DISCUSSING PUBLIC POLICY, POLITICS, CREATIVE WRITING AND LITERATURE
I was right when I wrote a blog post titled, “Here is the role that the United States has to play in international relations.” I wrote: “Long-term ties in international relations are developed by extending a helpful hand to a country or population in need. A helpful hand that pulls people out of crisis. A…
A new year is about new hopes and new dreams. Sometimes, it is about the continuation of the same hopes and dreams from the previous year. Whatever the case may be, a new year is certainly about renewed energy to achieve that which one hopes for and to fulfill the dreams that one has. As…
I believe that the world needs more kindness. And I believe that nature is trying to send us a message that the need for kindness is quite urgent. Spreading kindness does not need a top-down approach. It is something that starts with us, the general population of this world. Spreading kindness does not require any…
The city in which I was born and raised is now the world’s second largest city. I am referring to the city of Dhaka, in Bangladesh. I recently found that the United Nations published a new report and ranked Dhaka as the second most populous city in the world. The city has 36 million people….
Sheikh Hasina may finally face justice for all the crimes that she committed. With the court verdict expected to come soon, people are hoping to see this violent dictator sentenced to the highest possible punishment allowed by the court of law in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina, for over a decade and a half, had held on…
The house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (the former leader of the political party known as the Awami League), located at Dhanmondi Road Number 32 in Dhaka, has been demolished. It has been set on fire, and it has been destroyed by freedom-loving Bangladeshis. As I watch the videos and images of people destroying the property—the…
The new year has arrived. The year 2024 is now in the past. As we enter the year 2025, we can look back at the past year and think about all that we have been through. As I was looking at the recap of 2024 in my mind, I thought about the things I experienced…
Over the last several weeks, I finished reading The Adventures of Tintin comic book series. I felt as if I was traveling back to my childhood days. As I stated in an earlier post, The Adventures of Tintin played an important role in my childhood. I spent countless hours, turning the pages of the Tintin…
I have a growing YouTube channel, where I have posted over 130 videos (mostly short videos, known as YouTube Shorts) about food. It is amazing to see the kinds of reactions I get from my audience regarding the dishes I prepare. Cooking is my passion. Not only do I like cooking, but I also enjoy…
(The following piece of writing was posted by my mother, Hena Anam, on her Facebook account on October 25, 2023) A few days ago, I posted a writing on social media, before my son’s birthday. I wrote a tribute for my son, Tawsif Anam. This was not my first writing about him, as I had…
Observatory Drive brings back memories. My days in Madison as an undergraduate student, and later as a graduate student, flash before my eyes. It was on Observatory Drive in Madison that I had the opportunity to walk again. Much older, much more experienced, bruised by the challenges in life and gifted with hope—I once again…
This blog post contains writings by my mother–one written in 2015, and the other written in 2023. She posted these on Facebook. The writings appear in this post, starting with the one from 2023, and then the writing from 2015. The following has been written by my mother. She posted this on Facebook on October…
The human mind is infinitely complex. And the human heart, glorified by lovers and poets, can be as complex as it is delicate. Whether we think with our minds or with our hearts, we seem to have a strong craving for the past. The present is perpetually becoming the past. The moments we live in…
One of the most important things in life is to appreciate all that God has granted us. We must be grateful. In the haste and hurry of life, it is easy to forget the blessings that fill our lives. The days present many needs and wants, and people work towards pursuing those desires and fulfilling…
We are never alone because we are always with our mother. Mothers give birth and bring us to life, and to Mother Earth we return. Because mothers are the reason why we exist, we should celebrate mothers every day. And yet, society compels us to choose a date for the exchange of gifts, cards, flowers…
This week, I received notification from my podcast publishing platform that I have reached a milestone. That milestone is the release of the 100th episode of my podcast—Explore and Engage with Anam! I started podcasting in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. As many people were staying inside their homes that year and in-person interactions were…
Small things often help us understand big things. Let me explain. Yesterday, I had dinner outside. It was fish fry Friday. Before departing the restaurant, I ordered two pieces of fried cod to be put in a box for me to take home. In spite of having had a nice dinner at the restaurant, I…
Podcasting is fun. That’s a very simple way of describing what many podcasters feel. It is quite easy to start podcasting, with little investment in equipment and setup. But it can be just as easy to end a podcast. That is, if a podcaster runs out of ideas for episodes, or simply does not want…
Voice is powerful. But how do we define voice? Is voice the sound that is produced in our larynx–the sound that comes out of our mouth? Or is it an opinion that one expresses–whether in the form of sound or as words on paper? There are many ways of looking at the meaning of “voice.”…
I was asked what the opening sentence of my autobiography would be. As I stated in a previous blog post, at some point in my life I would like to write an autobiography. Obviously, the autobiography would have to have an opening sentence. What would that be? “A life, although finite, has endless possibilities.” The…
