Life, Dreams and Reality -- Sohel's Blog

When Bangladeshi men, women and children fled from their homeland in 1971 during the time of horrible war, neighbours helped them with open arms. People in West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya and Asham went beyond their means welcoming Bangladeshi refugees, sheltered them, gave them food, clothes and overall they provided the persecuted refugees protection from the wrath of the war. In 21st century, the recent misfortunes of the persecuted Rohinguya people from Myanmar, is not well reported, as other bigger conflicts from the geopolitically volatile regions get the limelight, overshadowing the tears, agonies and anguish of the bereft Rohinguya families. Bangladesh was born from the ashes of the war, from the pain and millions of innocent people's deaths in intense nine months war. It is time for Bangladesh comes forward with open arms and accept all the persecuted people from Rohingya. Yes, economically it will not be an easy task, most noble and compassionate undertaking are diffi...

Election day in America is only few days away. It's Sunday night and the election is on Tuesday. The entire world looks to be on the edge. I have followed all the American elections from the beginning of my political consciousness and also was fortunate to take two rigorous American History and two American Government courses while studying at American universities. The intense debates between the right and the left, and the festive atmosphere of the campaigns, stump speeches, endless news analysis, these are all part of this intriguing election process. In 21st century, like its predecessor 20th century, America is still looked upon as the beacon of hope in most parts of our wold. When subjugated people in severely autocratic ruled nation march in protest filled processions, many look upon American style of freedom of speech, representational democracy and its allure of modernity and a nation based on tolerance and decency. Yes, nothing is perfect in this world, not is Americ...

So much options, so little time. This is the dilemma of the modernity of abundance. Binging in movies and endless TV series in so easily available wonderful Netflix streaming, hard core gaming in PS4 or Microsoft Xbox One, browsing through Facebook status and interesting feeds, tweets, funny cat and stupendous viral videos in YouTube, cool photos in Instagram, tumbling through Tumbler, pinning never to be read articles and essays and flipping Flipboard like a fantastic ninja. The ever increasing choices to capture the fleeting mind and the decreasing attention span. Where is the time for reading for the sole purpose of pleasure and broadening one's mind and outlook? Where is the energy and motivation and inspiration opening a melancholic novel written in poetic style illuminating humanity's goodness and its terrible shortcoming? No time and efforts for seeing the world from other person's perspective. The declining of readership of world's exquisite novels and stor...

I didn't know about the writer Robert J Sawyer. One of the daily deals that Amazon has for Kindle, I just went for it and got this book as it had a good price tag and good reviews. Once started reading it, I found it hard to put down. It's a fast paced book based on scientific and philosophical musings and the world and its indifference to the sufferings of the others. The writer had a hypothesis that entire human race is connected through quantum entanglement and that in individual level there are only one of three quantum levels one can be: Q1 as he termed are the "P-Zed" zombies who doesn't have any inner thoughts, just takes actions based on stimulants. The Q2 are the psychopath and Q3 people have full conscience. It was an interesting read. The writer invoked some of the current political turmoils in a not so distant future's light. I wish the end could be a bit less predictable. Still, I have enjoyed reading this book and would like to explore more of...

Outstanding speech by Hilary Clinton. I hope her inclusive vision becomes triumphant over Trump's exclusivity and fear based propaganda. The following quote from Hilary's speech I found to stay with me for a long time: "Though we may not live to see the glory, as the song from the musical Hamilton goes, "let us gladly join the fight." Let our legacy be about "planting seeds in a garden you never get to see." That's why we're here...not just in this hall, but on this Earth."  Beautifully said!

Some of the speeches at Democratic National Convention were inspiring. Here are my late night thought before falling into sleep: In the end, the decency, generosity and compassion of Americans I have personally known about will swipe away the despicable bigotry and intolerance of demagogue based politics. Also, loved reading a GQ article tonight. One memorable segment about Obama's legendary legacy in history I found to be eloquently stated: "This year’s carnival election, with Trump as a kind of debauched circus barker, only makes the distinction clearer. The absurdity and car-crash spectacle of it all have already lent Obama an out-of-time quality, as if he were a creature from another, loftier century. Whatever happens next, I feel this in my bones: We’ll look back at history, hopefully when we’re zooming down the Barack Obama Hyperloop Transport System, and think: That man was rare. And we were damn lucky to have him." Link to GQ article:  http://www.gq.com/story/obam...

