LIFE AS IT IS

I don't know how many of you watched The X-Files, but it is my all-time favorite TV series, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. The TV series was aired from 1993 to 2002. A total of 202 episodes! Bangladesh Television (BTV) aired it every Friday at 10:30 p.m. My friends, my brother and I would eagerly wait for it every Friday. Last year, my husband and I watched all the 9 seasons of The X-Files again. It was in 1997 I found their fan mail address in an entertainmen t magazine. I wrote to the fan club of David Duchovny in Los Angeles, requesting them to send me an autographed photo of his. A few months later I received an envelope. When the postman handed me the envelope and I read the address on it, I was shaking all over. I never thought they would actually mail a photo to Bangladesh all the way from America. It was 1997 and our postal system wasn't that efficient and international mails often got lost en route. I was lucky to have received it! I later on sent...

The Daily Star link Date of publication: Sept. 1, 2015 The social media, particularly Facebook, has introduced me to a new world. A new world, yes, but a world that reeks of people's bad taste and poor choices. And a world that I wish I never stepped into. Welcome to the world of cussing! Growing up, I was told by my parents that I should never use swear words because it is an extremely bad thing to do and that the Almighty does not love people who swear. As I grew up I realized that cussing is in no way a pleasant thing to do. But if I look at the world around me today, I see that cussing has become commonplace, especially among our youths. I have noticed this practice on Facebook, particularly on troll pages and fan pages of entertainers and athletes. People also swear at complete strangers on comment threads of various public Facebook posts. Swearers pretty much swear at everything and everyone even when nothing offensive or abusive is in sight.  Why do they do th...

আমি যখন ছোট ছিলাম তখন দেখেছি পাশের বাড়ির আন্টি, আংকেল অথবা নিজেদের অনেক আত্মীয়স্বজনদের তাদের ছেলেমেয়েদের ভুরিভুরি প্রশংসা করে নানান সময় নানান কিছু বলতে। আমার ছেলে এই, আমার মেয়ে সেই... এই প্রাইজ পেয়েছে, ওখানে গান গেয়েছে, স্পোর্টস কম্পিটিশনে চ্যাম্পিয়ন হয়েছে ইত্যাদি ইত্যাদি। অনেক সময় ব্যাপারগুলো হতো, "যত গর্জে তত বর্ষে না" ধরণের। আমরা দুই ভাই-বোন মোটামুটি মেধাবীই ছিলাম, বাবা-মা গর্ব করতে পারেন এই টাইপ। কিন্তু তাদের কখনও দেখতাম না আন্টি, আংকেলদের সাথে আমাদের নিয়ে তেমন কোন কথাবার্তা বলতে। হয়তো বলত, কিন্তু সে কথা এক লাইনেই শেষ। অথচ চাইলেই আরও ২-৩ লাইন অনায়াসে যোগ করা যায়। মেজাজটাই খারাপ লাগত। একদিন আম্মুকে জিজ্ঞেস করেই ফেললাম। আম্মু বলল, "আমার সন্তানরা যদি আসলেই ভাল হয়, মেধাবী হয়, সেটা আর দশজন বলবে, আমাকে বলে বেড়াতে হবেনা।" আমার মনে পড়ে না আর কখনও আমি আম্মুকে এই ব্যপারে কোন প্রশ্ন করেছি। এখন এমন অবস্থা যে কেউ প্রশংসা করলে আমি লুকানোর জায়গা খুঁজি, কান লাল হয়ে যায়, অস্বস্তিতে যে কথা বলছে তার দিকে ঠিকমত তাকাতেও পারি না। যাই হোক, এখন যখন দেখি কাউকে নি...

আমরা যারা দেশ ছেড়ে প্রবাসে কোন উন্নত দেশে বসবাস করছি তাদের জীবন থেকে লোডশেডিং শব্দটা বলতে পারেন বিলুপ্তই হয়ে গেছে। বিদ্যুৎ-বিভ্রাট কি জিনিষ সেটি আমরা টের পাই শুধু বড় ধরণের প্রাকৃতির দূর্যোগের সময়। যেমন সেদিন বিকেলবেলা হঠাৎ এক ঝড়ে আমরা চার ঘন্টার জন্য হয়ে পড়েছিলাম বিদ্যুৎবিহীন। এই দেশে বেশিরভাগ মানুষ এমন পরিস্থিতির জন্য প্রস্তুত থাকেনা, আমরাও ছিলাম না। বাসায় সবসময় মোমবাতি থাকে বলে রক্ষা, ঘুটঘুটে অন্ধকারে বসে থাকতে হয়নি। কিন্তু ঐ বিদ্যুৎবিহীন সন্ধ্যেটা অসাধারণ একটি অভিজ্ঞতা হয়ে থাকবে। (মনে মনে হয়তো ভাবছেন, ডেইলি ডেইলি লোডশেডিং এর মধ্যে পড়লে আর এমন সুখানুভূতিও হত না আর সেটি নিয়ে ব্লগও লিখতে পারতেন না! স্বীকার করছি, আপনার ভাবনাটা ভুল নয়।) সেদিনের বিদ্যুৎবিহীন সন্ধ্যেটা মনে করিয়ে দিয়েছিল ছোটবেলার কথা যখন বিদ্যুৎ চলে গেলে সাথে সাথে জেনারেটরে জ্বলে উঠত না বাড়ির ফ্যান, লাইট। তখন “মোম, মোম, মোম কোথায়?” বলে বাসার সবাই একসাথে চিৎকার করে উঠত। মোম খুঁজতে যে যেত তার অন্ধকারে খাট অথবা চেয়ারের পায়াতে গুঁতো খাওয়া ছিল অনিবার্য। এদিকে পাছে অন্ধকারে হাঁটতে গিয়ে হোঁচট খেয়ে ব্যথা...

