LIFE AS IT IS

    রান্নাঘরে উঁকি দিলে ভেসে আসে ফুটন্ত তেলে পেঁয়াজু-বেগুনী ভাজার শব্দ। বাতাসে উড়ে বেড়ায় হলুদ-মরিচ-ধনেপাতা-ডাল-বেসন মিশ্রিত এক ধরণের পোড়া-পোড়া মুখরোচক ঘ্রাণ। পেঁয়াজু, বেগুনীর সাথে এক একদিন যোগ হয় আলুনী, কপিনী (ফুলকপি বেসন মেখে ভাজা) কিংবা মুরগীর কিমা দিয়ে তৈরি আলুর চপ। বড় সাদা কাচের বাটিতে পেঁয়াজ, কাঁচা মরিচ, ধনেপাতা, সরিষার তেল সহযোগে মাখা হচ্ছে মুড়ি। বুট ইতিমধ্যে চুলা থেকে নেমেছে। তৈরি হয়ে আছে জগ ভর্তি লেবু কিংবা তেঁতুলের শরবত, তাতে ভাসছে বরফের স্বচ্ছ টুকরো।  এখন বাবার জন্য অপেক্ষা - হয়তো অফিস থেকে ফেরার পথে আনবেন জিলাপি, হালিম কিংবা সুতলি কাবাব। আমার যতদূর মনে পড়ে বাবাকে কখনও সুতলি কাবাব ছাড়া অন্য কোন কাবাব রমজান মাসে আনতে দেখিনি! রোজার মাস ছাড়া সুতলি কাবাব আমাদের খাওয়াও হতো না। পুরান ঢাকার ঐতিহ্যবাহী এই কাবাব কখনো খেয়ে না থাকলে অবশ্যই খেয়ে দেখবেন - পরোটার সাথে খেতে দারুণ সুস্বাদু।  খাওয়া-দাওয়া দিয়ে শুরু করলাম কারণ রমজান মাসে আমাদের খাবারে একটা ভিন্নতা আসে। রোজা রাখার আনন্দটা বৃদ্ধি পায় ইফতারে কি খাব তাই ভেবে! ছোটবেলায় ইফতারের বিশেষ খাবারগুলি ব...

  Fairy lights that lit up streets, doors and windows of houses and shops, reindeer sleigh and Santa Clause that gave the common area of every shopping mall a festive appearance, and holiday tunes that filled the air of cafés and diners are now gone for a year. In contrast to October, November, December, and the first day of January when Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year are celebrated respectively by most Americans, January is not only colder-grayer but also quiet and uneventful.     Whether you want to partake in the above-mentioned festivals or not, if you live in the West, their festivies will touch you in one way or another. Come October, you see Halloween costumes and Halloween-themed home decor, food, and much more all around you. Your child’s school might even hold a Halloween parade on campus. And on October 31, you will have kids trick-or-treating at your doorstep. I am not a Halloween fan but usually buy small treats to give out to kids who knock...

O ne of the greatest pleasures of life is to wake up to sounds of birds. The dawn chorus of wrens, robins, goldfinches, sparrows, and blackbirds usher in the Queen of the seasons. Sunny days, gentle breeze, and azure skies break free from the cocoon of winter to paint the world in all kinds of colours conceivable! The arrival of Spring is first felt in the songs of birds. They are the first thing that tells you that short days and long-cold nights are quickly coming to an end. You can tell from the hummingbirds that start visiting your backyard and the wookpeckers that tap-tap-tap on the branches of beeches and red maples that Earth is about to unlock its treasure chest. From the treasure chest will escape warm weather, soft breeze, yellow daffodils and purple crocuses, richly coloured florets of cherry blossoms, green grasses, and golden bumblebees. At the same time, Mother Nature is all set to don her best garb of green and when she does, it is a sight to behold and remember! The oak...

I t was the summer of 2013, I was strolling along Jamaica's Hillside Avenue and turning my neck every time I was hearing someone utter something in Bangla. It was my first time in Jamaica, a neighbourhood in New York city's borough of Queens, which boasts a large population of Bangladeshi Americans and is considered one of the most ethnically diverse places on the planet.  Jamaica is a slice of Bangladesh away from it. With 'deshi' men and women speaking Bangla on the streets in traditional garbs like panjabi, pyjama and shalwar kameez, streets lined with Bangladeshi-owned restaurants and grocery stores selling your favourite 'deshi' vegetables, halal meats, and foods ranging from shingara-samosa, chotpoti-fuchka, naan-kabab, doi-mishti, and halua-paratha to kachchi biriyani, tehari, Haji-r biriyani and bhat-mach-bhorta, Jamaica is an instant reminder of the country you have left behind.   For a second, you might even forget that this place is very much a part o...

