Lessons From Probhaat Ferry

Split is gone before the morning procession Kids never spoil the grand occasion. Shutting down a daily before the Ekushey Hurts talks while tempers begin to fray.

The quintessential part of commemorating Amar Ekushey on February 21 (Mother Language Day) is to take part in Probhaat Ferry (the morning procession) that ultimately ends in offering flowers bouquet at Shaheed Minar(Language Martyrs’ Memorial Monument). The commemoration of Mother Language Day has been observed every year since 1952 when students and ordinary people took bullets in demanding Bengali as state language of Pakistan along with Urdu. Pakistani rulers complied but the language movement culminated into a full-blown freedom struggle and gave birth to Bangladesh (Land of the Bengali speakers).

In the early morning of 21st February, people from all walks of life clad in black/white Punjabi/Saree take part in a brief morning procession called Provaat Ferry and lay flower at the footsteps of language monument, often erected at parks and educational institutions. At educational institutions, it is a must. When we were kids ,it was pretty common. Over the years, it faded away and restricted into the confines of govt programs and key institutions. Revival of probhaat ferry in recent years is a good sign.

I still remember when we were kids how we spent days and nights in the preparation of observing the day.I live in a neighborhood that is adjacent to cantonment. Back then a huge lake,now turned into an apartment complex, separated the neighborhood from the cantonment. During the winter,the lake dried up and walkways through the lake provided us the opportunity to explore the rural part of the other side. In the Monsoon, the lake turned into a vast ocean and we often went for a boat ride/picnic like Huckleberry Finn. I never forget the taste of rice,brinjal fry,egg curry we cooked on a makeshift brick stove. Sometimes we played cricket. We played all day long with stems of Pink Morning Glory ,which was used as bush hedge on the perimeter of a house. The dried stems looked like assault rifles. We aimed them at imaginary enemy and made crackling sounds with mouth. But the most adventurous task we embarked upon is the one that took place on the day before 21st February. We crossed the lake and raided the cantonment in search of flowers. We went door to door in that heavily guarded area. Security guards and occupants of the houses were welcoming and appreciating. Every houses had flower gardens. Marygold, Rose, Dahlia, Sunflower and Chrysanthemum were in abundance. They plucked the flowers and donated them to us with a smile. Bigger the flower,greater is our hope that we are receiving all the blessings from heaven.Having gathered enough flowers,we spared no time to make a bouquet. Our team effort was short lived. Soon we split into two or more groups over trivial issues. Discord was often about who would lead the procession and hold the bouquet. But somehow we overcame all the differences and made the event a successful one. The monument was covered with flowers. By noon,a completely opposite scene was staged.The disciplined crowd turned into a bunch of marauding monkeys and joined the pillage of the Shaheed Minar.Some grabbed the biggest bouquet and some got hold of few Dahlias and ran towards home. Few petals and Marygolds were all left on the Shaheed Minar.Nowadays we have become civilized. Display of such plundering of Shaheed Minar is conspicuously absent. This is indeed a progress in human development!

Despite being kids,we know how to unify all on grand occasion. With heavy heart the country witnessed that the day before 21st February govt shut down a daily that worked as spokesman of the main opposition over whimsical reason. It is indeed a blow to freedom of expression and reconciliation that ultimately leads us to a functioning democracy. The action is contradictory to the very spirits of language movement. It is unfortunate that govt sometimes takes some steps that even the Pakistani rulers did not dare to take during the time of military dictatorship. On the grand event like Probhaat Ferry we made sure no one is left behind and take part in the morning procession. But it is sad that govt used the sacred month and the grand event to drive a further wedge between the two major parties instead of walking the path of reconciliation. Sometimes I feel in this country the kids show maturity than the grown ups.

Losing The Soft Power

With much fanfare another Ekushey Book Fair has started at the heart of Bangladesh's cultural Mecca. The ritualistic buying spree will continue for a month and a noticeable feature is absence of Indian Bengali book publishers who are reputed for bringing out quality contents and more professional in their dealings. For the last few years, a form of vice policing has also been put in place. Its goal is to seize any published contents that deemed taboo or not compliant with standard set by authority.

However, there is no short of contents. Stalls are glutted with books. Many of them are published to pander to the seasonal desire of local readers or with the money of amateur writers.

Of the crowd that thronged the fair every year, kids and adolescents constitute a larger part. In their fledgling years, books nourish their minds and build the repository on how to express their thoughts and ideas. Lack of good Bangla books hampers that process. Libraries that once stored these good books are dying. So are the sources to replenish the repository of young minds. Another source is the leading dailies. But only negligible few produce quality contents and provide space to writers from across the border. Some bought copyright of the their works and reprinted them here. Even that is not replicated widely.

By barring the foreign publishers in this fair we deprive the readers of good books and somehow slows down this process of sentence construction, articulation and argument making.

Given the seasonal nature of our publication industry, our publishers have never been professional and are far from ready to publish the quality contents in great quantity.

This book fair could have been a great platform to showcase all the Bengali books , published anywhere in the world. The grown stature of 21 February entails this global participation. Senseless protectionism creates obstacle even giving the fair a regional representation.

But the opposite is expected since Bangladesh is the sole country in the world that houses more Banglaphone speakers than any other country and is the beacon of Bengali culture. So it is a dream for those to showcase their works or perform their works in Bengali in front of the Banglaphones. Similarly a recognition to these Banglaphone writers and artists from the part government or private organizations will lift the status of Bangladesh among the league of countries that are connoisseurs and patrons of arts. Writers and artists in Anglophone and Francophone countries still long for and value awards and prizes provided by literary bodies or cultural or private organizations in those respective countries.

Unfortunately communal division runs so deep in the two factions of British Bengal that it casts an overarching shadow over our culture.In other parts of the subcontinent cultural relations between the countries are not so scornful. Despite regular clashes and casualties on both sides, Indian films are not banned in Pakistan. Urdu literature is flourishing in India. Kolkata still offers space for Urdu poets. And Bengalis in general highly value any awards from Kolkata, be it in any discipline of literature and arts.

Net result of this cultural division in Bengal is that the Bengali publication industry is at low ebb, Banglaphone writers and artists find it very hard to reach a broader class, creating knowledge and its dissemination in Bangla language has reached a dead end as very few books are written in Bangla at tertiary level education.

Far reaching damage is inflicted on economic front. Our cultural market shrinks. So is our cultural influence. Despite significant presence of Bengali diaspora in all major cities in the world , this division holds us back from having influence over literary and entertainment markets in those countries. What is worst back home we are losing our domestic audiences as well as market to foreign TV serials.

In their daily lives Bengal's thriving middle class incorporates enough ingredients that can make an impression on global audience. At the same time, its literature and entertainment industry catering to the need of typical Bengali mind that is progressive could also reach a welcoming audience in other countries, particularly the Muslim ones.

A regimented quarter in our country reinvented this "us versus them" in Bengali culture and weakened the cultural bonding. Generations representing the unified culture and divided one offer a striking contrast. Those who grew up in undivided Bengal outshined the ones grew up in divided Bengals in their respective fields and many found a global turf.

Even in the divided cultures, the one that is open and liberal creates enlightened society and highly qualified citizens. Just start counting the names and compare.

Spirit of Ekushey entails that our cultural events offer potpourri of artistic works.We need to discard this protectionist stance the day February 21 was declared international mother language day.Pursuing this protectionism in cultural arena for far too long only weakens our cultural leverages. By not allowing more qualified Bengalis from across the border in media, academic and publication industry we are gradually losing this soft cultural power. And our readers, particularly the young ones, do not get the chance to relish the sophisticated works of refined and superior Bengali minds.