Close Please enter your Username and Password

Views from the Balcony

An overview of Life around us

Off the beaten Track, the wetland paradise!
Posted:Oct 26, 2021 7:35 am
Last Updated:Feb 28, 2024 4:40 am
20864 Views
Haors!

One must not be surprised to see someone relaxing on a hammock hanging between two semi-submerged trees in an off- the beaten track, the wetland paradise of my beloved homeland (Pic #1).
This is not, however, a regular feature here. But these wetland ecosystems are unique, teeming with life and mesmerizing natural beauties!

These wetlands are called “Haors” in this part of our world. At a certain period of the year, these haors also provide us spots to relax.

The Haors turn into vast seas during Monsoon season! This is the time to move around here in boats and enjoy the beauties that mother nature offers to us.
The amazing sight of the full moon from the boats at night would keep the tourists spellbound and speechless. The human habitats inside the haors look like islands floating on water!

Haors are bowl-shaped large natural (tectonic) depressions They are wetland ecosystems located in the northeastern part of Bangladesh. A Haor is also known as a back swamp. It receives surface runoff water by canals, rivers, and rain waters during Monsoon. It dries up in winter turning most parts into a vast Greenland!

Do you want to learn more about this ecosystem? Just enter into the Net Kingdom and watch what happens next!


Cheers, my friends~~~~










18 Comments
Letter V is for Victory
Posted:Oct 8, 2021 9:10 am
Last Updated:Jul 10, 2022 6:21 am
21945 Views
V sign!

As a numerical, V stands for number 5 in English and Latin. It is also the twenty-second letter of the English Alphabet,
Here below are some words picked up randomly from Letter V Word Bank just for ready reference:

Vase, Vegetable, Violin, Volcano, Vaquita, Vervet Monkey, and Vizsla.

However, I am not going to post photos of the objects mentioned above. I intend to ask you what does V-sign may usually mean in addition to the specific question asked at the end of this blog?

We know V-sign is a hand gesture!

We know that gesture is non-verbal communication! It could be either positive or negative,
It depends on the situation as well as on the person gesturing!

Let us look at the V-sign displayed on the uploaded photo below:

Before doing so, let us ascertain what does a V- sign means?

According to Cambridge English Dictionary, V- sign is:
1. a sign meaning victory or peace that is made by holding up the first two fingers of one hand in the shape of a V, while the thumb and other fingers are folded down and face out,
2. A similar sign, made with the back of the hand facing out, is used for expressing extreme dislike or anger towards someone.

Now, let us look at the posted photo. What did this non-verbal gesture communicate to us?


Cheers~~


18 Comments
Foto Friday-Letter T
Posted:Sep 24, 2021 7:54 am
Last Updated:Oct 23, 2021 10:40 am
22619 Views
Photo Friday-Letter T

Many household items start with the alphabet T. It is the twentieth letter of the English Alphabet preceded by the letter S. Some of the essential household items that start with Alphabet T are:

Table, Telephone, toothpaste, Toothbrush, Tub. Toilet etc.

There are many more. Teacup is one of them that I have not mentioned. However, I take this opportunity to post below the photograph of the Teacup that I like most. The reason is simple. It was a gift from one of my beloved persons. I was asked not to break it under any circumstance even if the tea poured into it turns out to be undrinkable due to bad brewing!

When some of you would read this article, I shall be busy drinking a cup of green tea poured into this cup before I go to bed. Thank you all so much.


Cheers~~


24 Comments
The Lake city of Dhaka at night
Posted:Sep 22, 2021 9:23 am
Last Updated:Jul 9, 2022 9:34 pm
22047 Views
For Viewing pleasure!

Dhaka is the third most densely populated city in the world. It is also the largest city and the capital of Bangladesh. Dhaka is also known as the city of lakes. Viewers may see the photos of some of these lakes posted depicting night views of these lakes, none of which are taken by me. The top picture is the Parliament of Bangladesh. Designed by the world-famous American architect Louis I Kahn, it is one of the largest legislative complexes in the world.









19 Comments
The Endless Crossing,
Posted:Sep 8, 2021 12:37 am
Last Updated:Nov 22, 2023 9:02 pm
22387 Views
Why did you go far away
Leaving me on floating melody?
Why have you come back again
To raise the burden of agony?

The rainbow of pains
Craved for my heart.
We built the dwelling of sorrow and happiness,
Built on the plain of the heart.

Then came the storm today
The bonding has torn apart.
The woe to infinity and
the endless crossing.




Translated by me from Bangla for someone living apart! The song has been used in the Bangla movie " JAGO'
15 Comments
Letter P- Peanut Power
Posted:Aug 28, 2021 1:36 am
Last Updated:Oct 20, 2021 1:19 am
24656 Views
I did not know, until I was told by my cardiologist that peanuts are not really nuts though they may taste like nuts. Being curious, I asked my doctor to explain why a peanut is called a nut when it is not a nut? In reply, my doctor suggested reading proper articles if I was really interested to know more about nuts and beans. Simultaneously, he advised to spread peanut butter on my bread toast instead of milk butter while taking breakfast in the morning. He also asked to make peanut butter sandwiches to eat during lunch break. He spent some of his precious time explaining the benefits of eating peanut products including peanut butter.

