-diya-'s photostream

Bye bye, last 200 uploads.

... with her Khakka!

I never thought babysitting can take out so much and return so much more at the same time. I'm loving my new routine - brushing our teeth together, having breakfast together, a whole day of Toopi-Binu and invention of new games, taking a nap together, an evening stroll at the playground, touching the skies on swings together, and so on. It's wonderfully refreshing, especially after the past months' of crazy work schedules.

Blessed, aren't we?

I realized I am extremely fortunate. Zara, her mother and her father moved to Toronto around June last year. In December, her mother came back to Dhaka for a short visit, and now, my parents, brother and I are in Toronto to see her. Lucky to have made so many trips back and forth in such a short time. Maybe the luck won't stay for long, but I'm still one of the lucky few.

It's always a joy seeing Zara. Unbound, beautiful, magical and yes, very crazy. She missed me terribly, I know. Apparently, *all* her friends and her mother's friends know about me. She tells them about the books I've sent her, the games we invented together, the toys we broke as a silly game, the drawings of her by me and vice verse - they all know about her precious Khakka.

You should have seen how happy she was when I opened the door to their apartment 4 days back. It was magic.

Yes, I am the lucky few. :)

A while back, I did a story on young girls who get married during college. It was published, and later I received a lot of phonecalls and emails from girls who have been through the experience, and were grateful because someone finally wrote about it. The responses were astounding and as each story unfolded in front of me, I realized irrespective of being a part of a supposed "global 21st century", we - as a civilization - were still behind when it came to putting our foot down and holding our head high. I realized how as culture, our women had to be submissive and our parents, victims of a social, collective insecurity would make decisions that led to unforgivable consequences.

The research behind the story was an eye-opener for me. The numbers of interviews I took, photographs I staged, interactions I stumbled upon have all been worthwhile - and I'm thankful to everyone who were brave enough to speak to me about it.

This shot was taken in BUET. Yes, we actually dressed up my cousin, Deepa as a bride and took her there. Minus the social context behind the story, the shoot was a bucket full o' fun!

.. who carries Pringles (and not some crappy food for her Grandma :P)
Also, she doesn't wear a hood. She thinks it's lame... "matha golom hoye jaaabeee tooh"

Zara is usually transfixed while watching TV, especially when Toopi-Binu is on. This was one of those moments.