LIFE AS IT IS

In the West, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” because the holiday season is knocking on the door. Here in the continental U.S., where I live, from Thanksgiving until the New Year, the entire country dons a festive look. People shop, travel, donate, watch holiday movies, bake chocolate chip cookies, drink hot cocoa with marshmallows, get together with families and in the colder states, play in the snow.  The Daily Star link There are so many reasons for me to love this season!  Holiday decorations and lightings As the holiday season nears, families get into the holiday spirit, adding glitz to homes, making them merry, bright and beautiful inside and out. Like many others, we drive around cities and neighbourhoods just to marvel at Christmas decorations that make everything so bright and beautiful.  The holiday fever also touches our family  — we bring out our holiday table runner, snowman-themed mugs, bowls, dishes and pillow cases, and light...

To those who reside in the US, summertime is synonymous to beach vacation, and a beach getaway is something Americans look forward to every summer. This year, we explored the historic Cape May, New Jersey, which has some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Cape May’s beaches are consistently ranked as some of the best in America, and even the world. They are not only family-friendly, but also clean, quiet, safe, and have easy access to restrooms and restaurants. But visitors have to buy beach tags to lounge on the soft, white sand. I understood that the revenue from the beach tag sales goes toward safeguarding, maintaining, and improving these beautiful beaches. The Daily Star link Cape May, which is a peninsula, is the southernmost point of New Jersey, a Mid-Atlantic US state. Besides its beaches, the place is also known as a birder’s paradise. Forests, wetlands, and marshes make it a top destination for migratory hawks, songbirds, and seabirds. We set up our be...

By the time a young gamer reaches his fifteenth birthday, he has already killed thousands of his so-called enemies. Even though he kills all of them virtually, he still feels the adrenaline flowing through his blood every time he makes a kill. His young brain derives pleasure from wiping people off the face of the earth, on a digital screen. When he fires his AK-47 or Colt CM901, his pupils dilate; his heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure increase every time he slays. And even though he slays people day after day, he is never punished for the brutality he commits. In fact, he is rewarded with points. He also moves to the next level of the game! The Daily Star link Video gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry. According to Newzoo, a global leader in games, e-sports and mobile intelligence. The worldwide revenue of the gaming industry is expected to reach $107 billion in 2017.  However, children's access to violent video games is a debatable subject. While some...

Morning view from living room window - fall leaves falling like rain. 

The sign outside the gym door says 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 workout out every day or at least a few times a week. Won't that be unfair to a full-time mum  who wishes to stay fit and healthy? Well, I certainly think it will be.  Photo: Google Images I have never noticed if there are hidden close circuit TV cameras inside the gym, but even if there are, the property managers either do not monitor them regularly, or pretend to ignore the presence of a two-year-old visitor inside their gym. Kindhearted people, I must admit.  The Daily Star My toddler, however, is not nearly as kindhearted as the property managers. She does not care to show compassion to m...

You may find it hard to believe but a plastic bottle takes anywhere between 100 and 1000 plus years to degrade, with an average degradation time of 450 years!  Does this piece of information motivate you to opt for more of  environment-friendly su bstitutes? If yes, then you are treading the  right path, because it is never late to start to do our bit for the  environment.  TAKE YOUR OWN BAG When you go shopping, be it for books, shoes, clothes or groceries, carry your own sturdy, reusable bag, preferably something made from cotton or jute.  CARRY YOUR WATER BOTTLE Instead of purchasing a bottle of water when you are thirsty, carry your own water in a bottle or flask made of glass or stainless steel when you leave home.  DITCH THE STRAW When you order your drink at a restaurant, learn to say, “No straw, please”. Straws are made of plastic and therefore when thrown away are detrimental to environment.  Source: Google Images REUSABL...

If you ever set foot on British mainland, you will note how much the Brits love to use the word “lovely” in their everyday speech. There, the word “lovely” means more than just beautiful or attractive, it is a word that also conveys approval towards a person or their action. On an 8-night vacation in London, I learned, devoured and experienced so many new things that one write-up will not suffice, but I will try nonetheless. The National Gallery A week in London is not enough to fully explore the historic city, which stands on the River Thames and enchants visitors from every corner of the world. London is a cosmopolitan city in a very real sense. According to BBC, over 300 languages are currently spoken in London’s schools. The statistic tells you how unbelievably diverse London really is! London’s food scene is a gastronomic heaven for any foodie, where you can relish an incredibly huge variety of cuisines, thanks to its ethnically diverse population. To enjoy a wi...

