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…
Category: Personal
TIME: FAIR, JUST, AND UNFORGIVING
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…
QUALITY TIME, QUALITY OF THOUGHTS
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…
MOURNING THE LOSS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II
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…
MOVE-IN AND MEMORIES
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….
GOD’S BEAUTIFUL CREATIONS, BESIDES HUMANS
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…
FROM MY LIBRARY: A FEW BOOKS ON ASTROLOGY
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…
END THE NEVER-ENDING FEAR
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….
EXPRESSING MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS
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
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…
ON MOTHER’S DAY, A TRIBUTE TO MY GRANDMOTHER
If birth and death are the start and end, respectively, of earthly life, then every day is Mother’s Day. Many are blessed to be nurtured and cared for by the mother as they grow up, some are not. Many are blessed to recognize and honor the love they receivefrom the mother, while some are forgetful…
REMEMBERING STEVEN HERMANSON
It was a weekend. My mother and I just finished our meal at Pointer Cafe in Mineral Point. For those who may not know – it is a small city in Iowa County, in southwest Wisconsin. We were on our way back from Shullsburg, further south in Lafayette County, after an eventful morning. Restaurants and…
OLD AGE: GAINING WISDOM AND LOSING INDEPENDENCE
Old age is a realization that Nature has bestowed a person with a long life. Yet, the issues surrounding old age are hardly ever easy to deal with, for both the people and their family, friends, and caregivers. The difficulties are not always due to old age itself, but the challenges of old age are…