November-December: Is there a point to the struggle?
DISCLAIMER: We have decided to do something different this time. Since we weren’t able to put out an editorial in November, we are putting out one that will cover what we did the previous month and the current month – a bi-monthly editorial! Think of it as RRR – because this piece is going to be big, and chaotic. So, if you lose focus, dear reader, we understand. You can skip it to the end where we summarize this rather overloaded summary of the things that we did. Thank you for your patience.
“I’m happy to tell you there is very little in this world that I believe in.”
― George Carlin, Brain Droppings. (1997)
Apologies about the pessimistic start to the editorial. I promise to even it out by the end.
I always have a hard time saying no, and my friend Meem (I call her editor-in-cheap because she doesn’t pay me) ended up taking full advantage of it… And that is how I ended up on The Interlude. It is THAT anticlimactic. Anyways, being the stoic that I am, I just went with the flow and joined this boat and adjusted the sails as the tides turned. And what a journey it has been! (Don’t judge my analogy-giving skills, it’s been a while.) I find myself surprised every third month whenever I remember how long The Interlude has been going on for – now the quote above makes sense, right?!
November is a month of transition, from the seasons to the moods and the requirements of the times. We tried to keep up with that in terms of our content. Given that there are some hurdles, as we, like any other magazine or media website, are split between pushing forward quality writing and maintaining content writing guidelines to maintain views and reach. And we accept the challenge.
The second-to-last month of the year began with a short, funny, and warm note from our Dear Friend section, as our anonymous friend mused about their desire to like cats and the things stopping them from doing so. Our big co-guy, Asgar, published the Tech news, covering the trends that are… well, trending. What is wrong with my writing?!
Anyways, Nubah aka god’s most sincere creation put up Bangladesh’s efforts to use recyclable plastic as it expects itself to be the first–in-line to “go under.” Prodipta, god’s other most sincere creation read a whole book, written by a great, and young, upcoming writer Rifah Tashfia, and reviewed it.
Bisha, our music editor, curated a fun playlist for Autumn, just in case you don’t want to read anything. Bad marketing! But if you are still interested in reading, do consider the insightful review of Genshin Impact by S.A.M. Thahmid. Speaking of not reading, Mahee put up a beautiful artwork based on the Teen Titans character, Raven.
Now, what my fellow board members, Meem, Asgar and Odri, and I were pleased with, was the amount of original content we received during November. Meem, being miles ahead in the editing part of her duties, uploaded exciting works from writers and artists out of The Interlude.
From Mohaimen Al Radi’s layered take on his asthma accompanied by our resident artist Anika, to Ripa Shil’s empathetic poem for women (audio included), we have had some endearing personal pieces. Wazifa Aziz and Maliha Tribhu competed with their pieces in terms of how unsettling each of them could be, for good reasons.
Nafis Anwar’s short story came in to lift us up with some understated romance towards nature, and then, Khairul Nadim wrote a thrilling story worthy of a Netflix episode (a must-read!) Zaki Alam Pushan, has had a busy month, providing pictures for a few of these pieces, along with Asgar Azwad (same guy), and Mehrab Islam.
Our dear editor-in-chief, Faeeja Humaira Meem had a most productive month in and out of the magazine. Being as overworked and sleep-deprived one can be, she put out a press release that detailed her and everyone else’s efforts to set up and execute a workshop on art and speech at Metropolitan University. Overall, it was a great month if we think about the quality of content we received and published.
That is all for November. Oh wait, the WORLD CUP………………………………………….
*cut to December, because Naqib, myself and others were actually busy watching the matches, and posting memes about those matches*
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”
― Peter F. Drucker
Oh, the irony of publishing this long editorial after talking about quiet reflection!
December marks one year since The Interlude began. I haven’t had the time to reflect on it, let alone be excited, emotional or even proud of it. I was too busy being occupied with things other than the magazine, keeping me overwhelmed. It was one of the quieter months so far, since most of our members, including the four horsepersons (I meant board members, title subject to change) were busy with their final exams.
And, the Fifa World Cup certainly did its best to keep us away from the study table, Shadman managed to put three detailed pieces for the Sports section, one about Germany’s shocking defeat of Japan, and a second one about Morocco’s even more shocking campaign. The tournament was full of surprises and gave us new reasons to be excited about. Millions of fans around the world cheered, booed, screamed, laughed, and observed moments of silence as their favorite teams battled for glory.
In the end, Argentina prevailed, and Bangladesh was the most happy about it. Does that make any sense? Don’t ask. Just read Shadman’s analysis of the final. The biggest cult to mindlessly follow is not a cult – it’s called football, for it brings people together more than any other event.
Reflecting upon the extreme feelings of football fans, Nubah revived our satire section with her hilarious piece based on the classic “seasonal/real football fan” debate, curating the useless insight of the entire The Interlude staff in the process. Then, she had to do a 180 on us by shedding light on the Iranian conflict. Sadia and Mahdi kept up with the tournament in their own ways by recommending two anime about the concept of tournament football.
On the less warmer side of things, Subyeta returned with her take and suggestions for winter clothing (accompanied by a mind-blowing artwork by Tahsina and Mahee), while Prodipta did the same, but with books, so that the words keep you warm.
Then came yours truly, bringing Interlude Rex out of sleep and recommending movies that might, or might not be ideal for the holidays. Soon after, I celebrated the 2nd annual movie landfill list, where I picked ten films I watched this year that didn’t necessarily belong to this year.
Lastly, we organized a short story/poetry contest to commemorate the 51st victory of Bangladesh. We did not expect to receive this many submissions, as we limited the writing to Bangla only. Thanks to our ignorance, we were pleasantly surprised. We announced the winner in the article here.
Alright, the year is coming to an end. December, to me, is the right month to seek closure, if you end up surviving this far. We are content with the way things are going, but we are not here to just focus on that. We want to expand our platform and provide more diversity in terms of producing content that is not just limited to the written word. We have been talking, thinking, frowning, and unfortunately, procrastinating about the prospect of it all.
I would not talk about the obstacles or the issues, for I believe in taking accountability for any progress or lack thereof. We have realized that no matter how great an idea is, it always comes down to the execution. It’s cliché, but these are a necessary set of words that we need to hear on a loop in order to break the cycle of unrealized ideas. I know this is quite vague, but bear with me…
In hindsight, I couldn’t be more proud of my team. I get to communicate with some of the nicest, most creative and talented individuals, including mys…. I can hear Meem, Asgar and Odri gasping at my lack of modesty. I am glad to see how we pulled through it all over a period of a year. I was here to make some friends- that box has been checked. Now, it’s time to focus on something else.
The question lies before us in plain sight: Is there a point to this struggle? Well, the only thing I can say for now is that we are doing good. But, in order to achieve whatever it is we want to achieve, we need to act upon things that we have been talking about. I hope the gang and I are able to act upon those little dreams within a big, collective dream, and achieve success on everything that we set out for…
P.S. Was that an Inception reference? Spin the totem………….
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