Reading fiction, especially literary fiction, makes one feels more empathy toward others more than any other forms of writing. A good quote from Sarah Kaplan's article , "When we read about other people, we can imagine ourselves into their position and we can imagine it's like being that person, ....That enables us to better understand people, better cooperate with them." And that also helps lessening the heartless stereotyping of anyone. Gotta read more good fictions! Link to Sarah Kaplan's The Washington Post article: Does Reading Fiction Make You a Better Person?

Words have meaning As do sentences Weaved by cacophonous words Our languages Dialects like the colorful butterfly Fluttering wings Spread over the fragrant flowers And vibrant leaves of summer Our tears have roots Like the tree of knowledge Curved into the depth Of abyss Crisscrossing mushy mud, pebbles and stones As if a meteorite striking Past the twinkling star Bones tremble Like the rattling train engine Our words and tears Put a wrapper on our numb agonies Witnessing the vibrant leaves, Colorful flowers wither away Even the sunny summer and sprinkling rain Could not hold back their gloomy demise One day We will depart This world of immeasurable grace And allure that the singing birds Praise in every dawn and dusk All the stones will remain As the mushy mud and the pebbles In sandy beach will be washed Again and again by ever salty ocean Our simple hopes and aching love Our cowering fear and muddy rage ...

It's heart breaking! Hoping one day the world will get back its collective compassion and sanity while the mindless terrorism, brutal wars, political violence, deepening bigotry and hatred will be cast aside for the sake of neglected humanity. Martin Luther King Jr. said it the best as it does not matter who the victims are, wherever they are, from the hacked bloggers, minorities and ordinary men and women in Bangladesh, gunned down civilians in Tel Aviv, relentless mayhem and subjugation of populace in Palestine, the heart wrenching massacres in Paris and Brussels, every day blood letting in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and increasingly in Turkey, repeated horrors in Pakistan, or the drowning of hundred of helpless migrants in the mediterranean, or the senseless murders of innocents in a gay night club of Orlando, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatev...

Ali, Ali, Ali Chant the fans, The roaring crowd Muhammad Ali Cassius Clay Who floored Liston, Frazier Norton, Foreman Saying hay!  Who is the prettiest one? "Float like a butterfly Sting like a bee The hands can't hit What the eyes can't see" Ali, Ali, Ali Muhammad Ali The meanest, the greatest The poet dancing With the gloves in the ring Said no to war and bigotry Without fear but full of Alacrity, lived everyday As the very last one And the last one  Has arrived and gone To dimming dusk Ali, Ali, Ali Muhammad Ali Rest in peace the crazy bravest man!

Stephen Hawking's dire warning regarding the catastrophic climate change: "a  more immediate danger is runaway climate change,” Hawking  said . “A rise in ocean temperature would melt the ice-caps, and cause a release of large amounts of carbon dioxide from the ocean floor. Both effects could make our climate like that of Venus, with a temperature of 250 degrees.” Climate change is the single most devastating threat the world is facing. With unified global collaboration the world must face it and implement a practical solution in urgent basis. 

The pictures and videos emerging from the burning fire in and around Fort McMurray are painful to watch. An entire town was evacuated, thousands of homes and other infrastructures are burned to the ground. Families had to leave their home and all belongings, most will be lost in the raging fire. I never thought that a major city like Fort McMurray would face so sudden and drastic demise.  People from all walks of life in Canada and beyond along with Canadian federal government and Alberta provincial government have come forward to help the evacuees. A firefighter friend of my, Chris, is already in the raging city, battling the fire with utmost devotion, the devotion to protect people's home, school, offices, hospitals, playground and industrial areas. Many have opened their homes, taking in the devastated fire evacuees. And many more have donated to Red Cross, even going through a tough, turbulent economy in Alberta, that didn't resist them sharing their dwindling resources, in...

Rest in peace dear Prince Happy birthday beloved queen Songs of love without mince Bolden Royal smile, pristine I thought you are immortal Will live forever above fractal Of life and villainous death Queen is alive, long live the queen But the bat dancing prince died,  leaving the colourful blooming wreath Scattered around the dismal gloom When the doves cry,  All the birds flutter wings and fly Away, far away.

