Biography 332: Sleeping issues.

 Once upon a time, I didn't have any problem sleeping. It's not that I could sleep anywhere, like in a chair or a new place. But if I had a good sleeping environment, I didn't have any trouble sleeping. After dinner, sometimes I wanted to watch TV, sometimes my parents let me, and sometimes not. But when I went to my bed, I could sleep.

Now things have changed. Sometimes I can manage to get to bed on time, but most of the time I can't sleep. I try to relax, but nothing works. Then I have to get up and start working without sleep. Again, I try at bedtime, but nothing works. Sometimes, after a few days, I can. I have accepted my new condition. I don't always have to be perfect. I might have some trouble in my life.

Wanting someone and loving someone aren't the same.

 Wanting someone and loving someone aren't the same. When you want someone, you want them for yourself. You want to be physically and mentally benefited, to have kids with them, to have a good life because you expect they will help or provide that to you, etc. You don't consider what they might want, what their likes are, what their expectations are, or what will make them happy.

Let me give you an example. You may like or want chicken to eat. You will feed them properly and keep them in a good place so that one day you will eat them. You don't make a house for them to give them comfort or happiness, and you don't let them live the way they want to live, open and free to go anywhere they want. You may protect them from outside danger, but not for their sake; you do so for your own benefit.

Now think about what you think of your partner. Do you want them or do you love them? Be honest!

Kid's plate for cooking

 

It's my nature to prepare all the ingredients before I start cooking and keep them nearby. Here, I was using a kid's plate to keep ingredients for different curries.

Biography 331: Removed the phone number

 When I get angry at someone, I decide I won't communicate with that person anymore. After a while, my anger goes down, and I start thinking, what's the point? Everybody has problems. I can just ignore the issue and keep communicating. When I start communicating again, that person does the same thing to me again, and make me think I shouldn't have changed my mind and let them hurt me again.

When I was in school, we had a landline only. I used to keep a phone book and write all my classmates' phone numbers in it. If I decided not to call a person again for any reason, I used to cut the phone number out and mark it so dark that I couldn't figure it out again.

Because I knew I would change my mind after some time, I tried to recover the phone number and call that person again. I really tried, but because I had marked it as dark, I couldn't. I was thinking, why did I do that? I couldn't call that person anymore.

But I was right the first time. So I always try to follow my first decision. I know that if I change it, I might regret it more.

Myths believed by doctors.

 There are some myths that all doctors believe. One is that when a mother brings her child with a problem, there is actually no problem, and mom is worrying for nothing. I have seen this myth followed by doctors everywhere.

My suggestion is that you can believe anything you want. But as a doctor, if mom is saying something, please check it out and make sure there is no problem before declaring it.

I have seen many people suffer only because of this myth. Doctors didn't check properly because Mom was the one who pointed out the problem.

A book fair in a school

 

In Bangladesh, February is the month of the Book Fair. This book fair was arranged in a school for small kids. Kids enjoyed it a lot. Parents also didn't hesitate to buy the books their kids liked.

 

Ramadan Mubarak

 February 2026. Have a great Ramadan. Let's maintain the peace in life. Let's be happy.

Biography 330: Over phone calls.

 In my student life, I used to talk over phone for hours. It wasn't one-sided. People who talked with me also liked to keep the conversation going. Unless anyone showed annoyance, I kept going with this phone-a-friend conversation.

I liked phone calls because, when I speak in person, I don't just hear what they are saying; I see how they are reacting, what they are doing, and how much interest they show in my speaking. So, obviously, I shortened my sentences and completed the conversation. I don't want to annoy anyone, because I don't like to be annoyed, either.

Now that I am older, I like to talk over video calls too. I want to be sure how the person is reacting during the conversation, so I can decide what to say and what not to say.

In my work life, I have had good conversations with my clients and colleagues. As a volunteer, I have worked on a phone-a-friend project, where I contacted lonely senior people during the COVID-19 pandemic and talked with them. While talking with them, I have found that I have benefited by learning many things from them. They just had someone to talk to.

Taken a selfie with a webcam

I took this selfie using a webcam. I was wearing my home dress and no makeup. I think green suits me.

Let go

 When you have too much stress, you have no choice but to figure out how to let go of it all. I am learning that too. The most effective effort is to let go. Just let go of everything. It could be people, money, pride, status, a job, or anything else. Stop worrying about them. Be prepared to accept losing everything. I found this very helpful in recovering from stressful situations. When you have nothing, you don't have anything to worry about. So if you want to lose your burdens, just let go. Who or what wants to stay will stay.