I dream of..

So many souls with different faces
In one world, but from many places

We are all the same; can’t you see
Regardless of heritage; you and me

Look for the person inside, not out
THAT is what this life is all about

A choice between good or bad to make
Each person decides which road to take

Those decisions create our society today
On a self destructing path; sorry to say

Too much evil lurks in this life
Creating heartache and widespread strife

Prejudice and greed out of control
The results of such, take their toll

The wars and crime a direct result
Our land destroyed only to be rebuilt

We all need to change for the world to endure
Love one another, that is the cure

Reach out a helping hand to others
Strangers, friends, acquaintances, brothers, of sisters

Put aside those petty differences and hate
Find a common ground in which to relate

I dream of a world where peace is the norm
People working together to weather the storm

Here is to the hope that one day it comes true
A land of harmony for me and for you.

-taken

Summary: part I

So how should I start this post? A decent way I think would be through wishing everyone a happy twenty twelve :) Too late for that? Well better late than never! So here it goes,

May this new year give you bright new days to live in zest, peace of own mind and a world at peace with the awareness of God's love in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's smile, every lover's kiss, and every miraculous beat of our heart. Happy new year :)

I know by now the excitement's gone and it's another year of your life passing by unnoticed behind the works of life. But nevertheless I felt I owed this wish to this anarchy called life, chancing if it comes true...

Now about the disappearance, I have no excuse. As insincere as it might be I confess I do that. I do it to my friends, I do it to my family, I do it to my work, and now I am doing it to my blog. Sometimes I need time to be by myself, and myself only, if it were in my hands I would cut all my ties with this world and find the silence that I have been looking for. May be someday, when I am more independent, the world is big you know. There must be a corner in this huge landmass where I’d have my silence. But that’s not the trouble really, the real trouble lies somewhere else, it lies in the fact that regardless of where I go whichever corner I find that lets me hide myself, I still will be leaving the ones that care, right here. I’ll also be leaving the ones that need me, the ones that depend on me, or the ones that plainly miss me. And after some time they will start seeking me, many to satisfy a selfish ground, and some just to be sure that I am alright and breathing. I know what this might make you think but please do not misunderstand me, it's not my ignorance towards what I have, it's a state of mind I helplessly perceive. I do conceive the kind of blessing it unquestionably is to have someone who’s always on the lookout for you, missing you. Not everyone is lucky enough to have that in this lifetime, for many just survival is a blessing. But I am not one of those people, I was born with a little luck on my side, I too have to survive, but I also get the leverage of having other notions, which developed through the life I am leading. And the life I am leading makes me want to run away, even if for a little while, and it's also the life that makes me want to come back to it, and embrace it just as before.

I will make the rest of this post less boring by posting photos of what I have been up to in these three months.

December has been great, undoubtedly the rollercoaster month of the past year. It was crammed with projects, weddings, and rehearsals, and then more projects, more weddings and more rehearsals. Rehearsals were for the dances we prepared for a friend's sister's holud. Coming to think of it I really miss the rehearsal days, the friend was really laid back and understanding about the pressures of a soon to be ceasing semester, hence the timings were always flexible, and as much fun as we had you’d also be glad to know that we absolutely rocked the D-day!  Lets see some photos now-

Performing Tauba Tauba (From left: Sanji, Tasmeem and I)

The holud was beautifully organized, and I cannot even begin to say how beautiful the bride looked. I don’t know if it was the night or just our crazy hormones, but "something" turned us into a bunch of rowdies that night, rowdies who took cheering for each other to whole another level (!)

Picture of us with the beautiful bride. I am the one behind flower bouquet.  My ultra goofy friend Shafu happened to crack one of his racist jokes right before the shot.

I wanted to upload some of our dance videos but I guess blogger doesn't allow videos over 100 mb. I will however try to find a way out, but for now trusting the photos to suffice. There will be a lot more photos posted soon of rest of the ceremony but since this post is just a snapshot summary of last three months, I'll be hopping from event to event and the photos will hop accordingly. 

Some more photos from winter weddings:

This was the wedding of my good friend Esha. It still sometimes takes me a moment to believe she's a married lady now. She looked so beautiful in all the events, need a proof? Take a look below!

Her Holud

Her Wedding

Her Reception

Apart from weddings:

This year's winter only lived in its weddings, not in its weather. I have a wonderful collection of shawls which have never been put to good use in Bangladesh. The only wearable kind is the thin pashminas, but this time around that phase didn't last more than a week either.

A pashmina bought from boutique downstairs.

In a hoodie S bought me for the winter.

                                             

The months had a semester break in between so there were a lot of stayovers, random hangouts, haajir biriyani, trips out of Dhaka and what not.

K and I

Fry 'em all! --> Tas and K in a mosquito killing spree, the yellow bat you see electrocutes mosquitoes as we indulge in  sick pleasure.

My mad mad childhood friend A came from UK for a month.  Cooked for him and few other friends for lunch at my place.

A and I. One more year till I see him again.

Cooked a common favourite (barring me!) Chinese for the day. 

This is a fraction of what I have been up to in the last three months. I am not posting anymore photos as that would stretch the post too long (will make a part II). But I promise there will be more photos uploaded as soon as I grab some time again. Till then, see ya and stay well ! :)

A question to you sir

Once upon a time there was an ancient Indian King who had been obsessed with the desire to find the meaning of peace. Three questions haunted his mind day in and day out, three questions- what is peace, how do we find it and once found what should we do with it? Intellectuals in his kingdom were invited to answer the King's questions for a handsome reward. Many tried, but none could truly explain the answers to the questions. At last someone said to the King that there’s only one person who could know the rightful answers to his questions, and the person was a sage who lived just outside the borders of his Kingdom.

"He is an old man and very wise," the King was told. "If anyone can answer your questions he can."

And hence, the King went to the sage and posed the eternal question. Without a word the sage went into the kitchen, and brought a grain of wheat to the King. "In this you will find the answer to your question," the Sage said as he placed the grain of wheat in the King's outstretched palm.

Puzzled but unwilling to admit his ignorance the King clutched the grain of wheat and returned to his palace. He locked the precious grain in a tiny gold box and placed the box in his safe. Each morning, upon waking, the King would open the box and look at the grain to seek an answer but could find nothing.

Weeks later, not being able to hold his angst any longer the King called upon the sage to his palace to resolve his dilemma. The sage came to the palace. The King said to the sage,

"Every morning when I wake up I would open my gold box and watch the grain of wheat, all the while looking for an answer. But to my surprise till date I have found nothing."

The Sage smiled.

"It is quite simple, your honour. Just as this grain represents nourishment for the body, peace represents nourishment for the soul. Now, if you keep this grain locked up in a gold box it will eventually perish, without providing nourishment or multiplying. However, if it is allowed to interact with the elements - light, water, air, soil - it will flourish, multiply, and soon you would have a whole field of wheat which will nourish not only you but so many others. This is the meaning of peace your honour. It must nourish your soul and the souls of others, and thus it must multiply by interacting with the elements."

Now my question is, do you know your elements? Alas I don’t have a sage to ask this.