LIFE AS IT IS

Tulips. I am enjoying painting flowers so much that I am trying to paint them as much as I can before it starts to get boring! But hopefully, I will never get bored of painting flowers. 

While so many of us are at home to  “ flatten the curve,” or in other words, to reduce the spread of the COVID-19, our healthcare professionals are fighting long, grueling hours on the front lines. Have you ever wondered what a typical day for a doctor at a hospital is like during this pandemic? Have you wondered what kind of life they are living right now, or what profound challenges and struggles they are facing in the battlefield? We have i nterviewed two physicians, who have been fighting on the front lines since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.  Dr. Shapur Ikhtaire Physician & Internal Medicine Specialist,  Bangabandhu Sheikh Muj ib Medical University (BSMM U) On June 24, Dr. Shapur Ikhtiare visited his in-laws to meet his wife and only son, who was soon to turn three. He had not seen them in more than six weeks. Physicians like Dr. Ikhtiare, who are fighting on the front lines, self-isolate themselves to avoid the possibility of infecti

This COVID-19 lockdown has seen so many firsts. It has seen the birth of many gardeners, chefs, bakers, painters, singers, dancers, comedians, and even, hairdressers. The COVID-19 lockdown has also seen me evolve  - - from a gardener, who only grew flowers, to a first-time vegetable grower. I do not know if we would have ventured into vegetable gardening had the coronavirus not shut the doors of the Indian grocery stores here where I live. With the COVID-19 spread across the world and supply chain disrupted, the Indian grocery stores from where we used to get our “deshi” vegetables had to close down their stores. This meant no okra, bitter, bottle and snake gourds, green chillies, red and Malabar spinach, flat beans, etc. for us anymore. Cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant, and spinach were still available at American grocery stores, although not all the time, like the pre-pandemic days.  A month into the lockdown, this “deshi” soul began to crave a little variety in her daily

Vivacity III #paintingdiaries #watercolor “Of all the wonderful things in the wonderful universe of God, nothing seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the blank earth and the result thereof.”

And, their journey to the table continues... heirloom tomato, habanero pepper, okra/ lady’s finger. #gardening On a separate note, I was reading in The Economist that “The coronavirus lockdown has inspired a surge in gardening not seen since the World War II. Seed firms have struggled to keep up.”