Outsider Memories | January Newsletter

It feels like forever since I’ve written in here, but it’s just that a lot has happened.

I mentioned last month that I was going to Bangladesh, and I did. I stayed for a month with my grandfather, and this was the first time I felt I could experience it fully, even though I’ve been before.
I didn’t really want to go on this trip. Final assignments were due, I was going to miss a month of my favourite season and events that I had been meaning to attend. It sounds so haughty when I say it out loud? But it was what I was thinking.

Then I went, and it was better than my expectations. I’m not going to glamorize the experience (I saw someone peeing one the side of the road. Twice.), but because there are so many people in such a small place, you can see interactions and others experiences. This isn’t as easily possible in Canada as it is there.

One of my favourite memories was during the fourth week. We were stuck in traffic (like always), and there was a small stall selling chips on the side of the road. There was a boy, a man with his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and the cashier behind the counter.

The boy was wearing worn-down sandals and a thin t-shirt. His cotton pants were ripped at the knee—and not in a fashionable way. His hair looked quite dusty, and his face not quite clean.
The man, on the other hand, was well-dressed. He was wearing nice fitting jeans and a collared shirt. Based on what I saw, I don’t think that the man and boy were related. My best guess was that the man sympathized the child and saw him on the road, but who knows, really.

The boy held a packet of chips in his hand like it was a gold necklace. His eyes glowed, and when the man handed the money to the cashier, the boy looked at the man with incredulity, gratitude and respect. The man, glancing down at the boy, smiled and ruffled the hair on his head. They eventually parted ways, the boy and the man, but isn’t that amazing? I witnessed someone else’s treasured memory, and I didn’t even have to do anything. Incredible.

Fatima, What Have You Been Up To?

I went to Bangladesh, but I think I might have that mentioned already.

just vibing tbh

• I started exploring books outside of what I usually read, and it’s been amazing.

  I keep going down these weird rabbit holes of very niche books and genres, but so far I haven’t read anything appalling. I’m not complaining :)

• I’ve returned to TKS as an intern once more, and I’m incredibly excited to be working with the team again.

  This time around, it’s a lot more strategy and data based, so analyzing + making insights on the data we collect.

• My plane ride back to Canada was very aesthetically pleasing. Made the turbulence worth it.

Monthly Burrito 🌯

A speed-round of things that I’ve enjoyed, learnt or created this month.

1. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins was amazing, and I really liked how the main perspective was a feminine one.

2. Cashflow Positive is a newsletter by Harrison Nolan (he’s a known name here), and it’s been so helpful as I start to learn more about personal finance :)

3. This Medium article on hyperspecializing—something I knew, but needed to be reminded of.

Thank you for sticking around till the end, through all this black and white and lack of emojis, and I’ll see you next month.

Fatima