#bengali writer

[zeherili-ankhein]

I am realising now that Katukutu buro was downright a pedophile 💀

No because what is

“ছিঁড়বে পেটের নাড়ি”

“একলা পেলে জোর করে”

“হাসির চেয়ে কান্না আসে বেশি”

“তবুও তোমায় হাসতে হবে তাকিয়ে বুড়োর পানি”

“গায়ের উপর সুড়সুড়ি দেয় লম্বা কালো লয়ে”

“চিমটি কাটে ঘাড়ে”

“কিছুতেই নেই ছুটি”

.....I was so scared of this made up man as a kid, and now while reading it again I am even more scared 😭 somehow this seemingly funny kids poem managed to have such heavy things may that be knowingly or unknowingly

@foreignink

[myladytara]

বিয়ে আর প্রেম সম্পূর্ণ দুটো ভিন্ন ব্যাপার।

প্রেমের ফ্যাসিনেশন নিয়ে বিয়ে করতে গেলে আপনি পস্তাবেন নিশ্চিত থাকুন।

আপনারা একই প্যারেন্টিং-এর আন্ডারে, একই রেস্ট্রিকশনে, একই পরিবেশে বড় হওয়া ভাইবোন নন।

টোটালি ডিফরেন্ট জীবনদর্শনের দুজন মানুষ!

আপনা��ের পরিবেশ, মানসিকতা সব আলাদা। এটা মেনে নিয়েই বিয়ের পিঁড়িতে বসতে হবে। একসাথে বড় হওয়া ভাইবোন কি পরিমাণে ঝগড়া করে, সেখানে আপনারা কতটুকু ঝামেলা করবেন, কতটুকু আন্ডারস্ট্যান্ডিং মেইনটেইন করবেন, ইটস টোটালি আপ টু ইউ।

প্রেমের সময় দুজন সারারাত ভেবে, অপেক্ষা শেষে কাবার্ড খুলে সব থেকে সুন্দর কাপড়টা পরে, তৈরী হয়ে, বেস্ট পারফিউমটা মেখে দেখা করেন, যাবতীয় সুন্দর কথা একজন আরেকজনকে বলেন।

বিয়ে তা নয়!

বিয়ে জগতের সুন্দরতম অসুন্দর জিনিস!

বিয়েতে জড়িয়ে থাকে রান্নাবেলার ঘামের গন্ধ।

সন্ধ্যার অফিস-ফেরত ক্লান্ত ঘর্মাক্ত শার্ট।

একটা উলটো করে রাখা শু, তার পাশেই পরে থাকে সারাদিনের ব্যবহৃত মোজা। বিছানায় ভেজা তোয়ালে। রাতের ভারী নিঃশ্বাসের শব্দ, কখনো কখনো নাকডাকা। সকালের ঘুমভাঙা ব্রাশ না করা বাসী মুখের বাসী চুমু। বাসায় পরে থাকা পুরোনো, ফুটো হয়ে যাওয়া কিন্তু কমফোর্টেবল গেঞ্জি, হাফপ্যান্ট কিংবা ম্যাক্সিটা। বিয়ে মানেই হাজার নোংরা জিনিস!

কোথায় যেন পড়েছিলাম-

পৃথিবীর সবচেয়ে জঘন্য কথা হয় স্বামী-স্ত্রীর মধ্যে।

এবং সবচেয়ে সুন্দর কথাও হয় স্বামী-স্ত্রীর মধ্যে।

এরা রেগে গেলে একে অপরকে এমন নোংরা কথা বলে যা অন্য কেউ বললে হয়ত খুনোখুনিটা না হলেও আজীবনের জন্য মুখ দেখাদেখি বন্ধ থাকতো। কিন্তু সেই রাগ শান্ত হলেই এদের মত মধুর সম্পর্ক আর নেই।বিয়ে করার আগে, একশোবার ভাবুন। কথা বলুন সব বিষয়ে! সময় নিন।

ঠিক তেমনি, বিয়ে ভাঙার আগেও,

একশোবার ভাবুন। কথা বলুন সব বিষয়ে! সময় নিন।

সহমত হলে শেয়ার করুন।

🖋️ Srabonty Dey

[literaryvein-reblogs]

A List of "Beautiful" Bengali Words & Phrases

for your next poem/story

Āguna - fire

Amader - ours; belonging; sense of community and collectivism

Ami shobai ke bhalo chai - I want everyone to be good

Āśā - hope

Bolo na janoa kichu - say something, please

Br̥ṣṭipāta - rainfall

Buddhiman - intelligent

Cā - tea

Chokh - (or cōkha) eye

Chomotkar - said when one looks at something in wonder; magnificent

Cirantana - eternal

Diganta - horizon

Ghore - home

Golpo - stories

Haashi - (or hashi) smile; laughter

Kichu na bola jay - don’t say anything

Kotha - words; speech

Moner agun - the burning fire within one’s heart; passion, desire

Mukhosh - mask

Phula - flower

Prem - (or prēma) love

Raag - anger; rage

Samprīti - harmony

Shundor - beautiful

Śubharātri - goodnight

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 ⚜ More: Word Lists

If any of these words make their way into your next poem/story, please tag me, or send me a link. I would love to read them!

