Earth Log // 0713

Cosmo,

After days of heavy rain, Dhaka is slowly finding its rhythm again.

The water is finally leaving the streets. The footpaths are visible again. Traffic has started arguing with itself, people are back to running after buses, and the tea stalls are crowded like nothing ever happened.

Cities recover so quickly.

People don’t.

It’s been a while since you left.

I’m still learning how to belong to Dhaka without you.

Today I met someone.

Nothing extraordinary.

Just coffee.

He ordered a cappuccino.

I stayed loyal to my Americano.

Some habits survive people.

We spent hours talking about human psychology, politics, and the strange little stories that quietly build an ordinary life.

Then we watched a movie.

He chose caramel popcorn and Pepsi.

You would’ve laughed.

We always shared salted popcorn, chicken nuggets, and Coca-Cola.

I didn’t order them today.

Not because they don’t taste the same.

Because memories do.

The caramel popcorn was surprisingly good.

Too sweet for me, though.

Some things don’t need that much sugar.

We ended the evening the way Dhaka always seems to end its evenings—

a cup of street tea,

a cigarette,

and conversations that quietly disappeared into the night.

I walked home thinking about something you once asked me.

“Do humans always compare the present with the people they’ve lost?”

I didn’t know the answer then.

Maybe we don’t compare people.

Maybe we compare moments.

A new coffee with an old one.

A different laugh with a familiar silence.

A stranger sitting across the table…

and someone who still lives on another planet.

— Earth, Dhaka