Bengal Cafe, DC

It is a week now I am beyond the protective wings of my family-disproportionately female dominated as it is manned by just three ladies of three generations: Ushashi, her mother and her mother's mother (in law).

I can't exactly remember the title of a Boston Globe article published in praise of the lone Bangladeshi restaurant "Bengal Cafe"in greater Boston region. As far as I can recollect, in an exclamatory tone the article's title read, If Mom had come all the way from Bangladesh! The reporter sort of vouched that for those of us, the Bangladeshi students and other fellows who were scattered across the Charles River far off the touch of mothers, the delicious foods served at the Bengal would fill the void! Ali Bhai and Bhabi's (the couple who, thankfully opened and have still been running the Bengal Cafe) personal care turned the restaurant into more than an eating place for us.

My wife's general rating of myself as a social being is that I am a boring person since it's unkind of any family man to get cordoned off by stuffy readings at weekends that again are systematically depleted and only to come after painstakingly extended weekdays!" Your daughter will just be pissed off someday"-one of her parting warnings before catching the flight to Bangladesh.

As time and again I re-assure my reasonably anxious family that thanks to the generosity of my colleagues and their families in DC, Maryland and Virginia I am taken a great care everyday: at home, at office and honestly, wherever I am! Because of my batch-mate colleague Nazmul and his wife, Rawnak Bhabi , I even have the opportunity to overeat! They together have endured to attempt Amma's cooking style and take care of my calorie-intake around times they saw me taking meals last one year; (as if the mother's part in perpetuating her kid's inability to independently handle own life is not enough!) All I can say, never can I repay the debt they have encumbered me in! That's at home.

On the office front, I don't know, how exactly could I narrate the mental support I've received from my senior colleague, Jashim Sir, who unfailingly asks me how I am in absence of the family before entrusting me to every single task! So kind of him.

When I was first employed at the Foreign Office, my family and I myself were not just in the dark in respect of such job placements in this particular livelihood. We were mentored to remain mentally prepared for a life as a stranger both socially and institutionally (at the Foreign Service Academy, for instance, we had mandatory cooking sessions ! I might have had a passing grade at Rahmat's magnanimity.).

In case I appear partly pulverized today, would just like to refrain from any aggressive marketing for my foreign life/service which came either by fate or choice as I see past the first week away from family. Should I disqualify someday!

My mother leaves Washington

Just one week shy of one year since we arrived in Washington, DC, my mother along with my wife and the baby has left for Bangladesh. Though my memory is not that vivid, I think the last time it such happened was at my infancy when my mother left me at her mother's (my grandma's) place-in Kapasia, Gazipur- in order for her to attend a primary Teachers' Training Programme. During my mother's long and extra-ordinary ordeal- which predates my birth and was very much the same till her last moments at our Apartment on the Willard Ave-a number of occasions only she saw me off. Barely did I notice before Amma's departure that- an ever so industrious lady as she is-not only cooked foods for me as much as was possible to ensure I do not go unfed at the family's absence; Amma just could not be careless enough to forget about putting on the dining table one jug full of purified water.[ I apologize to Bayezid Bostami if had insulted the great Saint with an anecdot on life saving water in a riverse direction between mother and son! ]

My colleague Nazmul and his wife (Rawnak Bhabi) accompanied me to the Dulles Airport when I for the first time saw off my mother in a foreign land. Last one year Amma found them very much as the same family members.

As the summer harbingers, I found Amma praising the Montgomery County people for keeping the county park near our Apartment so clean . This year's winter is not yet over and I suppose, the Park's regular summer time visitors have not yet started returning. To the annoyance of Swarna, last year Amma took Ushashi to the Park lake and Dolna a number of occasions making it the one year old's most favourite outing.

When Ushashi is back in mid-June, she is most likely to miss out adventures on another summer unless her mother is convinced that the one year older baby's health is at reasonably less risk in the bushy corners than last year which was braved by an indulging grandma.

