Seventy something Hanufa Begum wakes up everyday between 3 to 4 in the morning. Her first task of the day is cleaning the roads of the local market in a village called Bagachra in Jessore. i.e, tini ekjon rasta jharudar. After she finishes with the cleaning of the roads, she goes to the local hospital where she does the same thing. She dusts & wipes the floors. You would consider that this is not an out of the ordinary harsh tale of an old individual trying to make ends meet. You would be wrong. What is EXTRAORDINARY about Hanufa Begum is what she does with the subsistence living she makes doing these difficult things at her age. She helps people who are less fortunate than hers!!!. This magnificent lady has an orphanage/shelter that she has been running for the last twenty years. She uses her meagre income to support abandoned children. Her latest addition is a lady older than herself, mentally challenged. She feeds this lady with her own hand, every single day.

This is just one of the stories of 10 extraordinary men & women who epitomize “self sacrifice”. There is Ziaul Haque from Chapainawabganj. Bhodrolok'er boyosh 72 ebong tini doi bikri koren. Everyday he cycles at least 40 kms with the 30kg doi on his head. After finishing his education upto class 5, he couldn't continue anymore because he didn't have the money to buy books. Ever since that time, he has been working tirelessly to help the people in his community to finish their education. Be it buying them books, paying for their tuition or getting them stationary. There is Abdul Malek in his mid nineties from Madaripur who has been providing free education to children in that community for the last 63 years. Absolutely free. He makes his living by sewing. He walks 4kms each way everyday to go to his school.

Extraordinary tales of triumph for humanity, self sacrifice, devotion. We could travel the world up and down and may not find stories more endearing than these. Of utter selflessness. Which is what is disturbing for people like us. What have we done so far? Yes, yesterday when I was attending the program organized by my company to honour these 10 individuals chosen from the length and breadth of the country, it made me realize the sheer pettiness and insignificance of my existence. I have seen stalwarts of the country, some weeping, some misty eyed, some crying silently, as they watched the stories of these people unfold, all with incredible admiration and appreciation. All feeling less human than the chosen 10. These were people who had nothing but they gave away everything. We are nothing and have done nothing. That is what we will always be. Watch, admire, repent.

thought i would put it up here for the record. ishtiaq - ami desher bari giye jal diye telapia mach dhorsi. as promised earlier - it is time that you eat a sushi made from telapia. although i do not have those particular telapia mach (becoz they were cooked and eaten: quite delicious i might add), we can surely get one from the market.

yes sir - it was a cool morning on the 9th of december, when my dulabhai decided that he will try his luck fishing in our pond. upon seeing him with the jal - something inside me told me that this is the day. this is the day the fate of several telapia and some baccha rui and katal mach will rest with me. and then i did it. jal nia pukurey marlam - ebong shundor well spread circular bhabey porlo panitey. what a sight. obisshassho ghotona. it was pure magic. ahhhhh...and then as i pulled the net closer to the shore, there they were, glittering like silver, trying desperately to break their way out of the unforgiving net - beautiful telapia and some adoloescent rui and katol. ofcourse, i let the rui and katol go free. they were not old enough to be eaten. however, the telapias were quite delectable indeed.

spoke to asif chowdhury yesterday. of all places on God's earth, from fujaira in the UAE. hasnt changed a bit. first two minutes were pure unadulterated "bangla gali". the bastard is coming to town on Jan 15th with his new wifey, and his brand new kid. dui mash thakbe. it will be interesting. will be seeing him after i dunno...err 13 years.

also my semi holiday in dubai is coming to an end tomorrow. it was good fun while it lasted. its back to the grind and the anarchy of bangladesh from tuesday onwards....sigh....

in an unusual show of luck, my gains of poker last night was 1740 taka! also playing first time with cognizance of all the rules made the game much mroe interesting. i like.

shara raat ghumai nai. ekhon kemon jani dazed lagtesey. feel a bit dizzy, disoriented. officey aisha boisha asi. kono kaj hocche na. just the psychological consolation that work will happen. when, i dont know. have to leave the office at 7 and go to asif's b'day dinner @ koreana. will end up playing cards, have a bit of soju, go home. sleep. come back tomorrow and fret abt the absolute indifference and promise myself that i will not do it next time. only next time will be a repeat of the same indifference, promises and more fretting. there is an air of mystery in the office. something is up. only time will tell what.

ei ajaira presentation banaitey ar iccha kortesey na. kobey j eishob faltu kaj bondo hobey k janey!!!

i feel like i am in a thriller. the drive to office was full of suspense. mair khabo ki khabo na. gari bhangbe ki bhangbe na. yes. very very exciting times ahead.

