Cyclone hits Bangladesh

A natural calamity has yet again hit Bangladesh: a deadly cyclone (Cyclone Sidr) that has taken away 2,300 lives so far and the death toll is predicted to rise to 10,000. The link below tells us one of the many heartbreaking stories of the affected victims.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7100879.stm

During this crisis, the least we can do is send money to help out such victims. The link below gives a list of some organizations that are raising funds and helping with the relief effort. http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2007/11/19/sidr-donation/

Let's all pray and hope that we can recover from this tragic incident soon.

Sawsan

best pick-up line ever!

I was wearing a T-shirt that read ECU. Someone stops me and goes excitedly "Oh, did you go to that university?". Totally baffled, I look down on my T-shirt and am trying to recall what university ECU stands for. As I am about to break his excitement by answering no to his question, he continues with a straight face "umm, let's see....extra....cute....university?" and then breaks into a grin. I couldn't help cracking up and feeling absolutely flattered. Thanked him and gave him the sweetest smile I could for making my day!

Instability

The human mind is the epitome of instability. Or is it just me? I cannot think of a single field, ranging from medicine to painting, that I haven't thought of exploring. I mean...seriously...I cannot be the sole example of such a scatter-brain at the age of 26!

Year 2007 has blessed me with fantasies of being a psychologist, journalist/writer, businesswoman, actuary, lawyer, psychologist again, dancer, actuary again, and finally back to journalist. In order to take this latest (short-lived?) passion to the next level, I have started the process of applying to grad schools in the UK to study journalism. Thou asketh of me if this is an impulsive move? I guess I'll find out soon enough, won't I?

A friend's optimistic remark to this instability: "Sawsan, I love it that you are so full of life and want to do all these different things!". Shanthi, thank you for the encouragement. :)

pre - july 4th weekend in a barren city.

culturally rich as I hummed to Sahana Bajpai's 21st century version of Robindro Shongit (a genre of songs written by renowned bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore).
expanded on worldly knowledge as I made it through four politically thought-provoking articles from the Economist.
intellectually stimulating as I continued reading a book about my country's independence...
religiously content after praying in solitude...
academically (almost) accomplished as I made progress with a Masters project that is wayyyy overdue!
physically challenged by strenuous gym sessions with the intent of training for a bike race in 6 days!
brave saturday night rituals that included a nervous walk in the neighborhood of Harlem in the late hours of the night...
educational movie experience about the WSJ journalist Daniel Pearl, A Mighty Heart...heart-breaking but a very well-made film.

a barren city? what a misnomer!

simplicity

...was thinking today that life used to be so much simpler back in the day....carefree, fun...laughs, giggles, satisfaction, pleasure from simple things....and now, as we grow older, it's gotten harder to just be and enjoy things for what they are....because we know better....and are wiser than yesterday....supposed to be a good thing eh? I guess everything comes with a price....you give up on innocence, naiveness, untangled thoughts as you gain experience, wisdom and maturity.....but at least now I know that tomorrow I will look back upon today and in retrospect, will fondly smile at how simple life used to be. what a cycle!