Biography 27: Accent problem

 In Alkaseem, Saudi Arabia, we were surrounded by Arabic-speaking people. I mean there were people from other countries too. Like from Sudan, Egypt etc who all speak in Arabic. I don't know how my parents learned to speak Arabic very well. Mom said, first she uses to copy whatever she heard.... then gradually she became an expert in it. I never learnt (Accept my mother language) any language like that.

We, the kids didn't meet with other people much. So we didn't need to speak a different language. When needed my mom was there to translate. So, I never felt to learn Arabic. After living for 2 years in Saudi Arabia I learnt a couple of words only.

One day, mom asked both sisters to go to a grocery shop, which was very near to our house. She said asked the shopkeeper to give tomatoes. He will understand your language. Well, we doubt. But my mom was an iron lady, we had to go and ask. As expected, he didn't have a clue what we were asking about. He showed rice and other things to point to it. We tried a couple of times then returned home. My mom was so disappointed with the two girls. She went to the shop and asked in Arabic. The man laughed out loud and said, "Oh, Tomath?" Then he gave us tomatoes. I was thinking why he couldn't guess tomato and tomath could be the same thing...

After reaching Canada, I have faced the same thing a couple of times. Just for a little difference in accent, people couldn't understand a thing. One day a Chinese guy asked me something. I could understand that he is asking something in Bangla, after listening 4/5 times. He was very fast and his accent was Chinese. Now I understand, why others couldn't understand my language because of my accent.

House price in Canada, should be regulated

 In Canada, overall all houses are the same. The building materials, inner decoration, floor, even the colour. But the price varies according to its location, size and time. Except for size, none other materials should give a huge difference in pricing. If you look at the house building cost and its decoration, the houses are unnecessarily costly.

The house price increased too much, now general people can never buy a house. So, what they do is take a mortgage and pay the rest of their life for their house. They can't take a rest or even feel down, they have to go and earn money to pay the monthly payment. After death, someone else will carry on, who they will nominate.

Actually, who is getting benefited over here? The bank or organization/broker who gave the mortgage and the company whose duty is to find a house. These middle persons didn't build the house, they are not buying too. But they are benefited and pulling all strings to increase the price.

Here, mostly the immigrants are the sufferer. Among them,  the Asian's are the ones who helped to create this situation and suffering lifetime money problem. Because of culture, Asian people's life target is to get their own homes and own cars. After immigration, they work heart and soul to earn money to buy a house. But the amount they earn, it will take longer, in some cases can never buy a house. Because the price is made that high. So, they have no other choice but to take a mortgage. Now for the rest of their life, they will keep paying the organization, and the organizations are getting rich to richer. The poor immigrant is happy that they can start living in a house (In Canada, because in most cases they had a house in their own country), which is on the mortgage but will someday they will own it or their future generation will get it.

We should stop this life-killing process. Price should go up too much this way. There should be a regulation to control the pricing of houses/condos or any other thing.

Biography 26: My first home in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, I have started living in a small village "Alkaseem". I heard, later it became a good big city. I, my older sister and my newborn younger sister started living with our mom in a local clinic. My mom was a family planning trainer, she has to work as a senior nurse. It was a government job. My dad has to work in another city. First, he worked in "Tabuk". Later moved to "Umlej". He was an engineer in the Telephone Department. This was also a government job. I heard from him, that Tabuk's weather was very extreme.

My mom got her living arrangement from the government in the clinic. It was an extended part of the clinic's building, separated by a wall. It was a one-storey building with two (As separated by a wall) big ground. The whole ground was covered by small stones. It is in the desert, so I guess, stones were to prevent dust. The washroom was at the end of the field. The main door was at the clinic's section. A big iron door. Just beside the door, inside our boundary wall, there was a big sand mountain. It was very high that we (I and my sister) use to afraid to climb it up. Later as we tried so many times, the sands fell on the ground and made it easier to climb it up. My sister was the hero in this activity. See, when she does anything, nobody noticed. But when I do anything like that, Oh what a girl.

Our furniture was from the clinic's furniture. Iron bed and chair. the floor was made of concrete. As we were living in the desert, the floor always felt covered with sands. In winter, mom uses to covered the ventilators with plastic. Maybe windows too (I don't remember). But I remember the weather was very dry over there, I felt my skin became toasted.

Independent person

 I'm an independent person. But I love those moments when I can depend on someone. If anyone does anything for me, I enjoy that. I honour them, if I get any chance I will do something for them too.

Now you may ask, then how I became independent. Because it's very rare that anyone does anything for me. People who know me, have the thought that nobody needs to do anything for me, I will do things by myself.

I don't know whether I can or not, but I try. Whenever I plan to do anything I planned it in a way, that everything will be done by me. Because there is no one to help me. If I had to depend on someone, I always make a plan B in my mind. If somehow they don't, how I am going to manage it. Almost every time, my plan B worked

Once my sister told me, "You make others dependent. Because they know, no matter what happens, you will fix it. So, they don't worry about anything".

Maybe...

Biography 25: I use to avoid those houses

In those days, I was living with my family in Kamalapur at my grandparent's (Paternal) house. I used to play the whole day outside in dust. My feet, from the toes to the knee, were always covered with dust. After reaching home, I had to wash my feet first. I knew older people (Adults) didn't like me. I could feel it from their face. they didn't want me to enter their house to make their floor or house dirty. So, if I see a nice tidy home, I didn't enter there. I just keep playing in front of the house in my neighbourhood. I am sure they didn't like that either. But I can't stop hopping around and play in my neighbourhood.

