Summer's Flowers

Summer is here with a vengeance. Numerous daily power outages and water shortages are not helping. What to do?

One of the bounties of summer are the flowers, both large and small. Here are some that are blooming all over the country. They offer a respite of sorts.

In my book, the undisputed king of summer flowers is Krishnachura....




....but both Jarul...



...and Sonalu ...



...are contenders for second place.

Large flowers also include Nagalingam ...



...and Copper Pod.



Now for the smaller ones: this here is a Bonak flower...




...while lemon blossoms look just as pretty.



This is a Jamrul blossom.



Here is a pretty flower I found near the University but could not identify - any ideas?



Finally, this is the fruit of the Udal tree, posing as a flower!

Top April Fool Hoaxes

My friend Brian from sunny California sent me this list.

He likes the one about Alabama changing the value of Pi (#7).

I also liked the left-handed hamburgers (#8).

And how about them spaghetti trees (#1?) What would be a good Bangladeshi version? New hybrid mango trees that grow Morobba? (candied green mangoes) Yum.

Telling Off The Photographer

I was photographing in a lower-middle-class area of Dhaka where the roads are empty of traffic, children play on their way to school, and grandpas sit on their doorsteps with grandkids on their lap, watching the world go by.

Suddenly I was accosted verbally from behind. "You, sir, why are you taking pictures?" she asked. I ignored her and kept walking. "It won't bring in any money, will it?" she persisted, following me. I still did not turn around, but visually retraced my steps to picture her - probably the matronly mama in her fifties who was chatting with her neighbor a few doors back.

"No, no money," I said, shaking my head.

"I knew it!" she said. "What good are you, taking pictures of the kids going to school and families and people working hard?" She paused, waiting for my reaction. None came but I kept walking.

"See, what you gotta do is find the beggars and lulas (handicapped people) and the sick and take their picture. Then we will be able to get some money. Understand?"

"Oh, I see," I said.

"But, since you insist on taking pictures of the normal around here, why not take the picture of this chatpati wallah woman to your right? And watch for that kid playing up on your left - he is really cute."