It was Radia's birthday on 27th March. You know well we do not celebrate birthdays but my family is different. My fupu announced a week in advance that she was going to come with a cake and she came the night before at 11.30 to decorate my small house with balloons and ribbons. My neighbour too wanted to come as they take Radia to school everyday and I bring their son back with Radia. So, there was no other way but to arrange for some food. I cooked morog polao, achar gosht, khashir kolija, kofta korma, ilish and begun bhaji, chhuri shutki and shadabhat for dinner and two types of pakora and chicken fry for nasta, of course with some help from Mr. Hafiz. My fupu made shemai for dessert and she had to cut the cake too as we do not cut cakes! You must be wondering why I cooked so many dishes. It is not because I am an expert but so that there would be enough to serve in case some of the dishes turned out to be inedible. Surprisingly, Alhamdulillah, all but the shutki turned out very well! I cannot imagine how I cooked all that and vacuumed the whole house and rearranged all the furniture and redecorated all the rooms all in one day! The whole of the next day I was dozing like a sick chicken, what we call a 'jhimainna kura' in Chittagonian! Amma would never believe I could do all that and my family would certainly think my husband did all of it! I can hardly believe it myself. I guess, I will make a good housewife after all!

Lest we forget

I was at Presidency International School for lunch after completion of my classes at IIUC. One of our teachers Mrs. Jamaluddin was leaving. She was going to pick her sister, arriving from America, up from Dhaka Airport and visit her parents at Pabna for a glorious family reunion after a long time before joining her husband at his new army posting.

A few days before she had hosted the most luxurious Class Party for her students with real china dishes to serve them despite our warnings that the children might break them, her husband helping generously. So, with her eye for details and her zest for life, we could only imagine what the reunion would be like. So, the farewell was bittersweet. We were going to miss her but we were all very happy for her.

As we proceeded with lunch and chattered on, I noticed she dipped the beef in the dal before she fed it to her daughter, Shaptarshi, a student of third standard. I appreciated it though I was not interested to emulate it. I am one of those mothers who believe in bringing up my children to be hardy and adjustable, a tough world waits beyond the limits of my protection and I do not wish my protective nature to make them weak. I admire mothers who feel they can shelter their children from all the evils of life, but I do not feel so strong about myself.

A few days later, Daisy Apa, one of our seniormost teachers, called to say that Diba, one of our junior teachers was frantic as she recieved a call from the scene of an accident but she could not determine who it was as she did not have caller ID service. We called all our teachers and found them all safe. But the nine o`clock news revealed all. Mr. and Mrs. Jamaluddin and her sister had died on the spot in a terrible car accident on their way to Pabna. Diba was the last person Mrs. J. had called from her mobile. so, the Police thought she could identify the victims for them. Shaptarshi had survived four more hours with her brains spilled out, calling out for her other to comfort her. All that was left for us were their graves, in Dhaka. We could not believe it.

But as it all settled in, we came to realize how we fool ourselves into believeing we are going to live forever and that we can always protect our loved ones. We realized we should make use of each and every moment as we do not know what is going to happen the next moment. We should also prepare those we love to face the world here and hereafter on their own with courage and self reliance. this is the greatest gift we can give to our children.

I pray to Allah that the happy little family is happy after death as they were while they were alive. And we are thankful to Him for reminding us about our real purpose in life by examples like these.

Yesterday was warm and sunny, so sunny in fact, we had to close the blinds. Last night it began snowing and already snow has piled up in my balcony, the railing, the rooftops of the houses, an umbrella in a verandah across my window. The trees are all cloaked in snow already and it is still going full swing. It is all a pure, immaculate white. So pure and white you hardly want to step on it. You just wish you could sit at your window and watch it all day. Do you like snow?

If you got an opportunity of a lifetime to visit a country and wished to make the most of your journey, what would you do? Get a guidebook of course that would tell you about the interesting places to visit and the locations to stay at and the food to taste.
Likewise we are visitors on Earth visiting only once and we need a guidebook to guide us through this one time opportunity so as to make the most of it. Qur'an is that guidebook for us. So, read it everyday. Even if it is only one line, no problem. Read it with meaning and if Allah wants that line will contain sufficient guidance for you for that day.
You do not need any elaborate preparations. Just take five minutes before you leave the house or after any salat and open a page and random and read one line with meaning. And then watch as your life transforms!