I thought this problem was resolved years ago. When the news came about more than a decade back, lots of international activities were observed. Many deep wells were dug, many promises were made by successive Bangladeshi governments and international organizations and many sympathetic nations. It's not that all these efforts were just simply fruitless. Many millions got spared from drinking arsenic contaminated water in Bangladesh. But according to this news article published in ABC it is the poor, the most marginalized and the people with no political clout are suffering the most because of rampant nepotism and the overall poor governance in Bangladesh. Here is an excerpt: "An estimated 20 million people in Bangladesh are still being poisoned by arsenic-tainted water — a number that has remained unchanged from 10 years ago despite years of action to dig new wells at safer depths, according to a new report released Wednesday by  Human Rights Watch .   The New York-based ...

Pope Francis washes the feet of Muslim migrants, says we are 'children of the same God' from The Washington Post http://wpo.st/jRcP1 My deep respect for the great Pope Francis. One does not need to believe the same or any religion to recognize the symbolic gesture of compassion shown by this pious man to the vilified human beings (children, women, men) who fled the wars, many of them are now facing the backlash of bigotry spawning from the political exploitation. Goodness still has the core residence in this world. Pope Francis is one of the good souls like many in different faiths and non faith whose relentless struggles over zealots and fools are the source of inspiration.

What's happening  Boy, twisted metal Blaring sirens Destroy the  Musical scream Deep into the night Dark time screeches  The passersby School children  Throws the books  Of science and art Out the cryptic window Uttering flamboyant vow Not to return To the lands of the vulgar creep Mourning the mangled dead The bloody hat, prosthetics Colourful, and cheery Riders of the galloping horses Squeezing the eye lids, scrutinize All that look different, hazy Muttering the words of flame Shame! Shame! Shame! Says the neighbour, Shopkeeper, random man With dry washed suit And the lady pushing a stroller Out of here! Out of this land! Says the mass in electronic flare What's happening Had happened before Times and again Here, on this land Where the freedom reign With the songs of glory Of Beauty, goodness supreme There, the invaded, Chastised, incinerated Where little children With dried tears and muffled groan Play tic tac toe  On bloodied mud and stone Or colouring ...

All the Light We Cannot See A fantastic book, read like an epic prose poem, so much emotions, incisive observations of the war when the good and the bad collided, the dreams and the yearning for a life and longing for the loved ones, the blindness of meaningless war that had claimed so many innocent lives!  All the light we cannot see through our ordinary eyes and senses, that the colluded mind bounces from, only the brave and the kind soul who can stand affirm and say boldly no to injustice of any kind eviscerating fear to thousand pieces can have the meaningful glimpse.  Read this book and let your forever young heart cries in agony and smile with joy in taking the simple pleasures of life, as did the blind girl and the misplaced "very small" soldier with his precocious sister felt. 

I am glad that I have just finished reading Victor E. Frankl's deeply impactful book "Man's Search for Meaning". The writer was a psychiatrist who had survived the terrible Concentration Camp during the Second World War. The main part of this book was written not too long after the writer's release. Every page of this book I found to be meaningful, so eloquently written the humaneness of our existence, through sheer sufferings and joyful freedom. I could not resist myself sharing some of the enlightening words of wisdom from this must read book that to me are timeless. If you read one book this year, I humbly recommend that pick up this book and read it from the beginning to end, highlighting the words and sentences written by a man with a kind and genuine heart.  Here are some excerpts:  "In reality there are only two races, namely the “race” of decent people and the “race” of people who are not decent." "That decent people are in the minority, tha...

This is the third book by Kazuo Ishiguro I've read. Like the other two books I'd read years ago, namely The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, The Buried Giant transported me to a different time and a place, about 1500 years in the past, in the land of craggy hills, desolate cairn, musty warren where in the wild the giant ogres roam, pixies swim and crawl from the depth of the river, and the fog covers the 'peaceful' land, where the inhabitants suffer from the sweet forgetfulness, and even a dragon's poisonous breath hovers over the land. The character development I found to be skilful. The main characters, the old couple Axl and Beatrice are on a journey to see their only son, and the story unfolds, layer by layer from their arduous journey. Two great warriors, an old knight from the time of King Arthur and a travelling warrior from the 'Fenland', cross the path of Axl and Beatrice. The descriptions of the ambience and dialogues of the old Britons and ...