
The rich and diverse wildlife of Bangladesh is vanishing rapidly due to habitat loss and indiscriminate killing. The country has already lost at least 15 species of wildlife and many species are facing the threat of extirpation. Today a total of 138 mammal, 690 bird, 171 reptile and 64 amphibian species are expected to occur in Bangladesh, including 94 globally threatened species. Legal Protection for wildlife and their habitats exists in Bangladesh, but enforcement is poor.
Perhaps everyone has a cherished list of things to do, places to visit, milestones to achieve in a personal Bucket List -- items to check off before one kicks the bucket! Sabrina Islam an entrepreneur, photographer, and avid traveler -- was able to fulfill one of her dreams from her Bucket List: a photo adventure in the backwaters of the south Indian state of Kerala. But it turned out to be something more: a journey of the soul, a sorely needed sojourn of the mind from the daily grind, and an opportunity to reflect, recharge, and rejuvenate.
Birds remain an important part of our lives. Whether we carefully watch them or not, a flash of glittering colours sometimes accompanied by a charming musical note of an unknown bird brightens our day. This book is meant to be on the desks of such people who would cherish a collection of pretty pictures and interesting facts of the birds of Bangladesh. It is not designed to serve the serious birdwatchers, although they may find it interesting to leaf through. The short captions with the pictures will nudge the readers to discover interesting facts in the text.
New Delhi in the mid-1950s forms Raana Haider’s first recollection of India. She accompanied her diplomat father on his posting to New Delhi. Some fifty years later, she was once again living in New Delhi – this time accompanying her diplomat husband. India: Beyond the Taj and the Raj is the account of the author’s travel across the complex tapestry that is India – underlined with historical and literary narratives by generations of writers on India. Vestiges of the Mughal legacy crowned by the Taj Mahal are relived, as are remnants of the Raj.
Fire of Bengal plunges us into the midst of life in Rabindranath Tagore’s Santiniketan during the late 1920s. Rozsa Hajnoczy, wife of a Hungarian professor, kept a journal of her impression during their three years stay at the ashram. After her death in 1942 this was published in Budapest and became one of the classics of modern Hungarian literature.
Tagore was indeed a biswa-kabi, or poet of the world. In the first half of the twentieth century, few had travelled as much as him, visiting more than thirty countries on five continents Shying away from being a ‘patriot’ and ‘seeking compatriots around the world,’ Rabindranath laid faith in humans, no matter of what nation, race or caste, in overcoming limitations and perils of all kinds. It is this faith that made him cross boundaries, both intellectual and territorial.