I couldn’t share a post last Thursday for the ‘Thursday Doors’ challenge, hosted by Dan Antion, as I was at an exhibition of Benarasi silks held at the Le Meridien hotel in Dhaka. This was my first experience at such an exhibition and I needed a lot of coaxing to go for it. I’m glad I gave in and went for it with friends that I’ve made here. It was a wonderful experience.

The new flyover made reaching the venue a piece of cake. What would generally take forty-five minutes or more depending on traffic, took not more than twenty minutes. The thing is that there is a toll for using the flyover, so, not everyone uses it which means we got no traffic at all.

The exhibition of Benarasi silks showcased muslin saris, silks, jewelery and home decor made by local artisans. Before I share pictures of the exhibition, here are photographs of two doors. We got the visiting cards of the people who showcased their items. The plan is to visit the source and hopefully, get a better discount.

We ended our visit with a much-needed cup of coffee which came with chocolate cookies which we devoured with little guilt. We had left home for the exhibition at around 3.00 p.m. and were back by 6.00 p.m. It was my first outing in several days and although, my cough persists, it isn’t so bad that it stops me from stepping out.

The next day, on Friday, I went to the nursery. The plants in my garden have been flowering with no help from my side except the daily watering I do. Every morning, I wake up to a new bloom that reminds me it’s Spring, and it’s time to rise and shine.
Today, there were three- each looking up at the sun, it’s petals open wide and nothing to hide, unlike the pink rose which although bloomed is closed in the centre. It holds its secret safe.
Given the season, I decide to gift me some more plants. So, I bought two rose plants (a red and a yellow), a dahlia (it’s seasonal but I couldn’t resist picking it up) and a yellow bougainvillea(which is hardy and will require no maintenance).

My balcony is bursting forth with colours. It’s one of my little pleasures in Dhaka and I’m extraordinarily grateful for the season, the space that allows me to grow plants and the pollinators that come silently, do their job and leave.

I haven’t been checking my Amazon account regularly. Thankfully, I’ve gotten over the obsession of checking for reviews on my book. So, when I finally looked at it after 3 days (in case you’re shocked at the frequency, you shouldn’t ever know how often I checked it until a few months ago but I have an excuse, it’s my first book), I was pleasantly surprised to see this review. The review happens to be an avid reader (I checked by clicking on the name) and has several reviews to her (I assume it’s a her from the name but I could be wrong) credit.
In case you can’t read the below, one of the things Mia says is, ‘This is an absolute delight of a book that I will be recommending to many people. What I loved about this book is how heartwarming it is.’ Every writer reading this blog will agree how great it feels to hear a reader say this.

And then, there was one more-

Jyoti Biswas

5.0 out of 5 stars Coming homeReviewed in India on 5 March 2024

This book holds a lot of emotions.. grief, love, loss, dicisions, destiny, life, hardwork ….etc. Through huge roller coster of emotional journey the main character of the book finally reached home. It’s a great book , beyond my expectations.. totally loved it.

Well, so that’s another five-star review I’m thankful for. In this day and age, when reading as a habit is under threat and the few who read do not bother writing a review, an author must celebrate those who do. So, this is me doing just that- celebrating it with my writing fraternity here. Because I know you alone understand this joy.

Before I end, here are two doors from my India visit that I hadn’t shared earlier. I thought I might as well share them now so I clear all backlogs before I get myself another set of doors (being hopeful).

I hope you enjoyed this potpourri of a post which you may have realized by now that I do this when I have little to share.
That’s all from my side for the week. Have a wonderful rest of the week. I promise to have some exciting doors next week.

Cheers,

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Coming Home’ is a story on love, life, loss, relationships and family set in India. Here’s the international link to the book.
And if you’re in India, this is the link. 

‘Coming Home’ is available on Kindle as well as Paperback.

Check out what others say about the book on Amazon and Goodreads.

Copyright@smithavishwanathsblog.com. All Rights Reserved.