[papenathys]

And if I say I'm writing a Bengali lesbian dark academia short story between a trans butch and a femme??? Then????

[yourdailyqueer]

Manabi Bandyopadhyay

Gender: Transgender woman

Sexuality: N/A

DOB: Born 1964

Ethnicity: Bengali

Occupation: Professor, reality star, writer

Note: First openly transgender Indian college principal

[structuredchaoticmelancholy]

[sajra-savera]

You know you're down bad when you start using those manifestation techniques online to make them love you back.

[ayowotsdis]

Keeping my earth shattering imposter syndrome at bay, let's talk about my biggest project ever. Which I probably will never complete. But I love to talk about it.

So like I have this story in my head which I call the fantasy book in my head. Its a asoiaf meets bengal kinda thing. I like to call it grimdark, my friend who I narrated the main premise to said "that's straight up horror dude"

But like yk, bengali folklore and our love of ghosts. The main character is a very complex being (not exactly human, at least not anymore.) My main characters humanity, that died before the start of the story, haunts the narrative and the being she is now.

I'm worldbuilding so hard but like, it's genuine fantasy so a lot of ghosts and of course since my Bangladesh is a riverine country, a lot of river related geography and the rivers are characters of their own.

Also this story came to me in a dream on 23rd November 2014. I was chilling in Dhaka as an 8 year old. A lot has changed since then.

Also the main characters family is basically descended from shath bhai chompa. I'm crazy. And it's a huge plot point.

Also a lot of baghs and well a lot of environmentalism. My mc is a product of environmental manipulation. It's basically mother nature sends you as a fuck you letter to the government.

Also, a "spirit" haunts my main character the whole time (like bikrom betal/vikram betal). And then there's the whole body, heart and soul symbolism.

The prologue chapter starts as a putul nach scenario. Honestly will I ever finish this? Probably not. But if I ever do, will it just be me making jabs at my colonisers, the government and every authority figure there is? Yup. Also a lot of indigenous representation cuz Bangladesh sucks at that. Yeah no wonder I'm going insane. Also my main motivation to write this is to be present at the bengali ghost Wikipedia page at the writer's section.

[jochona]

i was 5 when I was taught

that when passing sharp objects

you turn the sharp end towards yourself

so no one gets hurt

I was told that this is what love is

when i hand you the knife

the blade turned towards me

and i whisper soft prayers

to a god who never listens

"i hope they make it quick this time"

And I'll wake up one night

with your silhouette over me

the outline of your broad shoulders

your eyes that put the stars to shame

and your pretty hands working the dagger into my gut

you leave when dawn breaks

and as I lie in my own crimson mess

I'm just grateful you spent the night with me

this was inevitable wasn't it?

i was the one who handed you the knife in the first place

still I prayed this time would be different

I am terrorized by my inability to hate you

if you promised to protect mon coeur,

why'd you bite?

[thesongoffadingaway]

যে কটা দিন তুমি ছিলে পাশে,

(𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦,)

কেটেছিলো নৌকার পালে ঠোঁট রেখে ।

(𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵)

আমার চোখে, ঠোঁটৈ, গালে তুমি লেগে ছিলে,

(𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦��𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬,)

আমার চোখে, ঠোঁটৈ, গালে তুমি লেগে ছিলে ।

(𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬.)

যেটুকু রোদ ছিল লুকোনো মেঘ,

(𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴,)

বুনেছিলাম তোমার শালে ভালোবাসা ।

(𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘸𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.)

আমার আঙুল, হাতে, কাঁধে তুমি লেগে ছিলে,

(𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴,)

আমার আঙুল, হাতে, কাঁধে তুমি লেগে ছিলে ।

(𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴.)

-Je Kawta Din (Reprise) by Anupam Roy, Iman Chakroborty.

[outsidethebeautybox]

How It Started (Part 3): The Bengali Boy

I have come to terms with the fact that I am not easy to work with.

Okay, I’m trying really really hard to come to terms with it.

“Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day” is one of my favorite poems and, in the words of Nikki Giovanni, “I know I’m not an easy girl to love.” (Technically, the poem says “woman” but I don’t want to get in trouble for copyright mumbo-jumbo.)

