My OperaFrom Where I Stand
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 1:06:17 PM
15th of October, Blog Action Day '08. This year's topic: Poverty.
People are posting their ideas on various levels. After several hours of pondering on what to say here in this post, I decided I'd better speak from a local perspective, rather than on global situations. Living in Bangladesh, I do get to see a fair share of poverty all around me. So I decided I'll forget about its global structure and rather speak out from my perspective. So here's as I see it.
People are posting their ideas on various levels. After several hours of pondering on what to say here in this post, I decided I'd better speak from a local perspective, rather than on global situations. Living in Bangladesh, I do get to see a fair share of poverty all around me. So I decided I'll forget about its global structure and rather speak out from my perspective. So here's as I see it.
Where we are...
O poverty, thou hast made me great.
Thou hast made me honoured like Christ
With his crown of thorns. Thou hast given me
Courage to reveal all. To thee I owe
My insolent, naked eyes and sharp tongue.
Thy curse has turned my violin to a sword.
from Poverty, Kazi Nazrul Islam
Translation by Kabir Chowdhury[/COLOR]
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I’ve had the misfortune of seeing poverty from close, closer than I would have liked… and I’ve had the opportunity of realizing how lucky I am, not having to live through it as yet. I’ve felt by heart the curse of living in Bangladesh, a country where illiteracy and corruption are known facts, treated as everyday events… and felt the bliss in looking at people who take a simple and genuine pleasure in the raw life present in a bowl of food, not in the luxury of expensive drugs. Poverty here is like the garbage bin in the neighborhood-- though it smells that way, “it can never be changed”. And poverty here is that stark realism that strips every human being into a habit of raw, simple life, if life be.
On a positive note...
The World Bank, UNDP, SAARC, Commonwealth, etc and numerous local groups and organizations are working hard with common objectives ahead, on development programs like GCAP, MDG, etc to name some. Besides there is, of course, Dr. Md. Yunus with the Grameen Bank, which serves as a huge ally, and is one of our biggest prides.
All these programs can be followed in the web through appropriate searches.
The ones I want to salute in this post, however, are the voices.
The ones who have touched the string-- the ones who’ve raised their voices and touched our heart and conscience, not with reports on percentages, but with their works of art, culture and literature.
Poverty has set the fire in the rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976)-- now the national poet of Bangladesh-- has given him the revolutionary voice, “has rendered his heavens barren”, has made him fight the world with an open pen at a surprisingly young age. Being a child prodigy, he has written songs of almost all the genres in sub continental music, and his contribution in Bengali literature easily stands out for its marked revolutionary tones. ( Here is the full version of his poem Poverty that I quoted above).
Talking of young poets, Sukanto Bhattacharya (1926-1947) is another of the favorites. Bengali literature boasts of this young poet who lived a disturbed life and died a premature death at 21. Here are 2 of his poems translated into English. More translations of his works may later be posted or linked to in this blog. He too was a marked voice against poverty and corruption.
(Translations of both Kazi NAzrul and Sukanto Bhattacharya are rare to find in the web. I plan to attempt some translations myself in future, I'll be sure to upload them here in my blog if I do.)
The hand that paints can paint a world peaceful. Following are some of Zainul Abedin’s (1914-1946) works. They need no words.
There are many others alongwith. Jashim Uddin, Manik Bondhopaddhay, and many others had made their lives a living tribute to all that is bold and beneficial, and have given a clear picture of the acute poverty in rural Bangladesh. I choose this day to recall and respect them, and ask whoever is reading this now, to recognize and reminisce these voices and follow thereby. Many of us go through our lives without having the slightest idea on what we are living for. I call upon all earnest minds to start living a full life, with a good cause ahead, to start living for that which we may fight to change, to improve.
From where I stand…
I used to come a long way to school back when I was 6. On my way were the slums near the Kamalapur rail lines. The smoke and the darkness in there, and the charred black faces, never seemed to change- everything there in that dark smoky corner were the same every day. And to this day it’s the same. What has changed and improved is the number of organizations we have for eliminating poverty. There are public/private organizations, development programs, funds, charities. And there is poverty. I’m not saying these are impoverishing the poor rather than improving. I’m not saying these organizations are not trying. But there are times when I feel like more could be done for people than those statistics and reports on white glossy papers which cost us more than what helping a group of slum-dwellers would. Of course statistics and reports are essential for us to start helping the poor people, but sometimes it seems we never start. And of course there’s the fact that I’m an obstinate teenager who doesn’t quite understand the complicated development issues.
Therefore, while I understand the importance and validity of welfare organizations, I must also say: let us not be one who is just a part of an organization, with no individuality and awareness in the inner self. Let us help because we want to. Let us not see and “aww” poverty, let’s see it as a wound that must be healed by each of us. Let us, as my father says, not call them poor, but call them people.
- Symphony
© Photos by Bayzeed Hayder (Except the paintings by Zainul Abedin.)
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P.S: And if you want to help, these are some really useful links provided by Blog Action Day :
http://site.blogactionday.org/resources/what-can-1-person-do/
http://www.change.org/blogactionday
http://www.agoodcause.com/content/view/429/146/
http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/
rwertyu # Wednesday, October 15, 2008 3:02:33 PM
These lines do stand out in the whole article. It's very well written, good effort symphony!!!
Bhaswati Mazumdersymphonied # Wednesday, October 15, 2008 4:03:07 PM
AsunaASUNA1 # Wednesday, October 15, 2008 7:41:03 PM
Denis Edward Chesneyflotsam22 # Thursday, October 16, 2008 1:10:28 PM
Bhaswati Mazumdersymphonied # Thursday, October 16, 2008 1:43:22 PM
KimberlySqueakeyCat # Wednesday, November 19, 2008 2:39:24 AM
we need more ppl to make posts like these.
scott cummingI_ArtMan # Wednesday, November 19, 2008 5:19:38 AM
sorinste-ven # Saturday, January 24, 2009 7:53:07 AM
-birth rate
-rich people
i know you can't (and don't want to)
but to be frank, and to say the truth===> these 2 things you should control
the best
KimberlySqueakeyCat # Sunday, February 1, 2009 8:41:14 PM
~ latemate ~Lazeeitus # Monday, August 22, 2011 4:01:14 PM
Bhaswati Mazumdersymphonied # Tuesday, August 23, 2011 10:01:54 AM