New newspaper Prothom Alo came in 1998. A sparkling daily on politics, economics, sports, entertainment, lifestyle—everything. Prothom Alo is starting many things. such as ‘Design’. For the past 25 years, readers have been relying on ‘Naksha’ for timely information on the fast-changing fashion and lifestyle details.
‘Naksha’ has supported our work with indigenous artisans, weavers, designers in various ways. ‘Naksha’ has no shortage of sincerity in introducing the country’s quality and potential small and medium enterprises to everyone, inspiring and supporting good work. A report by Naksha has changed the lives of some entrepreneurs, developed the initiative. Many talented artisans, weavers from remote areas of the country are known throughout the country today through Prothom Alo and ‘Naksha’. They are appreciated and respected for their good work.
Even in many, many good works, some imperfections remain. Along with the potential of domestic small scale industries, there are various crises and challenges. I hope, in the future, these issues will be presented to the reader by ‘design’.
For the recipe of ‘Naksha’ like now if you prepare the food, the photographer will come and take the picture on time, but in the beginning it was not so easy. I had to take pictures and send them along with the recipe. At that time we worked with SLR cameras. I saw the negative and let him print the picture he wanted. Most of the times my husband used to hand over the pictures. If he was busy I would pick it up myself. He used to load the film in the camera. One day due to busy schedule he will not be able to take pictures, so I said, load the film in the camera before going to office. I made the recipe and arranged it in the serving bowl and took pictures. After my son came home from school, I asked him to wash the camera in his hand. After a while the boy came and said, ‘Mom, you didn’t load the film in the camera.’ The recipe should be submitted with the picture the next morning. When guests came home, I entertained them with some of the recipes I had cooked. My hand on the head! Photographs must be taken at night. Cooked again that night, had to take pictures.
Another time I called from Prothom Alo and said, ‘Apa, I want some ice cream recipe for summer, can you do it?’ I thought to myself, the picture of ice cream, what is this! I made five-six types of ice cream. The power went out many times that day. After the electricity came, I turned on the AC and started taking pictures. Except lemon lolly and kulfi, all the ice creams were melted. I let all the ice cream freeze again. He did not sleep that night. In the cold weather of the morning, turning on the AC cools the room well, but I took a picture of the ice cream. Many such incidents are still remembered.
Another request is for some recipes of Kachuripana flowers. After thinking about it, I didn’t give the recipe, but where can I get extra-fresh kachuripana flowers for taking pictures? After visiting Newmarket Raw Market, Hathirpool Market, Kanthalbagan Market, even Karwan Market, no Kachuripana flower was found anywhere. Desperate, I called Prothom Alo photographer Khaled Sarkar. On the day of taking the picture, he appeared with flowers of Kachuripana. I cannot finish writing about the various incidents that happened with Prothom Alo.
