Thought craft

Pahela Baishakh 2022: Pahela Baishakh is back

Thought craft / What is essential?

My grandson, a delightful child aged five, is always full of smiles and good cheer. He trotted in from school one day, joyful as usual, and announced “I love everyone, including the people I don’t know!” “But there are so many people in the world,” I replied. “How will you find space in your heart for all of them?”

Season of fruitfulness and fortune

I see a flash of yellow, then a glimpse of parrot wings, sometimes even a baby parrot perched on a terrace railing, or crows arguing on a distant ledge. Butterflies flutter past, tiny messengers of births and marriages, there is much to enjoy in the constant activity of nature.

Diary of a Homemaker

There is little to do these days. The virus has struck fear into the stoutest hearts, and most of us have changed our lifestyles to suit the times.

The peacefulness of water

The universal dream of Paradise is a garden, nourished by crystal-clear waters. The garden of Jannat, with the waters of Salsabil and Tasneem; the Biblical garden of Eden, and the mythical Elysian fields are all havens of peace, with channels of flowing water,

Thought craft / Of life and memories

When a new year begins, most of us try to sort through and organise all the detritus of earlier years, and start afresh with tidier cupboards, and neater desks. It can be an interesting task, because we come across things long forgotten, or thrown aside, to be looked at another time. Sometimes, we find really special things, long forgotten, but important.

Thought craft / On being well and unwell

There are few things as all-encompassingly comfortable as a large soft warm bed. Nestled in soft sheets, with fluffy pillows cradling my head, and the gentle weight of the quilt over me, I feel I need nothing more.

Thought craft / A delightful day

“Oh! This is so you. What a wonderful colour! You have to buy this right away,” says one lady to another.

Thought craft / The essence of nature

I saw a picture the other day. It was just a picture of a simple green shrub; but there, in the centre, glowing like a jewel, was one perfect coral pink heart-shaped leaf.

The Young at Heart

The Young at Heart Someone else, not foreign and also past forty, said the opposite, which was that older people should put aside all

Golden women

The streets of Dhaka being what they are, one has time to just look around and observe things from the car while waiting at traffic lights or while stuck in jams: hugely battered buses driven by what look like twelve-year old boys high on cough syrup; cheap cars; costly cars; and people going about their daily business.

Of housework and exercise

I also liked doing housework, truthfully! In my mind the bending, lifting, cleaning and mopping made up for my reluctance to go to the gym. I even found washing dishes therapeutic, and I would find myself humming while I soaped and rinsed, admiring the rose sprigs on my saucers, or the blue border of a much-loved tea cup.

December a season of happiness

The months have flown by, and so did December, one of the loveliest months of the year. There is a crisp feel to the air, and the winter flowers have begun to show their blooms — dahlias, roses and all the other delicate flowers that cannot blossom in the heat.

Kitchen Disasters: Fond Memories

We had arrived in Cairo on our first posting, and the Ambassador and family had come to tea. I had baked strawberry cake from what was supposed to be a full proof cake mix.

Great women

I feel the pleasures of the eye before everything else. Someone glides past in a shaded sari flowing from grey to flame orange, I see a figure in exquisite embroidered powder blue, a vision in mint green chiffon, and suddenly flash of brilliant red lipstick.