Bangladesh, the extended motherland

Heading to Bangladesh after a long time. The very name of the country does not let me consider it as a separate country. The people, the language, the culture, the literature-all are so close to my heart. It has a strange kind of emotional appeal which wraps me up with the smell of soil, pure joy of celebrating togetherness and a lot of childhood stories heard from my elders. This time the journey to Bangladesh is going to be very special as there are the special people like Goutam da, MoonMoon, Dev are going to accompany me. And another reason for my excitement is, this time I will be celebrating “Antorjatik Bhasha Dibosh” on 21^st with my Bangladeshi family.

It is sad that, whatever people come to know about Bangladesh generally comes from newspapers reports and most of them are tragedies like natural disasters, political strife etc. it is quite stigmatized as we hardly hear about any positive thing about Bangladesh or it may be, the negative news are under spotlight more than the positive side of it. What I feel, in this time frame of cultural overlapping, Bangladesh has surprisingly managed to retain their individuality from being mingled with others. The smell of the soil is still there in every form of art.

While shooting for “Moner Manush”, I got the opportunity to interact with some theatre personalities there. They are so extremely talented. This cultural exchange is very necessary for our industry. In the social media I get so many messages everyday from the people there who want to be a part of a project which will include artists from both the countries. In fact, there are many people in our industry who have a huge fan following in Bangladesh. There are many talented directors, actors, script writers, lyricists who belong to the new age genre of cinema and eager to produce good work. I don’t know how many of you have remembered “Ami Shei Meye”, which was a small initiative to intermingle the culture of the two neighboring countries who share the same mother tongue. If we can make this happen, there is a huge market that is waiting for us. If the producers of both the countries can think about it, both of the industries will flourish economically and of course in other aspects as well.

Interruptions were there, obstacles will be there if we try to do something better. But that should not diminish the spirit of our soul. This is the time to give it a thought very seriously. Otherwise, what’s the use of celebrating the same language with which we (India and Bangladesh) are bonded? Why remembering those poets who have written about the unity we boast about every time? Art in any form does not encourage any limitations, any barrier of religion, or geographical distance. Art has its own language. And in this “Antorjatik Bhasha Dibosh”, let’s celebrate the language of art itself.

Love to all!