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  George was quiet but had this intensity when he talked to you.  Again, this guy loved music and it was all about the music.  His wife at the time, Pattie Boyd, was great to hang out with.  She’s a creative woman and a wonderful person.  A few years later Ringo and I went to visit him and Olivia at Friar Park in 1979.  They were so happy.  Olivia cooked a delicious dinner, he played the guitar and we wandered around that huge mansion while he told us its history.  He opened a door, I think it was in the kitchen and handed us candles and told us to follow him.  I thought, Oh, we’re going to the spooky cellar but the stairs kept going down and down and finally we landed on a flat surface.  I looked, and couldn’t believe what I saw… it was a cave complete with stylolites. Walkways through a cavern.  There was even a stream running through it!  I had my camera with me and we had a hilarious time shooting with and without the flash.  I have so many incredible pictures of us in that cave.

After that we settled in his study/music room and he handed me a bowl of rubies… big ones, small ones that were all cabachons.  It was days before my birthday and he said to pick what ever I want and have something made.  While he and Ringo talked and played the guitar I settled in front of the fireplace and designed a necklace with lots of hanging rubies.  One of those nights I’ll never forget.

Daytrippin’:  So after John set you up with Ringo, how did your relationship develop?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  After our first date we were hooked on each other.  We just continued until one day we were looking for a house together and we were a couple.  Our world was fast and on the move all over the world.  We had a place in Monte Carlo, England, Amsterdam and LA.  Between the recording studios, movie premieres, promotion tours, traveling nine months a year and juggling the children, friends and family we were gypsies — elegant gypsies.  Sometimes we would unplug the phones and hide out in our own house not letting anybody know we were in town.  Just a few days of old movies, some home made popcorn and our favorite meals.  Those days were some of our best times.

Daytrippin’:  Your new photo book, A Dose of Rock ‘n’ Roll, chronicles your life with Ringo (1974-1980) as well as the decade of the 1970s.  How did you go from an Eileen Ford Model to becoming a rock photographer?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  I always had a camera in my hand and recorded what was happening in front of me.  Thinking back, there are so many times I wish I had clicked the shutter instead of feeling the moment was too personal and awkward to take a picture.  But you know there are thousands of images from our life and the people who just happened to be there and I would click.  Like the great images of George at the Grand Prix in Monte Carlo… click, click… they’re in the book.  But not all of them, so I’m going to introduce many new images in the gallery shows.  If I used half of what I have the book would be many, many volumes.  You know looking back I had the ultimate all access pass and nobody ever told me to put my camera down.

Daytrippin’:  How did the camera figure into your relationship with Ringo and how did he help boost your career?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  The camera was a huge part of our lives.  We were both posers and loved to give it up for the camera.  He loved the way I saw things and encouraged me to shoot.  One day he said he needed a new head shot for the new album and said, “You shoot it.”  We went out by the side of our house where the light reflected beautifully and we did our little session.  After that we did his next two album covers — Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy, the “Ringo” TV Special and various other publicity images.  He is a natural in front of the camera.  There are images I took of him while in Morocco that are breathtaking.  He actually looked like he could be a Bedouin lord… a flowing Black cape with a long hood… he merged with the culture and they accepted him as one of their own as we strolled through the Medina.  We were living in our own personal movie in a foreign world and I was shooting it.  What a trip!

Daytrippin’: You also helped Ringo write a song, the lovely “Las Brisas” on Ringo’s Rotogravure. How did that come about?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  We were in Acapulco, I think it was the first year of our relationship, and it was so romantic at the Las Brisas Hotel. Everything was pink — pink jeeps, pink flowers floating in the pool, etc.  I was fascinated with the language and was asking someone to translate words for me and writing them down on a napkin in a poem form.  A band was playing and Ringo picked up the napkin and stared singing the words.  We worked on it over the next few days and it became our little song.

Daytrippin’:  You also took the cover and back shot of Ringo’s next album, Ringo the 4th.  What inspired you?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  Fantasy, fairy tales, sword and sorcery, not sure but evolved from a nice bottle of champagne and maybe a book we had been reading.  I think I put that sword in his hands to represent him slaying his demons.  There was this big empty closet in our suite at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.  I mean, it would have been a bedroom in some apartments. Any way it was the perfect light box when the flash went off.  We had the best time shooting in that closet with my girlfriend, Rita, on his shoulders.