Happy New Year 2011

In just a few hours, we shall say bye to 2010 and welcome the new year of 2011. This year I started serving in a foreign mission for the first time in my foreign service career. My transfer order was signed on 7 January'10 and I joined the Mission on 1 April. My experience of working at the Washington Mission is now 9 months except for three months at the London School of Economics (mid May-mid August, 2010). For my family members (Ushashi, Swarna and Amma) this is their first ever new year in a foreign country.

An important event for our family in this year was the wedding of my cousin Eshita on 31st night. My family members have a mixed reaction that we four are detached from rest of the family at the ceremony which is incidentally second such thing for our generation in the family! I was the first to tie the knot in December 2007.

Other notable things that happened to me in the soon-to-be- last year are:

Driving car: With assistance from my colleague Mr. Mehedul I could buy a Nissan Altima 2005 from a car auction center. My colleagues are appreciative of the car's look and make. Mr. Khokon gave the first encouragement and lession to drive in Washington streets.

Visiting Japan, Ireland, France and Scotland: I had a brief stopover in Tokyo at my colleague Nazmul Bhai's place. Though he was extremely busy over independence day programmes and the Ambassador's departure, Nazmul Bhai was extremely genrous with us and took the time to drive/guide us around important buildings in Tokyo. Again it all happened when Bhabi and the kids were away from him in Bangladesh. I went to Dublin for just one weekend. Stayed at the Camden Place Hostel. It was a very brief time; however, I was fortunate to meet a very friendly group of US student tourists. With them I took a city ride and even brought groceries to cook together and share one evening's meal at the hostel!

At the courtesy of my old friend Pauline and her husband Louis, I had a birthday celebration in Paris. Pauline and Louis came from Switzerland while I went to Paris by a bus from London. Eiffel Tower, Victor Hugo's home, Sorbonne University campus provide some of the most memorable images of my French trip.

We were taken to Scotland by the Hansard Society to study Scottish politics and parliament. Fortunately we could attend a question answer session at the Scottish Parliament involving the incumbent Prime Minister Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party (SNP). I had two dinners at the Bangladeshi restaurant Royal Bengal: one with my LSE classmate/roommate Fabricio and another with my old friend from IR department of Dhaka University Richie who, now settled in Dundee, drove all the way from his home to meet me after a span of around 13/14 years!

RUSI
I worked at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) as a temporary staff member during my studies at the LSE. RUSI, the oldest think-tank of UK, is a memorable experience for me. Located opposite to the British Parliament and just a few yards from the Westminster Tube station, it is a great meeting point of British intelligentsia having bent in defence and security matters. My interaction with the RUSI scholars such as Alex, Avnish, Dr. Jonathon, Dr. Lisa, Prof Clarke is really cherishable. Founded in 1831 by the Duke of Wellington, RUSI still remains one of the unique British institutions that promotes scholarly research and critical thinking in defence and security matters. I was also lucky to have publication in the RUSI newbrief.

Day long study tour at Oxford: As part of the Hansard Research Scholars Programme, we had a day-long political studies trip at Oxford. We had two classes at the Oxford Department of Politics and International Relations on British Constitution and Parliament. It was a very useful exposure and we were given free time to walk around the Oxford campus and the town. We were given group tickets but I ran to and fro only on my interests and curiousity that's why lost track of other group mates. As a result I returned London alone paying extra fare!

Victory Day Celebrations in the Embassy

In celebration of the victory day 2010, the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington, DC organized a cultural programme on December 18. The Embassy event was attended by a large number of non resident Bangladeshies. A discussion preceded the cultural programme which was anchored by my wife Swarna. Incidentally, this was her first ever any such public appearance. Most of my colleagues at the Embassy and their spouses were appreciative of Swarna's handling of the programme as a first timer.

The theme of the cultural programme was the songs of the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro. The audience highly lauded our idea of organizing the event with patriotic songs which are an integral part of our glorious liberation war.

My colleague Nazmul impressed all with his talents in painting. His art works presenting images of the valiant freedom fighters served as a truly fitting background of the stage. The audience's enthusiasm and passion for the liberation war songs turned the Embassy premise into a mini Bangladesh.

An important aspect to note was that for such a huge event the Embassy did not need to look for any outside artists. Except for harmonium and tabla, it was all the Embassy officials and their spouses. With virtually no capacity for myself to contribute to a musical soiree of this scale, I can only take pride in my Embassy family's geniuses and remorse that I never learnt music!