okay...time to update. highlights since I last wrote.
19/10
1. went to Trishna for dinner before going to delhi. the most amazing pomfret I have ever tasted. ektu mone hoi beshi bolle fellam. went there with zaved bhai and shuchi. she did the ordering. jai hok...had a semi hasty dinner of butter garlic king crabs, tandoori prawns and soul kadi (sp??) for drink. extremely satiating. especially after the horrendous lunch I had at HLRC. (beware AR, for more spk to ZA). maybe its just God's way of letting me have it for not fasting. anyhoo, went to the newly transformed Bombay airport. its not half bad now compared to what it was 2 years back. checked in and then then boarded 30 mins late with the hi diwali crowd going to delhi. the flight itself was uneventful. reached delhi and because of extremely hi traffic at delhi airport we had to hover around the sky for almost an hour before the plane landed.

20/10
when I boarded the jam packed jet airways bus to go to the terminal, I thought it would be 2 mins max. WRONG. it took all of eternity and then some more for the bus to reach the terminal. the domestic terminal pura macher bazaar hoye gesilo. I could hardly breathe at the conveyor belt. all the various flights of jet airways into delhi landed and everyone's luggage was in one belt. that would be a jumbo jet, and two normal boeing 747. so predictably it took 1 hour for my bag to arrive. finally got out of the airport @ 2:30 AM. poor farial and dipankar were waiting since 12:45. anyhoo, it was great to see them after so long. finally crashed @ 4 in the morning after gezafying, since I wasnt going anywhere in particular I could wake up late.

yeah right! farial and dips had their way and was I forcibly awakened @ 9 in the morning to have tea and b/f. ayaanta onek cute hoia gesey. picchi is very matured and thoughtful. went to dilli haat later in the afternoon. cought up with happenings and roamed around. I love that place. great food, colourful people and a festive look about it for diwali. brimming with life. bought this and that, had momos and thukri. went back to pick ayaan up from farial's in laws and went back to their place. it was chota diwali day. the whole neighborhood was lit with multicolor lights and candles. there were fire crackers all around. not limited to age, everyone was indulging in a little bit of fun. I had my share with ayaan and dips. joboney eto potaka futai nai. there were so many kinds of stuff. didnt have so much fun in a long time. et apres, went up and shab-e-qadr er namaaz porlam. again on a bed sheet since idiot farial didnt have a prayer mat. tar por ektu pink wine khailam. alcohol after a very very very long time. and then some very delicious mutton, chicken and cottage cheese b-b-q prepared by farial. and then went and did some more fotkabazi. and then the highlight.

21/10 - AM
we headed for jame masjid. no, not for praying but for some out of the world, most amazing, most delectable, mouth watering, jaw droppingly good (can I use that phrase to describe food?), mutton burra kababs available on the face of this earth. if someone asks me what I would like to have before I die. definitely mutton burra kababs from Karim's. jame masjid is almost like puran dhaka. the place was full of life when we reached there at around 12 midnight. 1. because of ramadan, 2. it was shab-e-qadr. eto lok j hata jacchilo na. sea of people converging towards the masjid. I could clearly see dips not feeling comfortable. I was a bit uneasy too, what with the red tika on his forehead - probably inviting trouble. so there we were, on the holy night of shab-e-qadr. me, dipankar, ayaan and farial (dressed in t-shirt and trousers) on our mission to Karim's. gelam and ten we had to wait for 10 mins before we could be seated because of the number of people. I could hardly contain myself. after two years of fantasizing about it. here. finally. Karim's. mutton burra kababs. ummmmmmmmmm....mukhey pani eshe jacchilo at the prospect. at the same time ektu apprehensive. will it live upto the expectation of the long wait? will dips be as ecstatic about it, given his constant grumbling for having to drive me in this decrepit geography? anyhoo ordred two full plates of it, added brain fry, more mutton curry, tandoori roti, roll and mutton biryani (for later). and then it came. the King kababs themselves. and then khailam. it was not as good as I remembered it. but nevertheless, it was fantastic. I mean I was already stuffed with grilled fodo earlier in the day. jaihok..khailam, dailam, ber hoilam, prayer mat kinlam (finally something which she can give her visitors), ayaan er jonno tupi kinlam ebong poralam. it was a pretty good sight. lal tika dewa dipankar koley korey tupi pora baccha nia hatteysey in delhi jame masjid area. neat eh.