Daytrippin’:  There’s a famous shot of you, Ringo and Paul and Linda McCartney on 5th Avenue in New York.  What was Paul like and how did that photo come about?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  We were strolling down 5th Avenue back to the Plaza Hotel and we hear someone calling Ringo’s name.  I turned and saw Paul and Linda across the street.  I mean what is the chance of that?  Paul had a photographer following him so when he caught up with us the photographer snapped away.  Paul and Linda came back to the hotel with us and we ordered some tea up to the suite.  I found Paul very charming and down to earth.  He and Linda were a real couple; you know, they were a unit.  Linda had a wonderful sense of humor.  We never hung out with them.  They were always on the farm and Paul had his own music.  He did write a song for Ringo’s Rotogravure, Pure Gold. Paul said it was about me for Ringo, so he recorded it.

Daytrippin’:  Ringo once again called upon you to take publicity photos for the “Ringo TV Special” in 1978.  What do you recall about that shoot and how did Ringo approach the project?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  He took the role seriously because it was the first vehicle that revolved around him.  American TV was a very important vehicle to promote his music.  We had just acquired a house in the Hollywood Hills and it was empty, so we decided to use the living room as our studio.  It was great fun working with an art director and director.  Ringo was surrounded by some great performers who just loved him.

Daytrippin’: You met a lot of famous people through Ringo.  Who was the most memorable?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  The Duke!  We were having dinner one night at the El Padrino Room at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and I was beside myself because John Wayne was sitting a table away.  He was in my line of sight, but not Ringo’s.  I was fidgeting and terribly distracted.  Ringo finally asked me what was wrong with me and I gushed, “I can’t believe this but John Wayne is sitting right over there.”  Ringo’s eyes lit up and we sat there like two starstruck kids.  When John Wayne was leaving he walked right by our table and Ringo stopped him to say hello.  He was so nice and very tall.  Ringo asked him if he would give me a kiss and he said sure.  He put out his hand and pulled me up from the table and laid a Maureen O’Hara big one right on my lips.  I was a puddle with a stupid grin on my face as Ringo laughed and the other diners smiled at me.  Now that was a man and a legend!

Daytrippin’:  You’ve got some great photos of Ringo and Keith Moon at Trancas Beach in Malibu.  What was your relationship with “Moonie” and was he as crazy as he has been portrayed in the past?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  Keith had two sides.  Some of those pictures in Malibu capture the soft cuddly side of him.  The other side was the Mad Hatter who could make any tea party interesting.

Daytrippin’:  You also developed close friendships with other Beatle cohorts such as Harry Nillson, Dr. John and Donovan.  Give me a brief thumbnail of each person.

Nancy Lee Andrews:   I loved Harry Nilsson like a brother.  One of the most brilliant and fascinating men I have ever met.  Dr. John was all about the music, too.  He loved his kids, a southern gentleman.  Donovan is very impish and fun.  He loves to entertain and gets everyone involved when he knows he has your attention.  A great subject to shoot.

Daytrippin’:  The book portrays a very fast-paced, jet-set lifestyle that you shared with Ringo, including trips to England, Japan, Monte Carlo, Morocco, Mexico and the Yucatan. Didn’t you nearly die in a plane crash in the jungle in the Yucatan?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  Here’s what happened:  we were having a nice time in the Yucatan for about a week until Ringo suddenly became restless.  He woke up one morning and said, “Get me off this island.  I don’t care how you do it, but get me outta here.”  In a matter of hours I managed to book a twin-engine plane to Merida that seated six people.  Our party of four, the two pilots and our embarrassing amount of luggage put us well over the plane’s weight capacity.  Despite that and a looming tropical storm, no one could talk Ringo into staying another day.  The pounding storm forced us to fly so low that the bottom of the plane was brushing against the tops of the trees.  I was trying to calm my friend Susan S. Fair down, who was sure that our plane was going to go crash in the jungle and our remains would never be found.  Hilary Gerard, Ringo’s manager, was holding Tibetan prayer beads up against his third eye, furiously chanting and wishing for a cigarette.  While everyone was frantic and on the verge of breaking down, Ringo was as calm as could be.  He said very matter-of-factly, “Don’t worry, it’s not my time to go, so we’ll all be fine.”