Have you ever waited for a friend or an acquaintance so long that you fell asleep? I did. Once I had woken up from a power nap only to find that my guests, who were supposed to grace my humble abode 2 hours’ prior, had not even left their home yet! Perception of time is a complex matter; while to some people, 6 o’clock means 6 o’clock, to others, 6 o’clock is 7:00, 7:30 or even 8 o’clock. Every “deshi” wedding begins at 7:30 in the evening as per the invitation card. No, never. If you ever arrive at a wedding reception at 7:30PM, you will find the entire venue deserted. The uniformed waiters will give you strange looks. The bride and the groom are always late to their own wedding, so are their guests and sometimes, the Mughlai wedding cuisine. At a friend’s wedding in Dhaka, I had waited until 10PM for the food to be served. When the clock struck past 10, because it was getting late, I left the party on an empty stomach that was grumbling loudly enough for anyone standing nex...

The Blue Girl rose plant in my backyard has blessed me with perhaps its last flower of the year. It is such a delight! The plant had almost died last year, but we re-planted it in a different spot where she could get more sunshine. When we almost gave up on its survival, she began to sprout new leaves. Right now, she is 2-feet tall and has already born two unbelievably beautiful lavender roses! Keep making us proud, little girl!

Women and handbags go hand in hand. Have you ever spotted a woman without one? Perhaps not. We women carry tonnes of things in our handbags on any given day. A lot of times, we do not even know what we are carrying on us. Therefore, one Tuesday morning, I wanted to find out what I carried in my handbag.  The Daily Star link I opened it, and the first thing I pulled out of it was a makeup bag. And I am sure I am not the only one to carry a makeup bag. Most women carry some basic makeup items, even if it’s just a compact powder, a lipstick, or an eyeliner. I personally thought I was carrying too many lipsticks, though, as there were five tubes in total. Besides lip colours, I had a compact powder, a compact cosmetic mirror, a lip liner, an eyeliner, a travel-size perfume, blush stick, vitamin E moisturiser stick, and a mini hairbrush. I think it’s a good idea to keep your makeup items in a cosmetic bag instead of just throwing them in your handbag. I used to do this before, and i...

Summer crawls into autumn, a slow but poised walk into a natural world different not solely in terms of weather. Mother Nature lays out the differences the season brings about in the colours of the sky, leaves, flowers, and even in the coats of wild birds and animals. Summer evenings change to autumnal nights. The sun sets early, so you can no longer take a walk in the park at 7 o'clock in the evening. In autumn, by that hour of the day, the western sky begins to clothe in indigo. A curtain begins to draw on the world. The outside temperatures also start to dip rather quickly. And the bedroom windows, which you kept open on warm July evenings, need to be shut tight. You wish you could squeeze more hours into the day, but because that cannot be done, you try to spend evenings at home, reading or listening to music over a cup of steaming caffeinated drink. On a cosy autumn evening, you tell yourself that life is not too bad, even though days would soon be all gusty and slushy...

Many of us donate money, time, and belongings to good causes every year, and it is the least we can do for those who are less fortunate. However, acts of giving should not only be performed by adults, our children, too, should be taught about the importance of giving. It was only after my daughter started going to school that I realised how important it is to ingrain in a child the significance of helping those in need. The Daily Star link My three-year-old daughter goes to a pre-school in the United States, where they teach children about giving from the tender age of two. In her very first semester, my daughter's class teachers asked her and other students to bring loose change from home to donate. Every day, for two weeks, the children dropped coins, brought from home, into a jar that was placed outside their classroom. My daughter's school is relatively small but together they collected $386 last year, which they used to purchase treadle pumps, tree saplings, a g...

It started out of curiosity, but soon turned into a rule of my grocery shopping -- I read the nutrition labels on foods before buying them . Ten years ago, I did not care to decode Nutrition Facts labels. I would just pile up my shopping cart with whatever I wanted to eat -- bread, jam, peanut butter, cereals, cookies, chips, candy, fruit juices, ice cream, frozen dinners-- you name it; I did not care to find out if these were wholesome or not. I ate what I wanted to eat! Living in a country where grocery stores are giant, food options unlimited and portion sizes huge, overeating is not uncommon. I gained weight in the first few months of my life in the U.S. It was after I put on weight that I began to wonder if I was overeating like many others or, if it was my diet that was unhealthy. It was during this time that I became curious about the hundreds of words in small font that are printed on any packaged edible item in this country. I learned from those easy-to-understand labe...