Nature Aesthetics

  • THIS IS IT!

    Hey guys! Welcome to my last blog for this class! I am not going to lie; when I first heard that I would have to write blogs for this class, I was really worried since I had never done anything like that before. Furthermore, I got a zero on the mission statement blog post, which worsened my fear. However, as I kept writing these posts, I realized it was not as scary as I thought. In fact, I found writing my thoughts and life stories really refreshing, which is why I never missed a single one. 

    The blogs allowed me to revisit my past and share my stories with others. I never thought I would have so much fun writing blog posts and getting the opportunity to get to know other people. Reading all the other posts of my classmates made me realize how different we are from each other. Everybody has a story of their own that is unique to them. I found each and every blog post I read extremely fascinating.

    Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my posts. I really appreciate it! 

    Signing off.

  • Green Bangladesh!

    Hello! Welcome back to another one of my blogs! In today’s blog, I am going to talk about my country, Bangladesh. When they think of the country, most people think about poverty, population, and a third-world country. Some people don’t even know that there is a small country beside India is called Bangladesh. Even most of my college friends had no idea what Bangladesh was until they met me. So I am going to take this opportunity to tell you guys about Bangladesh from the perspective of someone who has lived 20 years of his life there. 

    I was born and raised in Bangladesh and am proud to call it my country. Even though it is not a perfect country and has a long way to go, it has come a long way since its independence from Pakistan in 1971. Most people from foreign countries, when they visit Bangladesh, they visit Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. They go to the busiest and oldest part of Dhaka, called Old Dhaka, to try authentic Bengali food. Even though, there is nothing wrong with it; I think people should also showcase the urban scene of Dhaka and show how far the country has come. There are a bunch of shopping malls, and some even have amusement parks. In fact, Jamuna Future Park, located on the outskirts of Dhaka, is the largest shopping mall in South Asia. I was showing the music video attached below to my friend, who is a Bengali American. She visited Bangladesh three times in her entire life and did not believe me when I told her the video was shot in Bangladesh. This shows how little people know about Bangladesh and its progress. Even thought she visited Bangladesh she never explored the urban scene of the country.

    I think this music video does a really good job in showcasing the urban scene of Bangladesh.

    Moreover, some people call Bangladesh the land of green, and some people joke about the fact that it is not green. Dhaka is not the place you go to if you want to see nature and real beauty of Bangladesh. It is an overpopulated city with a lot of traffic and buildings. If you want to see “green Bangladesh”, you will have to explore other parts of the country like Sylhet, Chittagong, etc. There are a lot of beautiful places which nobody knows about because they only visit Dhaka. I think people need to stop visiting Dhaka when they come to Bangladesh because the real beauty lies outside the city. Dhaka is just like any other city, so you can’t really judge the country on what you see there. Although in rural areas, it is pretty hard to move around because some areas even struggle with electricity. So people tend to avoid going to places like that. I get the fact that it’s really convenient for people just to visit places in Dhaka and then go back. But even if it is for a few hours, I would highly recommend anybody, visiting Bangladesh, to rent a car and step outside the city to witness the real beauty of Bangladesh. 

  • Shaking Bare-Footed!

    Welcome back to another one of my blogs! I feel like I start every single blog with the same sentence. I should come up with a new one! Anyway, today, I would like to talk about one of the most potentially dangerous natural disasters in the world and my experience with them in the past. 

    I think most of you reading this blog post right now have knowledge about earthquakes and how tragic they can be. For those who don’t, earthquakes are natural disasters that shake the ground violently. Now, I am not going to waste words on explaining what an earthquake is since you can easily learn all that stuff from google. Without further ado, let’s dive into my story of an earthquake I encountered!