What happens when your toddler mistakes your wall for a canvas? You have very unique works of art all over the house. Not only unique, these artworks are abstract and priceless, too. But no matter how unique they may be, you don’t want them hanging from the walls of your house!  On one morning of June 2015, my daughter took my kitchen and living room walls for canvases. When I caught her, she was already done drawing on three walls and wrapping up her artwork on the fourth. She drew with a pen in one hand and a pencil in another for greater speed and coverage. An ambidextrous person in the making? Perhaps.  Her drawings, which resembled the humps and waves you see on an ECG (electrocardiograph) report, made me act like a mad woman. I was so angry that I cried. Being someone who is fastidious about cleanliness, this incident was similar to someone pouring buckets of black tar on white walls. I knew I had to find a way to remove these medical reports from the walls, my...

আমি মানুষ হিসেবে আবেগী, কিন্তু অসংযত আবেগ আমার নেই। বাংলাদেশ ক্রিকেট টিমের অনেক বড় ভক্ত। বাঘদের খেলা থাকলে রাতে মাত্র তিন ঘন্টা ঘুমিয়ে, টিভির সামনে বসে চিৎকার দিয়ে গলা, আর হাততালি দিয়ে দু’হাত ব্যথা করে ফেলি। কিছুক্ষণ পর পর ফেইসবুকে দেই স্ট্যাটাস আপডেট। না দিয়ে থাকতে পারিনা যে! কিন্তু অন্যান্য অনেক ভক্তের মতন প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বীকে হীন করে দিনরাত সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া অথবা বাস্তব জীবনে কথা বলে যেতে পারিনা। অন্যদের এসব কর্মকান্ড দেখেও বিরক্ত হই। লেবু কচলে তিতা করে ফেললে সেটি ভাল লাগবার কথাও নয়! এক বাঁশ নিয়ে যা শুরু হয়েছে তাতে পৃথিবীর অবশিষ্ট পান্ডারা শঙ্কিত যে শুধু বাংলাদেশীদের কারণেই তাদের নিকট ভবিষ্যতে খাদ্য সংকটে পড়তে হতে পারে। সব বাঁশ নিয়ে যে বসে আছে বাংলাদেশীরা! যেখানে জাতীয় দলের অধিনায়ক বলছেন যে তিনি প্রতিশোধে বিশ্বাস করেন না সেখানে আমরা দর্শকরা প্রতিশোধের আগুনে জ্বলছি। দমকল বাহিনীরও সাধ্য নেই আমাদের এই আগুন নেভায়। ভাগ্যিস আমরা মাঠে খেলি না, খেললে ক্রিকেটের মান-সম্মান বলে আর কিছুই বাকি থাকত না। ক্রিকেট হয়ে যেত হাতাহাতির খেলা! ম্যাচ জিতলে আমরা হয়তো নেমে পড়তাম বাঁশ হাতে, প্রত...

The Daily Star ,  Writer's Page Date of Publication: It was 25 minutes past 9 o’clock. The Dubai-bound Emirates Flight 584 should have left Dhaka 30 minutes ago. But the flight was being delayed. Saima, who was on board Flight 584, checked her watch at least 30 times in the last half-hour. Anyone could say by looking at her that she was nervous. Saima was fidgety - it was the first time the 20-year-old was flying alone - she was going to the U.S. to attend college. Saima looked to her front, sides and back. She was in discomfort even though the plane seat was roomy enough for someone with a small frame like hers. In her aisle seat, she was having a difficult time keeping her left arm safely away from the young man sitting next to her. The young man, who was in his mid-20s, was also flying alone - it was his first time too. It was clear from his Bengali dialect that he hailed from one of the northern districts of Bangladesh. "Perhaps Dinajpur," Saima thought. Saima...