Returning home, and without wasting a minute of my time, I looked for a copy of my Merriam- Webster Dictionary to find the truths about peanuts. And the related truths were as follows:

Definition of peanut
(Entry 1 of 2)
1: a low-branching widely cultivated annual herb (Arachis hypogaea) of the legume family with showy yellow flowers having a peduncle which elongates and bends into the soil where the ovary ripens into a pod containing one to oily edible seeds also: its seed or seed-containing pod

2: an insignificant or tiny person

As the information above did not say as to why ‘a peanut is called a nut when it is really not a nut’, I went looking for more information on the net. Finally, I could manage to find the following that is quoted below verbatim:

Quote
Peanut
…. The peanut, or groundnut, is a species in the legume or "bean" family. The peanut was probably first domesticated and cultivated in the valleys of Paraguay. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 50 cm tall. The leaves are opposite, pinnate with four leaflets, each leaflet is 1 7 cm long and 1 3 cm broad. The flowers are a typical pea flower in shape, 2 4 cm across, yellow with reddish veining. Hypogaea means " under the earth"; after pollination, the flower stalk elongates causing it to bend until the ovary touches the ground. Continued stalk growth then pushes the ovary underground where the mature fruit develops into a legume pod, the peanut – a classical example of geocarpy. Pods are 3 to 7 cm long, containing 1 to 4 seeds. Peanuts are known by many other local names such as earthnuts, ground nuts, goober peas, monkey nuts, pygmy nuts and pig nuts. Despite its name and appearance, the peanut is not a nut, but rather a legume. … Unquote

I had to toil a long time to find the answer to my query but could not get the right one I was looking for. Could any one of my readers tell me why a peanut is called a nut when it is not really a nut?




25 Comments
Foto Friday- Letter O
Posted:Aug 20, 2021 9:03 am
Last Updated:Dec 3, 2021 3:46 am
23341 Views
Foto Friday- Letter O.

The word Ottoman starts with the alphabet O. I am not telling you about the Ottoman Empire right now. I am telling you about an Ottoman seat that I use to rest my legs when I pass time watching TV and or reading a book in my sitting room.

Why do we call it an ottoman?

The answer could be found by us in no time if we look for it on Google. According to Google, the Ottomans were first introduced into Europe from Turkey in the 18th century. It is a padded, upholstered seat without arms or a back. It appears that the seat had after all some relationship with the Ottoman Rulers of Turkey!


Thanks, everyone for stopping by.

17 Comments
Rani is not a human being!
Posted:Jul 12, 2021 10:50 am
Last Updated:Dec 3, 2021 3:43 am
28200 Views
She is not a human.

Rani is only 51-cm tall, 66 cm long, weighing 26 kg, and she can be carried around.

Rani is a white coloured cow.

She lives at a cattle farm in Charigram, Bangladesh.

She has become a media celeb. Rani has set off a tourist frenzy after local newspapers and television channels threw the spotlight on the tiny bovine.

The owners of the farm where Rani lives have applied to the Guinness Book of records claiming it to be the world’s smallest Bovine.

This white cow is at least four inches shorter than the current titleholder for the world’s shortest bovine — Manikyam, a 24-inch ( 61 cm ) tall Vechur cow from Kerala, India that set the record in 2014.






20 Comments
Foto Friday - Letter H- Home.
Posted:Jul 2, 2021 2:06 am
Last Updated:Oct 6, 2023 4:28 am
35951 Views
Near Bay Leaf Tree- Our Home

Some of my SFF friends, from time to time, asked me to show them a photo of my home where I have been living after I retired from an active job.

The letter H has suddenly provided me with an opportunity to satisfy the desires of my friends. Here below a photo of the partial frontal view of the house where I live is posted for my interested friends to see.

As it will appear, the building is a Double-Storey one, almost surrounded by multi-storied buildings built on a private housing complex that was once entirely a family property.
But no longer. Some portion of the property now stands sold out. The building was built more than 40 years back for my wife when I was young and active.

I love to live here in this dwelling which is airy and strong enough to survive a normal natural catastrophe.


Happy Viewing
32 Comments
Devotion.
Posted:Jun 26, 2021 8:56 am
Last Updated:Nov 22, 2023 9:06 pm
28479 Views
Unanswered Questions!

Quote
From time to time I meet you
Forever, why do I not?

Clouds hide you in my heart,
The disconnect between me and you.
Clouds that disconnect
I and you.
Clouds of fantasy
they blind me,
blind me.
I can not see!

In a blink, in a flash of light
I see you so suddenly!
Dear, I am scared to lose you
Lose you so suddenly,
before I can feel you,
before I can glimpse you
my heart hasn't felt you,
so suddenly.

Tell now, how could I
see you before my very eyes
Dear, how could I find the love
keep you in my heart?

How could I ever
if you do not favour
if you do not favour it,
stay forever?

I shall not seek anyone,
It is you I desire.
Dear, if you say so,
I shall let go
of my need for anything.

I shall let go at your feet.
I shall let go of my need.
I shall let go of all my needs.
Just for you. Unquote


Translated in English from Bengali by Anandamayee Majumdar.
14 Comments

To link to this blog (looklook) use [blog looklook] in your messages.