Every lesson, essay and journal entry, newest first. 726 published posts.
📖 From Sourov's world: I have written academic papers, formal complaints, and personal essays. The single most transferable skill across all three is hedging — the ability to express an idea without claiming more certainty…
📖 From Sourov's world: I was working at the casino when the call came. My father had died. I had been carrying my phone in my pocket all evening — I don't know why, I…
📖 From Sourov's world: As a sommelier at some of Sydney's finest restaurants — the Ivy, Uccello, Establishment — I learned that wine vocabulary is mostly collocations. You don't "make" a reservation, you "make" one…
📖 From Sourov's world: I once reconstructed a career from fifteen years of sent emails. Every important conversation I ever had professionally — every request, every objection, every result — was in an email. A…
📖 From Sourov's world: I moved to Réunion because my wife is French and the island offered something the mainland didn't. However, starting over in a new country means rebuilding from zero. As a result,…
📖 From Sourov's world: A feedback session changed my teaching. Someone told me: "Get off your high horse." I went home and I wrote down exactly what was said — word for word. Later I…
📖 From Sourov's world: In a restaurant kitchen, no one says "Marco burned the risotto." They say "the risotto was burned." The passive removes the person. In business, in journalism, in bureaucracy — the passive…
📖 From Sourov's world: In fifteen years of hospitality I met thousands of people. The ones I remember were not the loudest or the wealthiest. They were the ones who were genuinely curious — who…
📖 From Sourov's world: In hospitality, the customer is always right — even when they're clearly wrong about the wine. I spent years learning to disagree without saying "no". In teaching, the same skill matters.…
📖 From Sourov's world: Someone once asked me: "If you could go back to 2005, would you still move to Sydney?" I said: "Yes — but I would learn more English first." That "would" and…
📖 From Sourov's world: I have lived in three countries. I lived in Australia for twelve years. Do you feel the difference? The first sentence is about now — it still shapes me. The second…
📖 From Sourov's world: I arrived in Sydney in 2005. I got off the plane. I sat on the kerb outside the terminal for three hours. I didn't know anyone. I didn't have a phone.…
📖 From Sourov's world: In hospitality, your skills are your salary. I could make twelve types of coffee. I could recommend a wine blind. I could serve twenty tables at once without a single error.…
📖 From Sourov's world: Réunion island sits in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. There is a volcano in the middle — Piton de la Fournaise, one of the most active in the world. There…
📖 From Sourov's world: I wake up at the same time every day. I make coffee — good coffee, the kind I learned to make at work. I write for one hour before anyone else…
📖 From Sourov's world: When I arrived at Sydney airport in 2005, I sat on the kerb outside for three hours. I did not know which bus to take, and my English was too basic…
📖 From Sourov's world: I grew up eating rice and dal every day in Bangladesh. Then I worked in some of Sydney's finest restaurants — Uccello, Popolo, Establishment. I spent years tasting wine and learning…
📖 From Sourov's world: I was born in Bangladesh. I lived in Australia for over a decade. Now I live on Réunion — a French island. When someone asks me "Where are you from?", I…
📖 From Sourov's world: I come from Bangladesh, but my daughter was born on Réunion island — a French island in the Indian Ocean. My wife Vanessa is French. My family speaks three languages at…
📖 From Sourov's world: At the casino, time is everything. My shift started at 6 pm and ended at 2 am. In those eight hours I learned that "quarter past", "half past" and "midnight" are…
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Sourov Deb EI · SIRET 106 764 061 00011 · Saint-Pierre, La Réunion