    Growing up in Bangladesh, I experienced a lot of earthquakes. Some were pretty terrifying, but at a point, I just got used to it. I am going to talk about the most memorable earthquake I experienced. It was the winter of 2012, and I played soccer with my friends on the rooftop, which is pretty common in Bangladesh. So on the rooftop, people usually play bare-footed; it’s seen as one of the cultures. But your feet get extremely dirty after that, and the process of getting all that dirt out of your feet never gets easier. So after coming home from the rooftop, I spent almost half an hour scrubbing all that dirt off my feet. Finally, after I got all the dirt off, I remember the bucket of water I was using to clean myself was shaking. Usually, what I do to make sure if it’s an earthquake is look at the chandelier in our living room. If that’s swinging, it’s an earthquake for sure. But the problem was that I was in the bathroom. This time I made sure by my mom’s banging on the door. I immediately exited the bathroom, took a pillow over my head, and ran. That was my protocol every time there was an earthquake. But the pillow was useless most of the time, and luckily, I never faced one of that level where I actually had to use the pillow. On the run downstairs, I realized I was not wearing a shirt, and it was winter! I still regret not taking a shirt instead of that pillow that was never useful. And usually, you can’t go inside the building during earthquakes until it’s been a while. So I had to stand outside without a shirt in the cold for almost half an hour. And for someone who starts shivering even after coming into contact with a little bit of cold water, half an hour in the cold is a lot! Furthermore, being shirtless, even for teenage guys, is not that common in Bangladesh, unlike the US. So most of my friends were laughing at me too. And to make things worse, I was bare-footed. So I had to start all that scrubbing from the top after returning.

    This is how I felt outside.

    Even though we were lucky not to get injured since earthquakes can be hazardous. That earthquake was one of my most unforgettable earthquake experiences.

  • The Waves are Rude!

    Welcome back to another one of my blogs! If you read my last blog, you know my love for Sylhet and its tea garden. But there is this other place I visited in Bangladesh with my cousins, which is undoubtedly one of the best places I have ever visited. The place is called Cox’s Bazaar. For those of you who are not familiar with the place, Cox’s Bazar is the longest sea beach in the world, and I was lucky enough to visit the place with my cousins.

    It was a five-day trip. We stayed at my Uncle’s bungalow in Chittagong and then drove to Cox’s Bazar on the fourth day. Chittagong is right beside Cox’s Bazar, and it takes about an hour to drive there, depending on the traffic. Since Bangladesh is famous for its economy, you can imagine what the traffic scene is like in the country. Anyway, I’ll talk about Chittagong and traffic in some other blog. I want to tell you guys how I almost encountered a near-death situation in Cox’s Bazar!

    It was 2014, and that was the first time ever I had been on a sea beach. So everything was new to me—the salty water, the shore, everything that can be found at a beach. But I was having a blast there. Even though I couldn’t swim, just playing in the water, jumping over the waves, and holding my breath underneath the water was really fun for me. However, it was fun until my cousin came up with the brilliant idea of getting on one of those inflatable floating tubes and balancing ourselves with our weights as the waves pushed us. Being a scrawny thirteen-year-old, I probably only weighed 90 pounds back then, and my cousin was 130. So our weights were unequally divided on the tube. A huge wave pushed us off the tube, and I went headfirst into the water with the tube on top of me. I struggled to stand up since the tube was not allowing me to do so. For a moment, I thought that was the end for me. I opened my eyes in the water and saw bubbles floating towards the surface, and I remember my sister always telling me that “drowning is the most painful way to die.” And at that moment, while my head was still under the water, all I could think of was those exact words and thinking that it wasn’t as bad as my sister described it to be. But, to my good fortune, my cousin lifted the tube off me, and I was able to stand up. I know it might seem like a simple incident, but it was pretty nerve-racking for a person who doesn’t know how to swim and was on the beach for the first time. 

    I find it quite funny now that I think about it. In that 30 seconds or less, I thought of so many consequences, but the water didn’t even come up to my chest when I stood up.

  • Tea All Around Me!

    Hello! And welcome back to another one of my blogs! Today I am going to talk about one of the places I visited in Bangladesh when I was a kid, and that was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. 

    This was back in December 2009. I was an 8-year-old kid without exposure to the world outside the city since we rarely went on family trips. So, that was the first time I went outside the city. I did go to other places in Bangladesh before that, but I was too little to remember anything, so I don’t like to count it as going outside the city. Anyway, we went to a district called Sylhet in Bangladesh. They speak a different dialect there, so I felt like I was in a foreign country. 

    We visited many beautiful places in Sylhet, but there was this one particular place that I found pretty interesting. It’s called the tea garden. The place is quite renowned in Bangladesh, and being able to see it in person felt great. The first thing I noticed after entering the area was the aroma of tea all around the place. It smelled like tea everywhere, but they were actually coming from the leaves. And what I found the most fascinating was that it did not seem like those trees were used to produce tea. And until then, I was only familiar with processed tea leaves which looked like powder to me. So being able to learn how they are prepared and what they look like unprocessed was interesting. 

