The Bastakiya Fort, once it was the epicenter of the  Dubai Shopping Festival. This place was filled with bustling tourists and frolicking children. The handicrafts, cuisines ,cultural shows , henna paintings, souvenirs ,camel rides used to showcase the Arabian tapestry at their best. Now the shopping buzz has shifted to the modern architecture - to the Downtown Dubai and lucrative shopping malls. Henceforth, the place has remained deserted and silent. The fort is standing in despair solitude. 

Qatar is small country in the Arabian Peninsula and Doha is the capital of Qatar. It is a surprisingly small country and looks like the palm of a hand on the world map. But in spite of being small in size, Qatar is a phenomenally rich nation, thanks to its seemingly endless reserve of natural gas and oil. Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world today and occasionally finds its way in the international media for ostentatious reasons. Doha most certainly is not the most happening place in the world but it certainly looks like the citizens of this sleepy town are happy with the way things are. Let us take a sneak peek at life in Doha through Ashitava's eyes.

Mohammadgunj is a small village in Palamu district, then in Bihar, now in the new Indian state of Jharkhand. Sukdeb Chatterjee of Rahara remembers his days there in unicode Bangla font published in WBRi Bengali Online Magazine section. You can send your creative writing to [email protected] for consideration towards publication.

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মহম্মদগঞ্জ

শুকদেব চট্টোপাধ্যায়, রহড়া

স্টেশনের  নাম মহম্মদগঞ্জ। প্রথম যেদিন ট্রেন থেকে নেমে ঐ স্টেশনে  পা রাখি, ভোরের আলো তখনও ফোটেনি। আলো আঁধারে আকাশের গায়ে কিছু আঁকা বাঁকা রেখা চোখে পড়েছিল। আলো ফোটার সাথে সাথে সেগুলো এক একটা ছোট, বড়, মাঝারি পাহাড়ের রূপ নিল। এর আগে পাহাড় দেখা দূরে থাক কোনদিন সামনে থেকে টিলাও দেখিনি। অবাক বিস্ময়ে ঘন জঙ্গলে ঘেরা পাহাড়ের সারির দিকে অনেকক্ষণ চেয়েছিলাম। আমি ঘুরতে ভালবাসি। জীবনে অনেক পাহাড়ে, জঙ্গলে ঘুরেছি। সেইসব জায়গার অপরূপ প্রাকৃতিক শোভা দু চোখ ভরে উপভোগ করেছি। কিন্তু শিশুকালের সেই প্রথম পাহাড় দেখার অনুভূতি কোন কিছুর সাথেই তুলনীয় নয়।

আমরা

Coming out of the hellish killing field of Pol Pot, I dropped down numb on a bench beneath a Longan tree. Lucrative fruits were dangling within easy reach, but I ignored them. Grave silence around me was occasionally interrupted by suppressed weeping of female visitors.

As soon as I looked out the exit gate of Phnom Penh Airport at late afternoon I felt as though I have entered into an unknown enchanting world radically different from the drab modernized Bangkok where I had been only a few hours ago. Later on I was marveled by the exquisite architecture of the city, a fine blending of French and Buddhist architecture.

I could at last find out the mobile stall at Bali island of Indonesia and asked for an international sim-card. The man at the counter said, ‘sir you can buy a cheaper one at 20,000 Indonesian Rupiah but I would suggest you the better one at 50,000. I asked him to show the better one and handed over my passport. The boy beside him looked intently at my passport and said in a jubilant mood, ‘India, Shahrukh Khan, kuch kuch hota hai’. In front of my bewildered eyes two girls at came forward from behind, looked at me intently and then started singing in perfect Hindi accent (although they had disclosed later on that they don’t know Hindi at all)

“Tum paas aaye yoon muskaraye
Tumne na jaane kya sapne dikhaye
Ab to mera dil jaage na sota hai
Kya karoon haye kuchh kuchh hota hai”

By Indrajit Ghosh Dastidar

Kolkata, Nov 6, 2012 (Washington Bangla Radio) Sillery Gaon is situated at an altitude of 6,000 ft in the middle of a jungle. A tiny quiet hamlet nestled between thick forests that were unknown to many even few years ago. Thanks to Chandan Saurav and 100 Miles their organization tirelessly trying to popularize this offbeat Tourist destination and Nature’s Paradise.

Navy Pier is Chicago a.k.a Windy City's most visited attraction; 50 acres of park and promenade, 18 hole mini golf crystal gardens, the Shakespeare theatre and the skyline stage, all marvelously facing the vast Lake Michigan.

The great lakes region in the United States is perhaps Mother Nature’s favorite scenic area; her pet canvas in which she randomly splashes different shades of color all through the year. Shades of blue on the lakes and sky, purple and mauves on flowers, variety of grey and browns, oranges and yellows that I did not even know had existed and greens that can instantly bring peace to the mind.

Tennessee has the highest number of known caves in the entire United States and we got a good experience of one of the most fascinating and interesting one during our visit to this state. The best part of Rock City was Ruby Falls; the World’s longest underground waterfall…phew!