Grains of Sand at Inani Beach

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.” ― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

“We are travelers on a cosmic journey,stardust,swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Mongol Shovajatra

Mongol Shovajatra is a traditional event – a procession mainly, held on the morning of Bangla New Year. The rally known for its vivid, exotic art installations, is primarily organized by students of Charukola – The Art Institute of the University of Dhaka.

Pahela Baishakh, or the Bangla New Year is held on 14th April each year. The creative force behind this important traditional event starts preparing for the procession days ahead. Important, because in brief it symbolizes secularism of our culture, secularism which is a major factor to our nation’s unity. In a state long suffered from ensuring the rights of minority because of the onslaught of religious fundamentalism, this powerful event which promotes secularism called Mongol Shovajatra attended by thousands somehow reestablishes the fact that there is still an event where any people can walk – a point where all Bangladeshis are one. You don’t necessarily have to be a Muslim or a Hindu or a Christian. Subsequently and quite naturally, the event is criticized or otherwise plainly neglected by people who leans to the right side of our political spectrum, having a mixed cultural view in terms of both Religion and Nationality.

It was my first time at Mongol Shovajatra and it was amazing, it always is. The colorful masks, festoons take you the days of the kings and queens, the hard working farmers from a thousand years, the things that we used everyday but have been replaced now with things that is not quite our own. The procession is supported by the massive fair of Pahela Baishakh around the Dhaka University campus area, which brings back elements of our Bangla culture we seemingly thought to have forgotten to care amid borrowed elements from neighbors and as the result of having past invaders to Bangla.

Days of Sparrows

I’d rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I’d rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would

Away, I’d rather sail away
Like a swan that’s here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world its saddest sound
Its saddest sound

I’d rather be a forest than a street
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I’d rather feel the earth beneath my feet
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would

– Simon and Garfunkel

Nightly

Only the nightly night knows when it sleeps. People stick to the lights and ponder. Dogs walk aimlessly and barks to break the silence. Cars rest their wheels. The city already slept alone.

Guard tune in to the radio and pass his time in the melodies.

Taking the long road out of the city, there’s a mountain. A monolith – that stands in the night and guards the city behind. A river flows by the mountain and fishes swim in the water and swim deep, deep as the dark of the night.

Mother, Guiding Child’s Footsteps

This is from Himchori, Cox’s Bazar, where I was reluctantly standing away from the not so tempting waterfall the place is known for. I saw this mother sitting close to me wearing a same reluctant mood, wearing my country’s colors, with her kid’s shoes. Her kid is overjoyed and she’s gracefully keeping his shoes.

And then, they left.

Grief, Grind, and Glory of Work

Steve McCurry is amazing and so inspirational. Somehow, Steve McCurry takes his to a perfect place between abstract art and straight forward style of storytelling of documentary photography. What makes his works so adorable to me is his ability to touch your heart.