    A picture of me at the Tea Garden.

    After the tea garden, we went to this cafe famous for serving seven layers of tea, which is called “shaat ronger cha” in Bengali. At the time, it was pretty famous until later, after a few years, people figured out how to make it at home and how easy it was to make. Anyway, I remember it was during sunset the next day; we were passing by a really big field. I asked my Dad to pull over the car because I wanted to go there. That field was the highlight of my trip to Sylhet. As a kid raised in the city, I had never seen such a huge grass field before. And to make things better, there were cows grazing in the field, and my Dad took a bunch of pictures of me with the cows. 

    A picture of me with a calf in the field.

    Both of these memories are big parts of my fascination for nature. I wish I could go to that time again and relive those days, but I feel like through the pictures, my Dad took of me in that field, I can go there whenever I like. Therefore, I am glad I went on a trip to Sylhet that winter with my family. We did go on several trips after that, but that vacation was special to me. Perhaps it was after that trip that I became a keen admirer of nature and started paying more attention to it. If any of you reading this blog ever visit Bangladesh, I highly recommend visiting Sylhet.

    Quick video on how tea is made.

  • Almost Died!

    Hello! Welcome back to another one of my blogs! I am sure most people have encountered a thunderstorm before, even once in their lives. However, I don’t think most people are dumb enough to go out for a ride on their bikes during a thunderstorm like my best friend and me. So, today I am going to tell you guys about an incident where I almost got killed by a thunderstorm.

    Many of you who read my last blog probably saw a picture of lightning and me saying how much I find thunderstorms and lightning fascinating, even though it tried to kill me four years prior to when the picture was taken. Although, it was our fault for the most part. I even remember the exact day it happened: March 6, 2016. I remember my best friend wanting to go out to ride our bikes like we always do, but since there was a thunderstorm, we decided to call it off for the day. I wish we had gone forward with that decision, but both of us came up with the bright idea of going out for a ride anyway, thinking what could have possibly happened. In the beginning, it was smooth sailing. We were enjoying ourselves in the light drizzle of rain. However, after a few moments, everything took a steep turn into disaster road. The wind was blowing so hard that we could not ride, push the pedals, and go forward with our bikes. To make things worse, we were in the middle of the street. This happened back in Bangladesh, and there are tricycles called rickshaws on the road that you can ride to go from one place to another used as public transport. The rickshaws operate by pedals too, so there were not able to go forward either. And because of their weight, they were coming backwards towards us. My glasses, of course, blew away with the wind making my eyesight even worse. Moreover, the wind was so harsh that we could not keep our eyes open anyway. I peeked a little bit, and saw my friend pushing a rickshaw with all his strength just to prevent it from running him over. I thought I would die that day, but after a few minutes, the wind became tame enough for us to go forward with our bikes again. And luckily, my place was just nearby. So we pedaled our way to safety. Although that was an experience I will never forget in my entire life.

    This would’ve been me if the wind didn’t stop.

    Even though the incident could almost take our lives, I feel it was something memorable and to laugh about looking back. It may sound weird, but I am glad I went out on my bike with my best friend in the thunderstorm. Sometimes the most incredible memories are created with the dumbest and the most impulsive decisions. Now, I am not saying to risk your lives as we did just for fun. That’s not okay! But making impulsive choices with your friends, like going on a nice trip somewhere, may be worthwhile because something overthinking might cause you not to do it at all.

    What me and my friend thought we were.

  • Mesmerized!

    Welcome back to another one of my blogs! There have always been times when you go somewhere and you see a breathtaking view. Typically, what I do is take a picture, which is another one of my hobbies. I feel like photography and nature go hand in hand. Furthermore, I only like to take photos of nature. I hate taking portrait pictures! Anyways, without further ado,  let’s talk about the times I have been mesmerized by the beauty of nature. 

    Different Seasons

    The pictures below were taken by me, both at different seasons. The top photo was taken during the fall season in October. And the bottom one, pretty evident, was taken in the winter in January. What I find truly fascinating is that the same place, same trees look so different in two different seasons. Each has a beauty of its own. The season’s warmth can be felt in the top picture; on the other hand, the cold is also pretty apparent at the bottom. The same place can look so different just after a couple of months. I was also twenty-five minutes late to class because of the second picture. So Professor Safran, if you are reading this, now you know why. 