T his fall, schools around the US are welcoming children for face-to-face instruction despite a new COVID-19 surge. My daughter was six months into her first grade when a state of emergency was declared and our schools were closed down. From her bedroom, my daughter completed her first grade, began her second grade, and finished that, too. Now after one-and-a-half years at home, she has gone back to school to start her third grade. She could not contain her excitement when I gave her the news of school reopening in person! If you are a parent, you know how much you and your child are waiting for schools to reopen, because being away from school and their friends has been tough on our children — the pandemic has left their little world in a disarray. Many children, who have started school in this pandemic, do not even know what a school really is. "I can’t wait for the COVID-19 to go away! My son, who is in playgroup, attends his school online. He does not even know what an actual ...

The items arrived in DHL’s famous red-yellow mail bag. I had been receiving notifications on my phone and email that the package was going to be delivered on April 26, two days before the original estimated delivery date!  I was eagerly awaiting a DHL delivery van to pull up in     front of my house.     So what was so special in that package that led to so much anticipation? A shalwar kameez set and a kurta straight from Dhaka!   The Daily Star link When I first found out that Bangladesh’s largest fashion and lifestyle brand, Aarong, now ships to the United States, I said to myself, “Now I can conveniently place online orders for  deshi  attire  at any time of the year!” For Bangladeshis who live abroad, the announcement of Aarong shipping overseas was worth big smiles. In the past, I always got my kurta and shalwar kameez from Dhaka. Most of the time, I would pick out an unworn dress from my closet to wear on Eid. However, there is a differ...

If you are like me, someone who jumps at the idea of exploring a new place, but have not travelled in the last one year, you will understand my plight. On some days, I so want to catch a flight and visit another state or country, inhale the air of a new place, and try a new cuisine. A year without a \"vacay\" has not been easy, but when endless hardship and suffering stemming from a pandemic continue to affect so many millions every day, planning a holiday is not a priority. However, on lazy afternoons, I daydream about happy times of the future when we can travel far and wide, when I will not have to wear a mask or remind myself to practice social distancing in public places. I have not been on an airplane in more than a year. While flying was something I never eagerly looked forward to, in these days, I wish to catch a plane and swoosh to a holiday destination. I have kind of forgotten what it is like to go through security checkpoints, answer an immigration police officer’...

I wanted to order some food from a local café, so I Googled to find their phone number. The search result took me by shock, it said that the café was “permanently closed.” Scrumptious was a favourite local café, where I often went to relish a hearty breakfast over veggie omelette, toast, and coffee. My daughter loved their froyo (frozen yoghurt). Scrumptious is one of the thousands of small businesses that have closed down during this pandemic. Small businesses around the world have taken a hit during these challenging times. As citizens and consumers, it is our responsibility to support small businesses wherever we live, because they are the backbone of an economy! The Daily Star link: Nowadays when I go grocery shopping, I try to buy locally produced fruits and vegetables. When I order food online for delivery or takeout, I opt for a local restaurant instead of a nationwide chain. No, I do not exclusively order from local restaurants, because the national chains are just everywhere! ...

Another Ramadan has arrived riding on the wings of time. Another Ramadan has come amid the pandemic. No religious congregations, iftar get-togethers in 2021, just like it was in 2020 - a quiet Ramadan for me and my family here in the US. My husband and I got our first COVID-19 jabs the day before Ramadan. My body tolerated it very well, but my husband was down with mild fever and body ache, although well enough to fast. We were planning on visiting Bangladesh in June to see our parents - we even bought the airline tickets. But with cases rising in Bangladesh, the hope of traveling there now hangs by a thread. It is now more than likely that our flight will have to be canceled. It has been more than one-and-a-half years since I met my parents, my brother and his family. Those of us, who have chosen to leave “home” and make a new home away from home, have our own struggles. My life is better here in the US in many ways, but no one place can make you absolutely happy. There are opp...

The Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been serving gastronomes for 127 years. The historic market has survived the Great Depression and two World Wars! On a September Saturday, we decided to explore this public market, which attracts more than 100,000 people every week during 'normal' times. The Daily Star link The moment you step through its doors, the clatter, the bright ceiling lights and most importantly, the aroma in the air will make you hungry. Although you would want to buy or taste a little something from every stall, that is quite impossible, because there are more than 80 merchants busy at work in this indoor marketplace. The vendors at Reading Terminal Market sell a wide array of items, chiefly food; from fresh produce, seafood, meats and poultry, dairy and cheese, baked goods, ice cream, chocolate, spices and condiments, beverages, and ready-to-eat foods, which you could enjoy in its food courts before the pandemic hit us all. Its Center Cou...

Reading Terminal Market. First opened its doors in 1893, this is one of America’s largest and oldest public markets. More than 80 vendors and an immensely wide selection of foods, drinks & confectionaries - a gastronomer’s heaven. Location: Philadelphia, PA.  Note: The corned beef and pastrami Kosher sandwiches are from Hershel’s East Side Deli.   

City Hall, Philadelphia, PA. The tallest building in the world from 1894 to 1908. Photographs were taken on a Saturday trip to Philly in September, 2020. 

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...