LIFE AS IT IS

My maroon lily plants just bore their last flower. It’s going to be another long wait before they start blooming again next year. I guess it’s the wait and the anticipation that make a gardener’s wait through the fall and winter seasons bearable - you know that in spring, your garden will start putting on a smile and in summer, your backyard will smile from ear to ear. What a joy, what a joy it is when trees sprout new leaves, and perennials peek through the soil in April! For now, enjoy the last maroon daylily of my garden sway in the summer breeze! 

ঢেঁড়স ফুল। What would that be in English? Okra blossom/ flower? I love okras or lady’s fingers, so does my family! But did I know what their flowers looked like? Nay, I did not, until now, because now I have okra plants in my backyard! I am loving my first-time journey into vegetable gardening. I am learning brand new things daily. In the past, I only enjoyed my fruits and veggies, but I knew very little about the long journey they made from seeds to mature fruits. Vegetable gardening has taught me to appreciate the food I eat more than ever!   

It’s the second-largest francophone city in the world after Paris; it’s a slice of Europe in North America. It’s Montréal! The second-most populous city in Canada, Montréal is in the Québec province. Montréal, which means Mount Royal in English, is a city that bustles with tourists during the summer months. Old Montréal, a historic neighbourhood, is a major tourist attraction, drawing crowds from all across the world. On our short, but unforgettable road trip to Montréal, we imbibed Old Montréal’s sights and sounds that have a true European flavour to them. From American state of Delaware to the Canadian province of Québec, it is a seven-hour drive. From the US-Canada border, Montréal is less than 50 miles. We journeyed through New Jersey, but most of our drive was through the scenic and mountainous Upstate New York along the eastern border of the Adirondack Mountains. As the border crossing draws near, road signs begin to appear in both English and French. Once you pass Champlain, Ne...

Pen and Paint - Vivacity VII #watercolor 

Tulips. Painting flowers in this pandemic is having a calming effect on my nerves. 

Yes, we are living through a lockdown situation, hearing, reading and watching about illness and death every single day, but none of all this has stopped nature from unfolding its beauty during this summer time. She is just like she was in the good ol’ days. Below is a collage created with pictures and a video of some of the flowers that bloomed in my backyard as we have hunkered down. 

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 possibil...

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 variet...