Daytrippin’:  You went out with Ringo during the height of the disco era.  I have it on good account that he took ballroom dancing as a kid and is pretty light on his feet?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  Oh my god, he was a fabulous dancer.  We loved to go to the discos in Monte Carlo and Regine’s was our favorite.  The DJ knew that we loved “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye and would play it at least twice while we were there.  Ringo would jump up and pull me to the dance floor.  He had moves that were so simple but looked so good.  Also we loved to go to Tramps in London… they had the best bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes).  We would gobble it down around 2 a.m. before we went home.  If other women wanted to dance with Ringo they didn’t ask — they  knew I would scratch their eyes out.  As far as ballroom dancing I honestly did not know that about him.  Hmmm, maybe that’s where he got such good timing.

Daytrippin’:  Your relationship with Ringo came to an abrupt end when he met Barbara Bach on the set of Caveman in 1980. You were actually engaged to Ringo at the time.  How did you find closure?

Nancy Lee Andrews:    It took time.  I thought he would come home to me but he fell hard for Barbara Bach.  I put my focus on photography.  I had a business called Headshots for Women and advertised in Variety.  My beauty lighting had the girls lined up.  This was before photoshop.  I had an air brusher and he would wipe the lines away and the women loved it!  Love my computer.  I had a couple of committed relationships over the next ten years and finally gave up.  That’s when I met my husband and we are now coming up to our 15th anniversary… not to mention the few years of courting.

Daytrippin’:  Tell us about your life today and what are your future plans?

Nancy Lee Andrews:  Well, life is very exciting these days.  The book is coming out and will show my photography, even though it’s a flashback to the ’70s.  My friend, May Pang, is also coming out with a book of never before seen photos of John.  We’re going to be doing gallery exhibits and book singings together this spring in Scottsdale, Arizona; Palm Springs, California and NYC.  I have a wonderful exhibit at the Tennessee State Museum this summer, a combination of A Dose of Rock ‘n’ Roll and a dash of country.  I also head up IconicPhotos.com, a Web gallery showcasing some fine photographers work at prices that won’t dent your wallet.  I’m currently negotiating gallery exhibits in London, Paris, Amsterdam and San Francisco.  Whew, this is only a few months into the year and everything seems to have just taken off.

[khush-chronicles]

A brief history of Bangladesh and why it is relevant to the current situation

The Indian subcontinent liberated itself from the British in 1947. Two new countries were born, India and Pakistan. The Bangladesh we know today was a part of Pakistan.

In 1952, the students of Dhaka University, along with my other, marched on the streets, protesting that "Urdu"-the national language of Pakistan- would not be the national language of East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh.

The reason behind this was that 52% of the people in the entire Pakistan spoke Bangla. There was no logic behind declaring Urdu as the national language of Pakistan as a whole. Much like India, there was no need to have a national language.

Students marched on 21st February, ignoring the red alerts. 7 students were martyred, shot by the police. But we protected our mother tongue, we established our rights, and their bloodshed was worth it.

Now, why is it relevant now? Because the history is repeating itself. Only Bangladesh's own government is playing the role of the autocratic Pakistani government. Worse, our prime minister is the daughter of the man who was the prime force behind the liberation of our country.

Bangladesh is the only country in the world that has 256 kinds of quotas reserved for various kinds of people. Even 10% for women. All are applicable at various levels, starting from primary school admissions to government jobs. 56% are reserved for quota holders altogether. 44% are for normal people.

Now, if it had been the other way around, no one would've been that angry. Bangladesh is a country of 200 million people. let's just say 1/4th of them are students. 50 million. The population of quota holders is 200 thousand. Is it not laughable? The 200 thousand students have the right to study, and get jobs and the remaining 49+ million have to fight for 44%? What kind of joke is this?

See the similarities? Trying to give everything to the minority?

The quota most applicable is the "freedom fighter" quota. The people who fought during the liberation war in 1971. Utmost respect and love towards them. But why should their grandchildren benefit from their participation? What is the guarantee that these grandchildren won't harm the country, the same country that was liberated by their grandparents' blood?

The freedom fighters who are still alive, they are ashamed. The population during the war was 70 million. 3 million were martyred. But more than half of the population fought, and the women gave shelter, food, and help in any way they could. Not every one of them collected their certificates. Most of them were illiterate, they didn't even know what a certificate was. And those who knew but didn't collect, and are alive, are saying that they didn't fight so their grandchildren could take advantage, they fought to save the country, they didn't fight for glory.

Our Prime Minister fled the country during the war. There are no records of her brothers fighting in the war either. Her father gave speeches in his white clothes but never picked up a rock to throw.