‘I’m very opinionated,’ is what I’m trying to say. I’m passionate, and sometimes that passion means that I have to stand my ground, even when it makes me less popular.

Ya’ll remember that I tried to make a comic with a pinoy artist last year?

Well, a few months after our ugly business-partner break up (might go more into how that whole mess ended later) an Indian artist hit me up asking if I wanted to work together on a project. I’d grown a bit less enthusiastic about partnerships thanks to my previous experience, but I still agreed to give it a shot.

This new artist had a lot of suggestions/preferences for the project. No problem. In my opinion a good partnership means meshing everyone’s ideas into something both parties can be happy with, so I tried really hard to adapt to my new partner without sacrificing my artistic integrity.

She wanted to write a story that would draw a lot of fans and make us money. I try my best to write for the sake of artistic expression, rather than profit, but I agreed we could try to write a story in a more popular genre to increase our likelihood of gaining supporters.

At first the artist was thinking “dark romance,” but dark romance isn’t really my jam.

So, still in the interest of business and “what sells,” she asked if I could do a romance-fantasy story. 

I agreed. 

I love speculative fiction. I write romances. I hadn’t written a fantasy romance since I was 13, but it would be fine.

Or…that’s what I told myself anyway.

The artist's second request was that I make part of the cast Indian, because she was Indian and wanted to see more Indian characters in the media. Again, I agreed. No problem.

I love mixing ethnicities in my fictional casts and have already put numerous Indian characters in my other stories. Adding a few Indian characters would have been easy, but just to lean into her request, I decided to set the story in a modern fantasy world where everyone was either Indian or Dominican. 

It was whimsical and leaned into my quirkiness. I also thought it could make our story more of a “blue ocean” because I don’t know of ANY other stories that have mixed those cultures together.

But then she wanted some changes.

For one thing, she asked me to change the male lead's surname. She didn’t like the way the surname ‘Sarkar’ sounded. I liked the name Sarkar, but she asked me to change it insisting “Trust me, I’m Indian. I know how it sounds.” To be honest, that felt condescending, like the decision to give him the surname ‘Sarkar’ was somehow wrong or silly, rather than a matter of preference.

She strongly suggested that I give him the surname ‘Roy.’ I didn’t care for the name, so compromised, changing his name from ‘Sarkar’ but not to ‘Roy.’

Then she asked me to change the plot I had written. She wanted the male lead to have secretly fallen in love with the female lead before she fell in love with him, though she didn’t know he was in love with her.

I agreed to keep the idea in mind, but as it didn’t really make sense with the rest of the plot, and was kind of tropey, I didn’t think I would be adding that suggestion. Maybe it was unreasonable, but by that point, I was starting to get a bit frustrated.

Then she commented on the fact that all the main characters had dark hair and dark eyes. 

In my mind that made sense, because most Dominicans have dark hair and eyes and every Indian I’ve ever met did too, but again, I compromised. No problem.

I gave the Dominican female lead silvery-blue eyes. It’s a rare trait, but thanks to the fact that most Dominicans are part European, some of us do naturally have light colored eyes and even blonde or reddish hair. I’d recently read a book by Madhur Jaffrey which mentioned that some Indians have naturally red hair and green eyes, so I decided to make the female lead’s Indian bff a ginger with green eyes.

Finally, I thought, we could move forward. I made reference image folders on Pinterest and got to drawing character design sheets for the artist to use as a reference.

I successfully completed three. 

We hit a sticking point when I drew the male lead.

We’d agreed toward the beginning of the process that we would make the male lead Bengali and the female lead Dominican.

While the different Dominican characters had varying features (slanted eyes, round eyes, blue eyes, dark eyes) and complexions (from dark brown sugar to cashew), they all fell under the umbrella term of “Dominican” because we don’t have different distinct cultural groups and languages. 

The Indian characters, however, would be from different cultures, primarily Bengali and Rajasthani, and I was pretty proud of the diversity of features and complexions I had given them all. One had medium brown skin, one had a caramel-brown complexion, and the male lead was dark, chocolate brown.

Up until that point, most of my ethnic male leads had light or medium brown skin tones, though some of my female leads had very dark, or even (literally) black skin tones (I’m looking at you, Essence Walker and Mora Glas.)

I personally think dark skinned people need more representation in the media, so when this character appeared in my mind with a beautiful ‘dark brown sugar’ complexion, I rolled with it instantly.

But…the artist didn’t want him to have dark skin. 

In fact, she wanted to give him light brown skin and hazel eyes, saying that dark hair and dark eyes aren’t actually that common in India, and north Indians usually don’t have very dark skin.

