Otibeguni

About Us

Our Activities

Folklore Research

We gather oral stories through fieldwork and digitize traditional folktale collections. By leveraging this expansive folklore database, Otibeguni is developing cutting-edge machine learning tools to automate the translation of folktales and detect recurring motifs and themes across stories.

Product Development

We revitalize traditional Bengali folktales for the social media era by translating medieval Bengali poetry into modern, reader-friendly language and creating engaging multimedia content, including audio shows and web comics inspired by these tales. Additionally, Otibeguni designs board and card games based on characters and mythical creatures from Bengali folklore. Its flagship publication, *Mythical Creatures of Bengal*, showcases over 100 supernatural beings from Bengali and indigenous folklore, brought to life with exquisite illustrations.

Community Engagement

We believe that true cultural revival requires active community involvement. Otibeguni organizes and funds art and writing contests that invite participants to reinterpret and creatively engage with characters and themes from folklore. Our contests have a growing and enthusiastic base of participants from both Bangladesh and abroad, contributing to a vibrant and evolving folklore landscape.

Our Team

Shahriar Haque - Founder

Shahriar has been working in the software industry for over 16 years. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2010 and started off his career as a Data Scientist for General Electric. He then moved to Australia in 2019, obtained a Masters degree in IT and resumed work as an Engineering Manager for a private SaaS company. He founded Otibeguni in 2023 with the goal to document the various mythical creatures of Bengal. This project acted as a gateway for Shahriar to become a hobbyist collector of rare books and an amateur folklorist.

Anindeta Chowdhury - Chief Writer

Anindeta Chowdhury is a graduate from Dhaka Univeristy with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She has been contributing as a Staff Writer for The Financial Express since 2021. One of Anindeta’s many gifts is her uncanny ability to parse medieval-era Bengali poetry into modern-accessible prose. She has been in the role of the Chief Writer since 2023.

Wasif Noor - Chief Illustrator

Wasif Noor is a seasoned veteran of the publishing industry. Aside for working on numerous book covers and illustrations for prominent authors, he himself his own short stories in the horror genre. Wasif joined Otibeguni in 2023 and is one of the main illustrators behind Otiprakrito, our visual encyclopedia documenting the mythical creatures of Bengal. Wasif holds a Master of Arts in English Literature from Jahangirnagar University.

Al Amin Rahmat - Marketing Officer

Al Amin is one of the three main illustrators of Otiprakrito, our book documenting the mythical creatures of Bengal. Besides working on his art, Al Amin is also a well-known figure in the arts and crafts community of Dhaka. He generously helps out Otibeguni by leveraging his large social network to promote our products to the local creative community. Al Amin is currently pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts from Dhaka University.

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