That aside, now students from almost every university in Bangladesh are protesting against the quota system. So many students cannot be wrong. And the government cannot again be right. It's the minority vs majority all over again.

Another uncanny similarity, 7 were martyred today. 16th July 2024, 7 were given their lives again, for the right study and do jobs and serve their country. What a downfall it is when our friends, seniors, and juniors are giving their lives, just for such simple rights. Where is democracy? Where is liberation? Is this what our grandfathers fought the war for?

The situation is worsening every hour. On 25th March 1971, Pakistani military forces raided homes. Not universities, not halls, HOMES. Of the general public. This was called "Operation Searchlight". No electricity, no light, no warning. Only breaking into homes and massacring men, women, children, and old, children without discrimination or thoughts. Again, something similar is happening.

There is this group called "Student League", they are students of various universities as well, but they are basically bootlickers of the prime minister. They follow whatever she says without any sense of morals.

The minister for education paid them to attack students in halls- confessed by a member of the Student League.

They entered the halls, and hospitals, beat up injured students, locked the hall rooms, and harassed the female students. The video clips that were shared, the screams of the girls, the way they were saying "Brothers save us", it's giving me goosebumps while I am typing it.

They stabbed many students who were returning home. They beat up many many girls who were silently standing by the roads. They harassed the general public.

Both sides are students. Only their teachings are different.

What's about to happen? How many more are dying? The internet connection is off. We can only access through VPN and Wifi. There is a red alert around the areas where most universities are situated. They are cutting off electricity where the protests happened and raiding houses. Again, the similarities. They are checking the homes of the general public if they are housing student protestors. If yes, the students are being dragged out on the roads. Where is freedom?

There is much more happening, which I am not even writing about right now. Much more to come.

Is this what Liberation is? Then I do not want it. If this is what freedom is, I would rather be in a cage.

My account isn't very big, but I am still posting about it. If yours is or if your friends' is, if you come across this post, spread it. Let the world know what an autocrat that woman is. What a tyrant she is.

PS: About a month ago Bangladesh was deemed "The most Peaceful Country in Asia" which is a blatant joke.

I have never been so ashamed and proud of my country at the same time.

[cult-of-the-eye]

got any silly tmagp headcannons to share? :)

Ooh let's goooo

Sam gets a bit worried about bringing strong smelling food to work and he tells this to Alice who turns up with the most fish curry ever just to make him feel comfortable

Alice chose her name partly cause A is the first letter of her deadname

Gwen eats the same lunch every single day

Colin struggles with nausea and Alice calls it his morning sickness

Sam and Alice play fireboy and water girl on the computers sometimes

Lena would rather die than wear anything other than 4 inch heels.

Colin is a bear.

Sam will sometimes hum old bangla songs and Alice will join in but absolutely butcher it

Gwen calls movies films

Whenever a statement is particularly bad, he mutters goddamn white people under his breath

It makes him sleep slightly better at night at least

Thanks for the ask!!

[pumpkinsy0]

desi!johnny hc’s but early 2000’s au? thanks if u get to it!

YEA OF COURSE!!! i dont even think i rlly ever talked about johnny in my 2000s au cause hes just so timeless so this would acc be pretty good help to find out what hes like

•HUGE tollywood fan, would literally force pony to watch some movies w him (if i remember correctly, tollywood refers to the bengali cinema/film industry, if im wrong MY BAD</33)

•some of em arent even translated to english or at least he doesnt have the version that is, maybe its recorded on a vhs tape so ponys just there sitting quietly and every 10 mins hes like “so whats goin on”

•his fav to watch is chokher bali and the namesake (i say the namesake cause i feel like maybe johnny relates to it quite a bit yknow)

•sometimes u can catch him listening to Rabindra Sangeet songs, hes not rlly a music person but he likes it a lot

•HE ALSO LIKES BANGLA BAND MUSIC i can feel it, sometimes he shares an earbud w pony so he can listen to it too

•he LOVES partachitra paintings (if u havent seen em before look them up), hes not much of an artist but i imagine that in class he likes doodling and drawing inspo from those paintings, not exactly drawing like those hindu mythology scenes, but just the way he draws ppl???u can tell he gets some notes from partschitra paintings

•i see him as being more open about his culture so maybe in the curtis house he gets them to make bengali food/sweets like sandesh, rashgulla, macher jhol, etc etc, and the gang has a bengali dinner night<33

