LIFE AS IT IS

PART I When Fahmida left her home that morning, she was not feeling very well. She was not only a little feverish, her migraine had also returned. With a throbbing head she lay in her bed the night before, rewinding events of the last two years. Fahmida's face broke into a smile from time to time as she visualised her journey to the present. Her biggest dream was finally taking shape -- she would attend her first class at the Law Department of Dhaka University in just less than two months.  But that morning, she wished she could stay home, and spend the day arranging the clothes in her wardrobe, washing the dirty laundry, and tidying up her reading table, which had not been dusted in a week. In dusty Dhaka, where furnishings needed to be wiped daily, a week without dusting meant an accumulation of the grey, powdery city dirt on everything -- from beds, chairs and tables to candles, plants, and picture frames. However, Fahmida could in no way afford the luxury of being at h...

I am a parent, and as such I feel the onus to teach our children the difference between good and bad is squarely on us. We the parents, both fathers and mothers, are our children's first teachers, and it is our responsibility to inculcate the right kind of knowledge into them, so they can become worthy members of the society when they grow up.  As a parent, I also feel that if my child fails her society, I am also partly, if not fully, responsible for her failure.  We now live in a fast-paced, selfish, materialistic world where we are so busy making money and living our own lives that many of us have no idea what our children do on the Internet all day long, what they play, read and watch, who their friends are, and how they spend their free time.  We do not sit together at the dinner table, we do not watch movies together, and we do not chitchat over breakfast on weekends. We do not know if our children are depressed or secretly frustrated, or if all they want is t...

We need to start teaching our children that the alphabet P stands of Peace. In language classes, we can encourage our children to form sentences with the words, peace and শান্তি. Schools can also arrange workshops and fun activities to impart knowledge about the importance of religious and racial diversity in a society. The word, peace, may sound abstract to a child in the beginning, but as they grow older they will likely become curious about "peace" and its importance in the world we live in. We need to instill in them the importance of respecting and accepting people who are different from them. Perhaps a day will come when our children will understand that without peace the world around us is pretty much meaningless.

Gelato Love By Wara Karim  It is a cold, sweet yumminess that melts in your mouth. It tingles your palate as well as your soul. That’s why you find it difficult, if not plain impossible, to say no when someone offers you this frozen delight. However, the exact history of the origin of the world’s most popular dessert is unknown. But we do know that it's been around in different forms for more than two millennia! Records suggest that Alexander the Great loved eating snow and ice flavoured with honey and nectar, an ice cream recipe that surely can't be more natural!  From children to adults, ice cream is on everyone’s list of favorite foods. I love it in the spring, summer, fall and winter. When it comes to ice cream, I do not care what the outside temperature is. Like many people, I too keep pints of ice cream at home year-round. This summer, I have also bought boxes of ice cream cones from the grocery store. As it's not possible to take a toddler to an ice c...

If we understood that we are all the same inside, that we cannot differentiate the heart of a white man from that of a black man, that the blood of a Muslim is no different from that of a Hindu, Jew or Christian, we would have probably loved each other a little more. 

8,000 miles away from my homeland, I miss the aroma of fried food in the air, I miss the call for maghrib prayer, And the call for sehri from local mosque. I miss sitting with parents at the table for iftar, And praying to God with hands clasped together. 

When mixed with the sounds of cars and buses honking in the street, street vendors shouting at the top of their voices, and the city's construction sites creating ceaseless cacophonies, the sound of the tropical rain seems different - beautiful but different. Together, man and nature form an orchestra, where both take part to create a unique kind of urban melody. In urban areas of tropical countries, the summer rain is nothing less than a gift sent from the heaven above! 

বাংলাদেশের পার্লারগুলোর এই সমস্যা আজকের নয়, এটি একটি পুরনো সমস্যা। ছেলেরা চুল কাটাতে গিয়ে এমন সমস্যায় পড়ে কিনা জানিনা কিন্তু আমি ঢাকাতে যখনই চুল কাটাতাম এবং যার কাছেই কাটাতাম তাকেই আমার বারবার মনে করিয়ে দিতে হত যেন চুল বেশি কেটে না ফেলে। আমি সবসময় চুল একটু ছোট রাখি তাই খেয়াল রাখতে হয় খুব বেশি ছোট না হয়ে যায়। যাই হোক, মুখে ফেনা তুলে ফেলার পরও বেশিরভাগ সময়ই তারা চুল বেশি কেটে ফেলত। দেড় বছর আগে ঢাকা গিয়ে এই একই সমস্যার মুখোমুখি হয়েছিলাম, আমার শিক্ষা হওয়া উচিৎ ছিল, কিন্তু হয়নি। এবার ঢাকাতে গিয়ে পার্লারে গেলাম মেয়ের চুল কাটাতে। আমার আউল-বাউল মেয়ে চুল বাঁধতে পছন্দ করেনা, চুল আঁচড়াতেও নয়। সারাদিন মাথা ঘামে ভিজে জবজবা। যদিও সে নির্বিকার, কিন্তু তার বাবা, নানা, নানু এতে মহাচিন্তিত -- বাচ্চাটার ঠান্ডা না লেগে যায়! মেয়েকে নিয়ে গেলাম পার্লারে চুল ছোট করাতে। রিসেপশনের মেয়েটি এবং হেয়ার স্টাইলিস্ট আমাকে নানাভাবে পটিয়ে ফেলল - আমিও নিজের জন্য একটা হেয়ারকাট নিয়ে ফেললাম। চেয়ারে বসিয়ে হেয়ার স্টাইলিস্ট আমার সাথে অনেক গল্প করল যার সারমর্ম মোটামুটি এমন: বিদেশের পার্লারগুলোর ...

কোন বিচিত্র কারণে আমার মেয়ের জন্য ভাত নিলে সে ভাতের পরিমাণ মিনিটে মিনিটে বাড়তে থাকে। আমার চোখের সামনে আমি দেখতে পাই প্লেটের ভাত বাড়তে শুরু করেছে। এক মুঠ ভাত হয়ে যায় দুই মুঠ, দুই মুঠ হয়ে যায় তিন মুঠ। মানুষও যে জাবর কাটতে জানে তার প্রমাণ শিশুরা। এক নলা ভাত পুরোপুরি গিলতে তাদের আট থেকে দশ মিনিট সময় লেগে যায়। 

Do not confuse the title with Jamaica, the island country in the Caribbean. This Jamaica is a neighbourhood in Queens, the New York City borough, which often claims to be one of the most ethnically diverse places on earth.  Jamaica is a neighbourhood where you spot 'deshi' men and women speaking Bangla on the streets, women wearing shalwar kameez buying grocery from Bangladeshi-owned stores, and where Bangladeshi restaurants sell everything from shingara-samosa to  naan-paratha, halua, kebab, and biryani. Also available are traditional sweets, 'bhorta-bhaji' and an incredibly wide variety of spicy and aromatic fish and meat preparations that are bound to satisfy the taste buds of any Bengali.  I first explored Jamaica in 2013 on a New York City trip with my husband and then nine-month old daughter. As I strolled along Jamaica's Hillside Avenue, I turned my head to see anyone who spoke my mother tongue. It felt like I was at home except that in Dhaka you do not...

Saw these purple flowers in St. Thomas, USVI. They were beautiful. Alas, I don't know their name.