“I live in a flat — it's on the fourth floor of a fairly old building in Mirpur, in Dhaka. I share it with my parents and my younger brother, so it can get a bit cramped, but it's home.”

“Probably my bedroom, to be honest, because that's where I study. I've set up a small desk by the window, and it's the only place in the flat where I can actually get some peace and quiet.”

“I'd love a bit more natural light. The building next door is so close that our living room is quite dark even at midday, so if I could, I'd put in a much bigger window.”

“Not forever, I don't think. It suits us for now, but once I've finished my degree and found a job, I'd like to rent somewhere of my own, ideally closer to wherever I end up working.”

“Some of them, yes. There's an elderly couple across the landing who we've known for years — they're almost like family — but there are quite a few newer tenants I've barely spoken to.”

“Mostly in small, practical ways. People keep an eye on each other's flats when someone's away, and if someone's ill, a neighbour will often drop round with food or check they're all right.”

“Only once, really. A family upstairs used to play loud music late at night, which drove us mad during my exams, but my father had a polite word with them and they were very understanding about it.”

“I'd say so, yes, especially in a big city where your relatives might live a long way away. If something goes wrong in the middle of the night, it's your neighbours who are close enough to help.”

“Yes, all the time. My grandfather used to buy me jigsaw puzzles, and we'd spend whole afternoons on the floor putting together pictures of mountains and old ships.”

“These days I mostly do number puzzles like sudoku on my phone, usually on the bus to university. They're quick, and I find they wake my brain up before a long day.”

“For me they are, because they make you focus on one thing and forget everything else for a while. But I know people who find them more stressful than relaxing, especially when they get stuck!”

“It really depends on the kind of problem. For personal or family matters, most people still turn to their parents or older relatives, because there's a strong tradition of respecting the experience of elders. For practical things like careers or money, though, younger people especially are much more likely to ask friends or look online, partly because they feel their parents' experience doesn't always apply to today's job market. And of course, for health or legal problems, people go to a professional.”

“I think they're valuable in different ways. Family members know you inside out, so their advice fits your personality and circumstances, but they can also be biased — they might steer you towards what they want rather than what's best for you. A professional, like a doctor or a careers adviser, is more objective and has specialist knowledge. So for anything technical I'd trust a professional, while for personal decisions I'd value my family's view more.”

“Pride is probably the biggest factor. Accepting advice can feel like admitting that you've made a mistake or that you can't cope on your own, and some people find that quite threatening. There's also the question of how it's delivered: if advice comes across as criticism, or nobody actually asked for it, people tend to get defensive and dismiss it, even when it's good advice. Timing matters too — people under stress often aren't ready to listen.”

“To some extent, yes. In my parents' day, older people were seen as the main source of knowledge, whereas now young people have endless information at their fingertips, so they don't depend on their elders in the same way. That said, I don't think respect has disappeared. It's more that young people now weigh their elders' advice alongside other sources, rather than simply following it, which I actually think is quite healthy.”

“I think there are a few reasons. Life has become much more complicated — there are far more career paths and financial choices than in my grandparents' time, so people feel they need someone with specialist knowledge. Families are also smaller and more scattered, so the uncle or older cousin who used to give that kind of guidance may simply not be around. And attitudes have changed: seeing a counsellor used to carry a stigma, whereas now, at least among younger people in cities, it's increasingly seen as a sensible thing to do.”

“In most cases, I think they should, because a doctor has years of training and can see things a patient simply can't. Ignoring medical advice because of something a neighbour told you can be genuinely dangerous. That said, “always” is a strong word. Patients have a right to ask questions and, if they're really unsure, to get a second opinion from another doctor. So I'd say the sensible approach is to question the advice openly, rather than quietly ignoring it.”

“It's hard to say, but my guess is that trust will become more selective. As the amount of information keeps growing, people will probably need experts more than ever to make sense of it. At the same time, they'll want to see evidence and openness before they believe anyone. So I'd predict that experts who explain their reasoning clearly will be trusted more, while those who simply expect to be believed will be trusted less.”