Still, if I feel someone is ignoring me or avoiding me, I try my best to stay from them. With some people it's difficult. But I keep trying, maybe someday I will be able to vanish from their life forever.

Cultural differences between Canada and Bangladesh

It's not about knowing the language. It's about how well you understand the language. When I moved to Canada, I heard many words from people. When I translated those words into my mind, it didn't give me the real meaning. After living for several years, now I understood some of those words, what they wanted to say to me. Or I understand, what I shouldn't say to them.

Sometimes, it's not words. People did something in front of me to say something. I didn't get that. Now I know about some of those from movies or from personal experience.

My cultural background is different from Canada. There are many things that people expect here like there are many ways to say to an unknown person or to offer something or showing interest. But I'm kind of a fool in these issues. Even in my home country, I didn't understand many of those offers.

In our country, when we started to know any person, or any colleague or classmate, we easily can ask the contact number. Here when a person asks the contact no, without any official purpose, it means that person wants to date you. So, don't ask contact no, unless you really need it and explain why you need it before you ask for it.

In our country, if we get a know a person, we asked them to visit our home and have a meal with us. Here you will or should only ask like that if that person became a very close friend. Otherwise, that person may think, you have some other intention to invite.

If, out of blue, any colleague or a known person came to you and say “Thank you “ then leave before you answer, it doesn’t mean they are happy. It means that the person is very angry on a specific actions of you.

Now about the sign to get close ... hmm nope, maybe some other day I will talk about it ;)

Biography 24: Same dresses

 There was a trend about kids' dresses when I was young. In those days parents use to make dresses for a kid by a tailor. Readymade dresses were not available much and weren't popular. It was expensive. Parents use to buy cloth. Then asked the tailor to make dresses for all kids by the same cloth. So, we had to do matching-matching without any other option.

When I look at my childhood pictures, in almost all pictures we were wearing the same dresses. As I told you earlier my older sister was a very good type of girl. Obviously, her dresses stayed in good condition. I was the raff and taff girl. So, soon it tore up. I still don't know-how.

I have seen our family always bought new dresses for my older sister. All of her old dresses were dedicated to me. I could get a new dress only on Eid. I didn't like to wear old dresses. Allah listened to me. When I was in grade 06 (As far as I could remember) I became taller than her. I thought now I will get new dresses. But my bad luck never left me. Getting old dresses had stopped, but still, my parent always gave me one dress on Eid.

When we go out, we always wear a better dress. But I don't have much, only 2 good dresses, which I got on Eid. So, I had no choice but to wear the same dresses always in my dance and singing classes. Everybody knew me, for my same dress. See, everything has a good side.

But I didn't mind. I still don't like to ask or demand anything. You will give me, whatever comes from your heart.

If you are posting something online

 When you post anything online, you can put it in any language. But online means it is available to everyone. The world can see it, read it and react to it. So, why will you put it like for only one group of people, who will be able to understand it? I am talking about putting things with an English version or subtitle. When you can put things in front of the universe, why don't you take the advantages of it or give the advantages it?

For example, on Youtube, people put their songs. Some songs are so good that I liked to share them with all the people I know. But all of them don't understand the local language. We should put a subtitle or put the English translation of it in the description or comment. So, people, who are not familiar with your language can also understand it. Who knows, it may become more popular. Or the message you want to put in front of the Universe can be seen.

Biography 23: Comparing with my older sister

 My older sister is the best. From my childhood, I had to hear this. Do I believe it? NO. That's why, when everybody asked me to be like her, I never tried that or even think about it.

She is very polite. She is good with all relatives, neighbour, teachers, classmates etc. She is very good at her study. She had got the talent pool scholarship in her grade 5 and 8 exams. She had passed SSC with *marks and 3 laters (In three subjects she got marks 80+) and She took 13th place in Dhaka board in her HSC. She had completed her MCom in Accounting.

She started cooking in her school life, whenever my mom went to visit my grandparents. So, she handles the house. Everybody use to say such a polite and gentle girl.

What about me? I never fulfill my parent's desire like my sister. I wasn't gentle in my childhood. I liked to jump and run. I didn't like study. I never got scholarships.

In SSC, when my sister did very good, my grandfather (My dad's uncle) made a golden earring and came to our home with my aunt (His daughter). Before he left, he looked at me and said, do good in SSC like your sister. I smiled and felt shy, I knew I'm never going to do that. Then my aunt said, "Why would she be like her sister, she will do better than that". Everybody laughed at loud. Because that was impossible.

But the reality gave me a little twist, on the days I had got a new exam system. Objective questions. So, technically I did much better than her. Just for one mark, I didn't get the last position (Among 20) in Dhaka Board. No, I didn't get any earrings for that or any prize or appraisal from anyone.

Restaurant food

 I like restaurant food.  I would have ordered more restaurant food if I knew that all the restaurants are maintaining all healthy procedures to make and serve foods,

I like to taste different kinds of food. I have some favourite options too. I like the taste of restaurant food. But the main reason for liking restaurant food is 

1. someone else is going to make food for me, 

2. someone else is responsible to serve the food 

3. and mostly someone else is responsible for cleaning.

Yes, I like restaurant food. Mostly because of these three reasons. I know some women too, whose husbands said, they like homemade food but they don't know why their wives like restaurant food. Sir, now you know the reason.