•google translate was made in 2006 and SO THIS MEANS that yes, SOMETIMES the gang (mostly pony) can find out what johnny mumbled under his breath in bengala (or whatever language u hc him to speak) and they now know just how funny johnny rlly is

•or rlly how mean, ik he makes some slick comments under his breath, when he finds out someones using google translate on him he just sighs and goes lu know what i said huh😕😕”

THATS RLLY ALL I CAN THINK OF NOW BUT this gave me a way better understanding of johnny in the early 2000s au so bless u🙏🏽🙏🏽

AND AS ALWAYS IF I GOT SOMETHING WRONG PLS CORRECT ME GUYS I BEG</3

[thebisexualwreckoning]

Assorted thoughts on culture, generational trauma, racism, queerness and where they intersect for me

My family is from Bangladesh. Or they used to be. All of my great-grandparents were born there. At least 3 of my grandparents were born there as well. My mother travelled there on the back of trucks transporting hay. The town, practically the village, my father grew up in, is in Bangladesh.

There's this story my mother tells me. When I was around three years old, we were in a Bengali restaurant in New York and I was so happy to meet fellow Bengalis that I immediately started to speak Sylheti. They gave us a discount for that. called me Khuki and told my parents how nice it was to speak in the language of their home with someone once again.

Another time, another restaurant. This one is in London. I'm not three anymore. I don't speak Sylheti anymore either. They say I forgot because I had no one to speak it with. I don't even speak proper Bangla. It's now Bengali with a dash of Hindi. This time when we enter the restaurant, I don't approach the servers. They approach us and say how nice it is to find a fellow Bengali in the wild. We complain about how we're tired of white people food. My mother wishes she had macher jhol. The servers tell her to wait and bring out a plate of their own dinner. She cries as she eats it. Tears of joy and solidarity.

I'm twelve years old and for the first time, I decide to relearn my culture. I join a summer class, pencil in hand, ready to learn how to read and write all over again. I want to read my mother's magazines, the Feluda comics that she read out loud to me as a child. It paid off, but not in the way I expected, my mother fighting with my father, grabbing hold of my hand two days later as we boarded the aeroplane back to her father's house.

I'm 13 years old, on anti-depressants that I forgot to take some days, neurodivergence diagnosed, and learning more about myself each and every day. I come out as bisexual to my mom but do not tell her about my genderfluidity. Afraid of what she'll think when the daughter she always desired turns out to not be her daughter at all. We call my brother in Canada. He tells us about the people who shout slurs at him in the metro. We do not tell him that we are afraid that someday the slurs will turn into bullet wounds.

I'm fourteen years old, and my father's come to visit. It's his birthday so we travel to his parents' house. more than 4 hours away from ours. They greet us with barbed wire words on my grades, my brother's weight, my mother's inability to be a good wife. We smile through it all. I wonder how they can be so cruel. The people who cared for me when I was a child. The woman who named me now my worst enemy.

I'm fifteen years old now. My Bangla is clearer. Sharp vowels and clear consonants. It will never be rounded syllables of my childhood ever again. I learn of the Bengal partition in school. Learn how people killed each other in the name of freedom. I want to scream, "Amra shobai ek." We are all the same. We share the same culture, the same language but in different dialects, the same history. Stop killing, please. I'm tired of the violence and hatred, I say. This war started before I was born, will it continue after I'm dead as well?

I gathered the courage to google LGBTQ+ laws in Bangladesh today. And I realised something. I love my culture. I love my roots. I love this language, my ancestors, and every family member, even though sometimes I feel like there are too many to count. But I do not love what they have made of it. I saw the words splashed across the newspaper headlines, Anti - Queer laws still in place, Being gay is punishable with a life sentence in prison, a gay man is stoned to death in public and no one does anything to stop it. I do not cry. I've been doing nothing but crying for too long now.

Instead, I'm writing this. I'm writing this to tell everyone that it isn't over. I'm writing this to tell everyone that if I'd been born 413 km to the west exactly, I wouldn't be alive to write this post right now. I'm writing this because I am tired of our stories going untold, buried under layers of propaganda and zealotry. I'm writing this because people think my being Hindu, my being Indian, my being Bengali means that I cannot be queer.

Well sorry to prove you wrong. Because I'm still here. And I'm still kicking. And as long as I'm alive, I'm not going to stop. Neither will the thousands of others like me, telling their stories in a thousand different ways, fighting for their people in a thousand different ways.

So this one is for those still kicking.

We're Here

We're Queer

And we're ready to fucking fight.