“He doesn’t look Bengali.”

Even after all I’d read about colorism in the Indian subcontinent, I didn’t really know how to respond to that statement.

I realize I’ve never been to India or Bangladesh, so I didn’t want to disregard her opinion, but I also know it’s foolish to accept any one person’s statements as fact without getting cross-references.

Doing a little research, I found that 98-99% of the population of Bangladesh is Bengali by ethnicity (though their nationality is “Bangladeshi.”) 

Then I looked up some articles from Bengali newspapers and surprise-surprise, most of the people in the crowds had medium to dark brown skin, as opposed to the medium to light brown complexions which the Indian artist had told me were most common.

I sent the artist these images for reference, but still she insisted that Bengalis don’t look like “these dark-skinned people.”

So who was I supposed to agree with?

I don’t want to disregard anyone’s opinion, especially when it comes to subjects where I KNOW I am ignorant.

But the articles I’ve read by Indian and Bangladeshi people keep insisting that there are dark-skinned people in India. The videos filming ordinary citizens in Bangladesh and West Bengal all show footage of dark or dusky skinned people.

So I couldn’t in good conscience lighten my male lead’s complexion.

Especially not when the artist praised the characters having rare European features but was opposed to giving the male lead dark skin, which she also claimed was ‘rare,’ though possible.

Red is the rarest hair color in the world but the artist liked it when I gave one of the Indian characters red hair and green eyes -

Just not when I give the Bengali boy dark skin. 

It really really rubbed me the wrong way, so I ended the collaboration before things could go down hill any further.

Even after my other failed partnership, it still wasn’t a fun or easy decision.

I don’t WANT to be a pain. I don’t want to be difficult to work with. I’d already changed names, hair and eye colors to suit her preferences, but there are some places where I need to put my foot down. 

As our argument over the male lead’s skin continued, she’d shared her plans to make all the Indian character’s light-skinned, and I simply couldn’t agree with that.

For too long, the whole world has scorned dark skin and refused to give dark-skinned characters a turn in the spotlight. India is no exception. Skin-lightening creams have been renamed (yes, I learned about “Glow and Lovely” because of this situation) but the problems still remain. 

Dark/dusky skin is scorned. People refuse to acknowledge it as beautiful. I refuse to work on a project that perpetuates this disparagement and mistreatment.

This bigotry needs to end now.

Dusky skin is beautiful. It doesn’t make you any less Indian. 

My male lead will have dark skin, even if I have to wait years to find another artist who is willing to draw him in all his glory.

[kinshukbanik]

© Kinshuk Banik

This is not an original work. This is the first draft of a translation of Jibanananda Das's "Shikār".

Hope this translation would reflect the original thoughts and intentions of the poet.

[myladytara]

Do you also listen to “Iktara” on your way home like me? On days when it's raining, softly, and all your dear heart desires nothing but a warm cup of tea. Dear, that fixes everything.

Sometimes, I think, maybe learning to make tea is the key to keeping two people in love, forever. But what do I know about love or tea for that matter? I only know that when someone makes an effort to make something for me, I have it regardless of the amount of sugar or salt. It’d be a sin to find any fault.

Iktara or ektara, the one-stringed musical instrument, carries one beat at a rhyme, one dream at a time. Like an ektara, I only have a few words to say. I’m afraid it’ll take me a lifetime for me to say them since I’m quite hesitant and shy. But if I make an effort to say them someday, will you listen to me without finding any fault? Just like I don’t mind the amount of sugar or salt.

©Jaser Rambles

[mariaseelie]

Commissioned Scene from A Corporate Arrangement by Shar Khan ( @

shariva.writes on instagram )✨ a bi x bi and fake dating rom-com

Preorder it here !!: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6QS55GM?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZTOwO-rd3o-fi5XFW3TsQjsUS5H7Ogr_EdRLAg16EpL54c1vRfvSmxVic_aem_fsSlniRgv29fI2YY1y-5Iw

[papenathys]

melting, you're a daydream: a story for queer brown girls

fifteen years after she left adya, pranjal reunites with her best friend and biggest what if at a book signing event.

this is a 5k word short story that contains:

trans femme bi POV // trans bi author

butch lesbian goodness

love letter to kolkata

catholic guilt

growing up queer and bengali

content warnings: mentions of societal butchphobia, transphobia and dysphoria. the story has a happy ending.

this story and characters are original property that belongs to me and if I find out that you have reposted/plagiarized it, I will take action. art is by @toripar.

if you like the story, do send me a review on this blog or on Instagram (@/sritamasen_). thank you.

[echoing-msbristi]

You ever read or watch something and find reference of some other writer that you like..Like I love when that happens