Writer's page

She gazed at the ripples on Mississippi. A twig floated towards her. It must have fallen off a nearby tree. Shrubs and tall trees lined the bank of Mississippi as it snaked through this small mid-western city of America. She watched the twig as it danced on wavelets that glimmered under the afternoon sun. She wondered to what kind of tree it once belonged. An balsam fir, a sugar maple or a weeping willow? She knew not the answer. She continued gazing at this small wonder of nature until it reached the rock on which she was sitting with a book clutched to her chest.   *Photo taken by the writer

The sign outside the gym door does say that children are not allowed inside. But I pretend I cannot read English when I hit my proximity card key fob on the gym door to allow me in. Why? Because I have no other choice but to ignore this particular sign. When my husband is at work, there is no one at home I can leave my toddler with. But does that mean I cannot work out every day or at least a few times a week? Won't that be unfair to a full-time mom who wishes to stay fit and healthy? Of course, it will be!  I have never noticed if there are hidden close circuit TV cameras inside the gym, but even if there are, the property managers either don't monitor them regularly, or pretend to ignore the presence of a two-year-old visitor inside their gym. Kindhearted people, I must admit.  My toddler, however, is not nearly as kindhearted as the property managers. She does not even care to show compassion on my poor nerves. So, no matter how much I ask her to sit quietly with a boo...

For months, they remained all wrapped up. Wind and snow could crack her feet’s soft skin, so she feared stepping outdoors without bundling them up. When days and nights were not so cold, however, she would go out in slip-on shoes - no socks! Those were always the happiest days for her two feet. On those days although her toes remained covered in thick shoes, her inner and outer ankle bones could still peek out and see the snow-white world. The soft skin atop her feet could also breathe in crisp winter air. When a sudden gust of wind would blow old snow, the exposed skin of her feet would tremble in cold and excitement.  In winter, the toes and heels were always unhappy though. No matter how much they wriggled inside, they could not come out from those thick, sturdy, leather shoes to see the beautiful world outside. They heard quietly the sounds of their owner's steps on snow-covered streets and fallen leaves.  The left big toe growled in anger and refused to work whe...

1. They see you the most besides with your parents during your growing years. An older sibling probably even helped raise you. And because you spent so much time together as children, you developed a one-of-a-kind bond, a bond that does not exist in any other relationship. A friend of mine has an older sister, who practically raised her - her sister did everything for her, starting from feeding her, changing her diaper to rocking her to sleep when she was a baby. 2. They help you create many of your life's best memories. In those growing years when you played together and boldly embarked on mischievous projects, your siblings were both your playmates and accomplices. You share childhood and teenage secrets and you still laugh over them when you are together. Your siblings were there with you on your first out-of-state family vacation, camping, swimming lesson and professional baseball game.  3. They help you brave life's many a storm, be it your parents' divorce,...

A news story I wrote for St. Cloud State University Communications - one of my favorite works.  Shoes for Africa kicks off Tuesday, October 18, 2011 To collect shoes for children and adults in Africa, five St. Cloud State students have partnered with Making a Difference International Inc. (MADI) to launch a shoe drive from Oct. 18 – Nov. 30. This drive is a community action project that the students have started as part of their Social Welfare and Democratic Citizenship class. "It has been a wonderful project to work on," said freshman Paula Stevens, Albertville, who is majoring in Social Work.  "We are working with School District 742 and area churches to collect shoes for Africa. We are now looking for more locations to place our donation boxes to expand our drive." Shoes collected from the drive will be shipped to Uganda through MADI Inc.  The project members also will hold raffles and silent auctions at a charity spaghetti dinner Dec. 1 at the Un...

Professor wins research award Tuesday, November 29, 2011 Kelly Branam     Kelly Branam, associate professor of Anthropology at St. Cloud State University, was part of a team that won an award last September for work at an Archeological Field School in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. The Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit Project Team award was given by the University of Montana for the Big Horn Canyon Archeological Field School. Big Horn Canyon is traditionally the home to the Crow and other Plains Indians. "What was unique about this field school was that we incorporated contemporary stakeholders – Crow Indians and Northern Cheyennes – into our project," Branam said. More than 100 students from around the country, including 10 St. Cloud State students, attended the field school, where students got the opportunity to survey, map and excavate archeological sites as well as meet and learn the oral history of the area fr...

We have been buying groceries from Trader Joe's since moving to Delaware almost 2 years ago. The checkout people are really nice, and the store's decor has a regional flavor to it. It kind of gives you a feeling of being inside a farm. There is a huge painted cow above their dairy section and every time my daughter's at Trader Joe's she will point to that cow and cry excitedly, "Cow, cow!" She also loves going to Trader Joe's because they give children stickers at checkout! And even though the store carries less variety of items than regular American grocery chains, we still enjoy doing our weekly grocery shopping at Trader Joe's because of the good quality of food items they offer. I even like their shampoo, conditioner, face wash and other non-edible items. Anyway, so last week I bought a bag of chocolate-almond biscottis from Trader Joe's. They looked delicious, however, when I tried one of them I did not quite like the taste. There was no ...