I came across a question: what experiences in life helped you grow the most? The answer is not a short one. One must first understand what growth is. Growth is maturity. To grow is to gradually attain wisdom. Simply passing time and becoming older do not necessarily lead to growth. For growth, one must walk…
I was asked if I could be someone else for a day, who would that be? The answer is: no one. I do not want to be anyone else. To want to be someone else for a day is to reject the will of God. To wish to be a different person, other than one’s…
If I could sit down with my teenage self, and provide some advice, I would ask my teenage self to exercise patience. Patience is a virtue. Lack of patience is a flaw that many humans have. Lack of patience, or impatience, is something that we must combat. Not all people are born with a high…
Will I ever write an autobiography? I hope so. At some point in my life, I plan to write an autobiography. When that would be, I do not know yet. If I write an autobiography, what would be the title of the manuscript? Writing an autobiography is no easy task. It requires self-reflection and a…
Attention friends. At an early age, I started to write poems. I compiled those and after I came to the United States, I decided to self-publish. Accordingly, I published two books of poems – the first one named SHE HAS SURRENDERED TO SLUMBER and the second one is NEPTUNE’S DUSK. Eventually I became very busy…
St. Augustine said, “It is only in the face of death that man’s self is born.” Over the last few years, the world faced the fear of death in a way that has resulted in a complete transformation of how we view life. The viral outbreak of COVID-19, the illegal use of substances such as…
This holiday season is an opportunity for people to come together, regardless of color or creed. There are endless distractions in life, as well as numerous ways in which people get divided in society. There are divisions based on race, religion, language, and also political affiliation. In recent years, the divisions in society have become…
We should open the photo albums and spend some time thinking about the days of the past. Unless we think of the past, how can we move ahead in the future? We close our eyes at night and wake up again in the morning to start our day. But life is still a continuous flow…
At any given point in time, we are occupying space in this multi-dimensional world. It is our responsibility to respect this God-given space and make the best use of it. To my knowledge, no one has determined the composition of the soul. What a soul truly is remains a great mystery. The discussion of the…
The world, with all the elements in it, can distract us from our path. As we work our way towards our destination, diversions can push us in other directions. A person can defeat distractions if there is strong commitment to fulfill a purpose in life. When working on an important project, for work or school,…
In this age of technology, when people are texting, sending emails, including emojis in messages, my love for handwritten notes has grown in intensity. There was a time when handwritten notes and letters were the primary ways to communicate, in addition to spoken words. Even with the emergence of typewriters, a paper on which a…
Time neither pauses, nor stops. As I looked at my watch, I saw the ticking of the second hand. The movement of time, as we know it, is irreversible. We can track it, but we cannot change how it flows. As humans, we are confronted with the limitations that time has set for us. And…
Any rational individual would like to spend quality time with family, friends, and loved ones. What constitutes “quality time” would vary, depending on who you ask. At the core, quality time refers to the time spent in doing that which would strengthen a relationship. In addition to quality time, quality of thoughts is also essential…
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died today. She was 96 years old at the time of her passing. The news of her death shook the entire world. In this context, I want to share something that I know from my family’s history. My maternal grandfather, Mr. Ansaruddin Khan, was a businessman and was also…
The campus of the University of Wisconsin – Madison is once again full of young men and women who have arrived in the city to start the new school year. As students are moving in, my mind is taking me back to the years I spent at this university. Move-in days are bringing back memories….
As a child, I did not spend much time around animals. But I have always learnt to appreciate God’s creations. We are all created by the same God – humans, animals, plants, and all other beings. Since my childhood, I have always been fascinated by the wide variety of animals that are here on this…
I started creating my own library when I was a young boy. From British literature to Bengali mystery books, from Tintin comic books to encyclopedias and books on history and geography, I enjoyed a wide variety of reading materials. I read the works of Satyajit Ray, Rabindranath Tagore, Charles Dickens, John Keats, Lord Tennyson, and…
Since the outbreak of COVID19, many people continue to be affected by never-ending fear. I think it is time to eliminate the fear from our hearts. There are individuals who are still wearing masks due to their fear of coronavirus. I completely respect people’s freedom to wear or to not wear masks in public settings….
I am a conservative. Being born and raised in Bangladesh, I did not grow up in a Republican or a Democrat family. I arrived in the United States when I was 19 years old, as an adult. My faith, my family, the way I was raised, and the principles I inherited from my mother make…
Life is full of uncertainties, and we learn that at every step. Yesterday, my mother lost her only brother, and I lost my uncle, who left this earth for the afterlife. My uncle, late Mr. Nasir Khan, was the only son of my grandparents, and was my mother’s younger brother. He was a resident of…