Hobbies

Urban Gardening

Living in an urban area, I witness the greenery diminishing daily due to various unavoidable factors. I believe urban gardening can offer a partial solution to this issue. This is why I plant diverse flowers, foliage, and even some vegetable plants in plastic containers. Doing so allows me to recycle containers I would otherwise litter, while their durability supports uninterrupted plant growth by eliminating the need for frequent replanting.

Along with some foliage, my planted flowers include Adenium, Petunia, Moss Rose, Portulaca, Periwinkle, Kalanchoe, Butterfly Pea, Ixora, Blue Days etc. I also planted some Garlics and Green Chillies.

I maintain the plants mostly on my own. I spray pesticides, remove weeds, and put manure into the soil. I water the plants, prune and trim the branches to make the plants healthy. I plant seedlings on a seedbed to provide them with special care. Sometimes plants get attacked by pests, especially mealybugs, then I separate the plants from the rest to reduce the outbreak. I really enjoy working on my garden.

Reading Books

In my spare time, I like to read books. My interests include science fiction, fantasy, detective and mystery, romance, action and adventure, suspense and thrillers and self-help genres.

Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling is one of my favorite book series. I have read all 8 of the books multiple time both original and translated versions. In fact, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was my first ever translated book to read that was written by a foreign writer, as I was only 9 at that time and could only read in my native language, which is Bengali. This book created an unforgettable immersion in my mind as a kid that later when I was in my university, I read all of the books of the series in original print. I was impressed again with the story telling, the bonding between family and friends, the display of wisdom and courage of different characters like Professor Dumbledore, Severus Snape and the list goes on.

My other favorite series are The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson, Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, You by Caroline Kepnes and Beg Bastard by Nazim Uddin.

Some favorite standalone novels include Origin by Dan Brown, 1984 by George Orwell, Amazonia by James Rollins, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood.

Atomic Habits by James Clear is one of my favorite self-help books. This book starts with a simple note that tiny changes in activity can result in massive improvements over time. The author lays out a simple 4 step layout for building any habit which are cue, craving, response and reward. Later in the book the author described why each of these steps works out and how readers can implement these in their daily routines. I personally applied these rules in my daily life and built new habits such as indoor cycling 5 times a week, reading a chapter of the book everyday, watching english streamers to improve my listening skill, and so on.

I’ve read other self-help books such as Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, which focuses on tackling the toughest tasks first, and The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, offering practical leadership strategies. I’ve also read the biography of Elon Musk, titled Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, written by Ashlee Vance. His vision and accomplishments continue to inspire me in my own technological pursuits.

Travelling

I like to visit new places to observe the natural and architectural beauty as well as different cultures. In fact, this inspired me to sign up to become a local guide for Google Maps as I can share my experience with others. I get to explore new areas while traveling and guide others on how to get there or what they expect the experience to be.

Since my childhood, I lived in different northern districts due to my parent’s workplace changes. I observed the difference between certain city areas, the people and the weather which taught me about adaptation and growth.

Here are some places where I visited the past couple of years inside Bangladesh:

Kuakata Sea Beach, Patuakhali

Tengragiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Barguna

Carmichael College, Rangpur

Teesta Barrage, Lalmonirhat

Lake Paradise, Kaptai, Rangamati

Horticulture Heritage Park, Khagrachari

Modhu Polli, Sagordari, Jessore

Shat Gambuj Mosque, Bagerhat

DIY Projects

Since my childhood, I’ve always been curious about how different things worked, which eventually turned into the curiosity about how I can build that thing. This passion led me to find joy in DIY projects, which are my favorite things to work at. Over the years I have made a soil moisture meter for my aunt so that she can maintain her intricate, moisture sensitive, plants. I also created a personalized photo scrapbook using printed pattern papers, starting from scratch.

One of my friends needed help making a customized lamp but it was very expensive to build. I came up with the idea of using tracing papers instead of transparency papers. Even though the visibility is not great for tracing papers, for the purpose of the project, it worked perfectly as it can disperse light when placed in front of a light source. The end result was truly impressive.

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