    Images by Reeham Anwar

    Sky

    I am a big fan of the sky. I have taken thousands of pictures of the sky. Something about it that really fascinates me. The vastness and the blue color have the ability to bring peace to a person’s heart. This picture is one of my best, and I have waited hours in the middle of a thunderstorm just to take this. I feel like the image portrays two versions of the sky at the same time. The lightning completely lighted up one part. Even though it was after sundown, the first part of the picture looks otherwise. On the other hand, the second part showcases a violent thunderstorm during nighttime. I find it quite amusing how this picture holds both ideas together.

    Image by Reeham Anwar

    Excuse the quality. My phone wasn’t the best at that time!

    Birds

    I have another fascination with birds flocking and flying together in the sky. I stood in the middle of a sidewalk for 45 minutes with my phone pointed towards the sky just to get the perfect shot. Although it’s far from perfect, I feel it portrays the idea. I find the birds’ flying quite majestic, and it’s a beautiful sight to see. The birds flying so high up in the sky depicts freedom; I know it sounds cliche, but this is one of those things. No matter how cliche it sounds, it’ll never stop being true.

    The pictures I have taken throughout the years showcase my passion for photography and nature. Nature motivates me to pursue this hobby, and I find myself lucky to have two hobbies that complement each other so much. I would like to hone my photography skills more in the future, witness more beauties of nature, and use it as fuel.

  • Sentimental Values!

    Welcome back to another one of my blogs! Today we dive deep into nature, like always. Nature has beauty in its storage that dates back to even a hundred years. It is fascinating and precious how a particular thing could exist for hundreds of years and has seen so many generations come and go. I have a few on my list that I would like to share.

    Reflecting upon the age of nature is something I find really fascinating. Back in Bangladesh, we have a lot of plants and trees on our rooftops. I know it might sound weird to many people, but it’s mostly used as decoration pieces. Like people have plants inside their homes here, we put them on our rooftops. However, laying underneath a tree to escape from the sun is relaxation of a different kind. It makes you feel one with nature. I used to do that often underneath this tree on our rooftop. The tree has been there ever since I was born and still stands tall. I feel like it has watched me grow up. From playing with my friends as a kid to taking evening strolls as an adult, the tree has seen it all. And that’s what makes it so unique. Even though me and my friends don’t play there anymore, we have all grown up. I don’t even live in Bangladesh anymore, but I feel that as long as the tree stands tall, the memories will be preserved forever. 

    Image by Reeham Anwar. The tree on our rooftop in Bangladesh.

    I remember watching a movie when I was a kid. It had a tree and a swing hanging off one of its branches. A little girl and her friend grew up on that swing, and she marked the tree on special days. However, one day the tree was taken down, and she felt like a big part of her childhood was taken down with that tree. All of her childhood memories were destroyed. I feel like I can relate to that movie a little bit. One day the tree that watched me grow up will be taken down. And I feel like, on that day, a significant part of my childhood will fade away with that tree. Moreover, all the memories that it was holding will also die. 

    Image by Johannes Plenio via https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-brown-trees-1632790/

    It’s incredible; even while walking around, the trees and the plants we see have probably seen generation after generation growing old. Furthermore, it will witness a lot more generations to come. That’s one of the beauties of nature. It has been there when nobody else was and has seen everything. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a tree but even a river. Sometimes when we dive deep into nature, it’s really easy to get overwhelmed by its vastness. The majority of nature hasn’t even been explored by humans yet, which makes it even more exciting. Excitement is what drives young explorers to go out there and discover more. Therefore, no matter what our interests are, I believe curiosity is always good. However, let us not get overwhelmed for now. Let’s cherish our little time in this world, and preserve more memories within the trees around us. 

  • Fear of Nature!

    Everybody has experienced nature. I don’t think there is anybody in the world who has not seen nature even once in their life. Furthermore, just like everybody has witnessed nature, they have also had a few fears from nature. At least I know I do! And I am going to talk about that in today’s post. 

    Sharks

    I think almost everybody had a fear of sharks growing up. When I was little, even though sharks were fascinating to me. I remember watching shark documentaries on Animal Planet with my Dad growing up. However, I was terrified of sharks. And to make things worse, I used to look up sharks eating humans on google, and there was always this one picture of a shark eating a swimmer that used to haunt me. I don’t know why, but I printed it out and kept it in my room. For me, it was like one of those horror movies you really like but at the same time are terrified of watching. I was even afraid to sit on the toilet seat fearing a shark might jump up.