the next morning woke up at the usual time. it was the main diwali. stayed home mostly apart from a 20 min shopping outing near her house. ayaan er shathey time spend korlam. ended up lighting a lot more smorgasbord of potakas. watched the family in front of their house light a rocket. first it was the household help, with candles, matches, and other stuffs. didnt work. then came the son with all the previous mentioned stuffs. didnt work. then came the mom. and then the father. and then the daughter in law. finally the household help came with a blazing fire stick. finally they lit it and saw the rocket go up in the sky and burst into a flowery shower of colors. it took them all in total 20 mins it light a simple rocket that should have taken 10 secs.

went to farial's in laws house for diwali dinner and more potakas. shokh mita gese. there was one potentially fatal accident. potentially. luckily. I lit up this heavy container of firecrackers. it’s filled with 10-12 partitions. every 3-4 seconds after lighting it, a shot it fired in the sky with a big bang. so there we were, one. two. three, four flares going up in the sky with ear bursting sounds. and then the can dislodged from its base and fell on its side. bang. one shot went in the neighbours’ house, right in the middle of a bunch of people sitting in from the house and having adda. huge pandemonium breaking out. and then one went in another house. and then one came right where we were standing. blazing flares, going in all direction, in a residential area. I was frankly extremely worried. I ran to the can and tried to kick it out of firing shots in peoples houses and then they were shouting behind me to stop being crazy and let it be. finally it all ended without any houses or people on fire. after it was over, dipankar's mom went about her business of apologizing to the neighbors, explaining the technicalities of the fire cracker and how it was faulty. however, the fire crackers didn’t stop. it seems to have become quite the norm. one of the rockets I lighted went and hit a glass window. thank god it was close. one of the neighbors rocket hit another door in the next house. this was quintessentially living dangerously. had dinner and then went to kali puja.

22/10 AM
Kali puja gathering. presumably a collection of people from bengal, deep in trance worshipping the goddess who had slain this beast with ten heads (??). think again. I found the pujari performing the ceremony almost to an empty crowd. so where were the people? they were all chatting or playing housie!!! man!!! naturally being a big fan of three cards and poker, I bought some housie tickets. divided them among farial, dipankar and myself. dipankar and I lost. farial won. tar por firot ashlam, packing korlam.

22/10 morning
reached calcutta at 11:30 AM and the connecting flight was at 7:50PM. so I went to the international terminal to see whether there was an earlier flight. lucky for me, I saw there was one @ 1:20. however, after much walking around and finding no biman officials (no surprise there) I went to the airport manager. and he duly informed me that the scheduled flight was combined into one and will leave in the evening. so there. the flight took off actually @ 9:30PM. no apology from biman on why the flight was cancelled, why the scheduled one was late in take off by 1 hour 40 mins. thought I just had to put this one down, given the fact that the jet airways captain was profusely apologetic for being late by ten minutes and will make up that time by reducing flying time!!

Okay been here for two days. met up with BB and BD. went thru a lot of drama of changing route, tickets and buying new tickets. am finally arriving in dhaka on 22nd instead of 20th as planned earlier. am looking forward to meet farial's kid and going to Karim's to have button barra kababs in delhi...yuuuummmmm...

had a great dinner @ Zaved Bhai's place last night. chicken briyani, beef and prawn curry. awesome food, a bit on the spicy side. watched the cricket match where west indies pulled of a stunner of a win. HURRAAAYYYYYYY!!! saw You, me & Dupree. pretty average, run of the mill, feel good comedy. eccentric yet good guy, loses job, friend takes him in, gets into a lot of trouble and then eccentric guy helps the friend...blah blah blah.....best part of the experience was the seat. you just sink in. its so comfortable that u fall asleep. they also have the lazy boy version of seats which costs twice as much. bombay hasnt changed much in the last two years. just a few more shopping malls. but suburban bombay has gone thru more extensive changes, according to ZA.

Experienced the bus service for the very first time purely out of austerity measure. the first day i took a taxi from the hotel to Haji Ali, it cost me 280 rupees. outch! so on my way back, i took the bus - Rs 9. and then a scooter - Rs 50 to andheri. if i had taken the taxi it would have cost me at the very least Rs 300. i feel good. saved a lot of money.

Also had taken an internet connection in the hotel for 4 hours costing 425 RS. ended up wasting the entire lot. apparently u have to use it at one go without breakage. the IT guys conveniently forgot to mention that when they gave me the login and PW. after initially logging on and making sure the net works, i shut down my PC and went out. later when i tried to log in, the prompt said that i dont have valid username and PW. and sure enough, at the bottom of the page, there was a disclaimer written in font size 8 - subscription has to be used at one go!!!! such a bloody scam!!! anyhoo - from now on i know what to look out for.

Although not my favorite anchor in TV, Steve Irwin was seriously enthusiastic about his job. From the looks of his shows, one could really see his genuine love and devotion to wildlife. its such a pity that it ultimately became the cause of his death.