Authentic Georgian Cuisine at Restaurant Tamada

Thanks to our Georgian classmate in the Hansard Programme at LSE, Keti, we have had a delicious dinner at Restaurant Tamada, Boundary Road, London. The food we took included: badrijani (stuffed aubergines with onions, herbs and walnuts), sacivi (chicken in a traditional Georgian walnut sauce), soko (slowly cooked mushrooms with onions and herbs), lobio (stewed red beans with herbs and garlic), lobiani (stewed red beans griddle baked flat bread), khachapuri (cheese filled griddle baked flat bread) and some other small courses. All six of us were completely full after taking starters and main courses and had to end the dinner before moving on to desserts. The lady in charge came to us to know if we liked the foods since our classmate had worked hard to impress us. We expressed our appreciation. In the last three months this is the third time we've taken dinner in a group; the previous two were at Egyptian and Bangladeshi restaurants.

I took my classmates to the Bengal Cuisine at the Brick Lane station last week. Some of them were a bit familiar with the pre-dominance of the Bangladeshis in restaurant business in UK thanks to 'Brick Lane' by Monica Ali. My classmates were highly appreciative of the Bangladeshi food and the top quality service of the Bangladeshi waiters. Some of the American students said they would visit Bengal cuisine a few more times before leaving London.

LSE days

Today (19th July 2010) was our last class at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The topic of the last class was Corporate Social Responsibility. I recollect while I was working at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka, as a Research Associate I was the rapporteur in a CPD dialogue on 'Corporate Social Responsibility: Where do we stand?'[Click for the dialogue report: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan018959.pdf]

The topics covered in the last three months under the Hansard Scholars Programme at LSE were wide ranging: Democracy and Public Policy, Government and Opposition, Parliament and Representation, Constitution and Rights, European Union. The field trips to the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Political Study visit to Oxford University were particularly interesting. In one of my academic journals I mentioned that it would probably be a great step if we could constitute an office like BIS in Bangladesh. I am particularly thankful to Prof Peter Catterall for devoting one session to Security Issues in South Asia to which my Hansard dissertation has a strong relevance.

Aside from the twice a week classes at LSE, I have been working as an Intern at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) at Whitehall, London. RUSI director Dr. Jonathan Eyal entrusted me to contribute to the RUSI newsbrief and Head of the Asia Programme Alex Neil involved me in the 15 July event on Water Security and Hydropolitics in South Asia. I found my time at RUSI quite interesting. It employs a very talented bunch of researchers who are well versed in contemporary defence and security issues. I am grateful to them that despite lacking any prior experience in defence matters they allowed me as an intern. I had a sweet-sour experience of Tuesday mornings as I had to rush to the Tube station for attending the staff meetings.

Last weekend (16-18 July 2010) I was fortunate to meet Pauline and Louis (my friends from Boston who also attended my wedding to Dhaka) in Paris. Thanks to them I had a fascinating time in Paris. I regret that more than one occasions in my life I wasted the opportunity of learning French which now appears to be extremely melodious! I am not sure when in future I would have one more chance!

At Paris, I loved the visits to museum, the palaces, Victor Hugo home, Eiffel Tower and last but not the least the extremely delicious French foods. I had a sense of why people refer to the French in any discussion on art and culture. The entire city of Paris looks like a big museum. I want visit Paris soon with my wife Swarna and daughter Ushashi. It was a pity that during my maiden trip to the land of culture they were not with me.

Hansard Society took us to Edinburgh which Sir Walter Scott called as 'my own romantic town'. As a matter of fact, the lustrous plain-lands, mountains and castles would make anybody nostalgic in Scotland. My visit to the Scottish Parliament was the fourth occasion that I happened to visit a Parliament after Dhaka, Calcutta and Berlin.

My visit to Dublin (2-3 July 2010) is another notable moment in the last three months. I suddenly met with an American group of young visitors with which I had a lot of sightseeing in Dublin. We watched world cup football game together, bought groceries, cooked and ate together. I passed only two days at the Camden Place Hostel in Dublin as it was a very short weekend.