    But it was way later in life I found out that sharks don’t eat humans. Most shark attacks are because they mistake humans for seals, a shark’s favorite food. The swimming motion sometimes mimics a seal in distress, which is when a shark gets attracted. Or they are just curious to know what we are; that’s another reason they attack. So now I am thinking of going shark diving in the future. I hope my fears don’t come true.

    Water

    The other thing which I was afraid of was related to sharks. Water! Now, I wouldn’t call it hydrophobia since I did fine with a glass or mug of water, but I was afraid of looking at a lot of water at the same time. I can recall the time when I asked my Mom not to fill up the bucket in the bathroom because I was afraid of the water inside. Although I was the same size as the bucket back then, which makes my fear quite reasonable.

    Another instance would be going to the beach at night with my cousins. All of my cousins were putting their bare feet in the water, but I was terrified of the sound of the waves. I think I even started shaking at a point. That’s one of the reasons I don’t know how to swim. I was too afraid to go in the water. However, I have come a long way since then, and beaches are one of my absolute favorite places to be now. 

    Image by Sebastian Arie Voortman via https://www.pexels.com/photo/body-of-water-during-golden-hour-189349/

    Bees

    Bees are a nightmare for me! I know they are crucial for our survival, but still. I have never been stung by a bee before, but their sheer size and color freak me out. I have always imagined how painful it would be to get stung by a bee, and that assumption has always kept me on edge. I have watched documentaries of honey collectors dealing with bees and collecting honey from their hives. I hope I get that courage someday and do not freak out after seeing a bee in front of me. 

    Fun Fact: Bees are not aggressive and only sting you when they feel threatened. And also, they die after they sting you! 

  • Human Nature X Lion Nature

    Nature has so many things to offer us, and one of those things is wildlife. I have always been fascinated by how things work in the wild, and I feel like we can apply those things in our lives to enhance them. Today we are going to talk about the King of Beasts. 

    Lion is the king of the jungle. It is the most majestic creature ever. But there is a reason behind its aesthetics. And in this blog, we will go deep into the world of lions.

    Image by Alexas Fotos via https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-lion-s-head-2220336/

    About Lions

    Lions are the most social cats among all the other big cats. They are always working in groups called prides. Lions are not the fastest animals in the world. Surprisingly, they are not the strongest as well since they have one of the weakest bite forces in the cat family. However, the things that make them so powerful are their mentality and their ability to work in groups. They are able to hunt down water buffaloes four times their size by working together. Moreover, their “no quit” attitude makes the hunts successful.

    Well, they might not look so social in this gif but bare with me!

    Learning From Lions

    Coming back to applying the laws of nature to our lives, collaborative work is always better than solo. If we work together, instead of bringing the other person down, I feel like all our “hunts” will be successful too. Moreover, we will be able to ensure a prosperous future for all of us.

    Lions work hard. They work diligently for a successful kill. Most of the time, they are unsuccessful. However, they become successful by staying persistent and repeatedly trying until they are. Furthermore, if we chase our goals like how a lion chases its prey, we will also succeed.

    Nature has always been teaching us how to pursue something. It’s incredible how nobody had to teach lions and other predators to do that. Their hunger drives them. Additionally, they find a purpose in chasing the prey. Purpose is important for success and without purpose we are lost.

    The Sad Truth

    Although some hard truths in nature apply to our lives too, in the wild, the runt in the litter is always killed by other animals. Lion prides think the runt will slow their pride down and eventually lead them to disaster. They see nothing but a burden. So they do what comes naturally to them and kill them. However, we might not be so harsh and kill the weak, but we can learn from this that there is no space for the vulnerable in this world. It has always been the survival of the fittest. So it’s essential for us not to be runts and improve ourselves every chance we get. 

    Golden Opportunities

    Lastly, I have been observing for a long time how lions hunt. They wait for their prey patiently, completely camouflaged in the savannah. And they pounce the moment they see an opportunity opening up. And whenever the timing and coordination are right. That’s when their hunt is usually successful. Therefore, the key takeaway here is that life presents us with a lot of opportunities, all we have to do is wait patiently and pounce at every opportunity we get. Then again, all of them are not going to be successful but there has to be that one golden opportunity that will lead us to our goal.

    We have to be patient and resilient like the lion. 

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