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Bangla in Curson With
the rise of Bangladeshi émigré in the North American continent, as an
international language, in everyday life, the status of Bangla
is gaining a gradual recognition. In other words, the story of Bangla being catapulted into international scene, is an
integral part of the story of how over the years, Bangladeshi communities in This
is crucial to understand, because to promote Ekushey
February as International Mother Language Day, although the credit goes to a
group of North America based patriotic Bangladeshis; for their extraordinary
contribution, saving our sincere gratitude; yet one can safely state that for
achieving such an exalted status of Bangla, in
reality, the half a million strong Bangladeshi Diaspora in the North American
continent, deserves the credit. It is their passionate love for the language
and in an alien environment, hard rock determination to promote it in
everyday usage, to receive such a formal recognition, laid down the
foundation. At the turn of 1990s, for the first time, en
mass, Bangladeshis begun to arrive on the It
was economic necessity that however, gave birth to such a cultural
distinction: establishment of Bangladeshi grocery stores. Bangladeshi owned
grocery stores served as venue for personal interaction as well as cultural
orientation, as in these premises, greeting and chatting with fellow
Bangladeshis could be done; advertisement for a roommate posted; news papers
and periodicals printed in Dhaka bought; videos of Bengali teleplay rented;
as much as, plan to float social and cultural clubs organized. The process
never looked back. With the steady rise of Bangladeshis, to meet the demands of
the expanding clientele, as numbers of grocery stores expanded, so are
commodity specific stores and service oriented firms, owned by Bangladeshis,
since the demands for deshi foods, goods, and
services, as the figure of expression is employed, gave birth to a class of
Bangladeshi entrepreneurship. Because
of such an economic reason, today, North America became a prime destination
for exports of agricultural commodity, produced in Bangladesh, one the one
hand; on the other, it had a profound impact in developing the community
life, affecting the future status of Bangle language, as export-import
business broke down the patterns of employment structure of sectarian
concentration, traditionally held by Bangladeshis, paving the way for the
rise of an intermediate class of entrepreneurship. In the initial stage of
settlement, the sharp division between high skilled and labor class émigré
that was a characteristic of the Bangladeshi community, affecting
socialization of community life, as a result, began to erode, diversifying
economic horizon of the community. As
mentioned before, with the expansion of the community oriented economy, as
the advent of a second generation Bangladeshi entrepreneurs was made
possible, so is the status of Bangla. As opposed to
grocery stores, the new generation established restaurants; travel agencies;
jewelry and clothing stores; gift shops; thrift houses; immigration, income
tax, and legal aid offices; and so forth, which as time went by, gradually
had spilled over into other forms of economic activities, linking the
community with the mainstream economy. Because
of migrant Bangladeshis’ neck to entrepreneurship and that, instead of
becoming a member of the salaried class, their preference for trade and
commerce, across the Sustained
by their relative affluence, available leisure time, opportunity to meet
fellow Bangladeshis, and above all, dedication to native culture, directly
and indirectly, these entrepreneurs have become sponsors of Bengali culture.
For a Bangla speaking person, to read a Bengali
billboard in New York City; therefore, is no longer an exotic experience, as Bangla became part of the mainstream landscape, so much
so that along with English, not only the majority of Bangladeshi owned stores
display billboards in Bangla; but also, to attract
Bangladeshi clientele, non-Bangladeshi firms put advertisement in it. However,
as an offshoot of these business enterprises, it is their indirect financial
support that contributes to the growth and expansion of Bengali culture in It
is this entrepreneur class that also sustains the cultural link to In
the chilly New York City midnight of 21st February, as a result, under the
amazed gaze of the Americans, hundreds of Bangladeshis gather at the rotunda
of the United Nations Plaza, and on the bank of the icy East River, they lay
garland wreaths, sing patriotic songs, and recite poetry at the feet of the
replicated Saheed Minar,
temporarily made for the exclusive purpose. One
aspects of Ekushey celebration; however, requires a
special mention: book fair. To be precise, in accordance to the original
tradition in It
has become a norm that prominent literatures such as Humayn
Ahmed, Sunil Gangapadhaya, Samaresh
Majumdar, and others, as it is the case for this
year as well, preside over the Bangla Sahitya Sammelayana, the
gravity of attraction of the fair. Invited authors speak about their works,
comments on trends in contemporary writings, answer to queries of the
audience. Such conference is usually followed by a cultural show: dances,
songs, recitations, and screenings, where local bards and cultural activists
participate enthusiastically. Such gatherings of Bengali authors, in addition
to Ekushey, on regular basis, once or twice a year,
currently, are also organized in other States, with high Bengali
concentration. The
outcome of such ethos is an emergent cultural identity, which among the
Diaspora, is marked by its passionate love for Bangla
language and a yarning for the evergreen homeland left behind, epitomized in
celebrating the Ekushey. To release their ingrained
creativity, equipped with advanced education, across the major In
order to introduce the classics of Bangla to the
American born second generation kids, as they are weak in reading in Bangla, BSK is contemplating to initiate a study circle,
where Bangla classics in translation would be read.
In the Campuses and in the Net Worlds, presence of Bengali culture and Ekushey is also highly visible; thanks to our college
going students, both of second generation origin and international background,
whose individual pride in introducing Bengali milieu through numerous web
portals; formation of Bangladesh Student Organizations (BSAs)
across American and Canadian campuses; organizing Bangladeshi cultural nights
and fashion shows have brought Bangladesh in the American living room. Students
of Bangladeshi origin, across the continent, are a common face today;
especially, in the On
the other, in individual levels, creativity of younger Bengalis’ are also gaining a gradual recognitions that addresses
agonies of the Diaspora. As a result, there has been a boom of locally
produced Bengali cultural stuffs: books, videos, stage plays, musical albums,
and full length feature films, aimed to cater the local populace. To feed the
demands of the electronic media, i.e., Bengali Television & Radio
channels: the New York City based Ruposhi Bangla and the Los Angeles based Betar
Bangla, dissemination of local Bengali culture by
connecting the disparate Bangladeshis, consolidation of ethnic identity was
made possible. It
is noteworthy to mention that two full length Bengali feature films and few
video plays about lives of the Diaspora by Enayet Karim Babul and Ashiq Mustafa
already have made entries as representative works of ethnic culture.
Similarly, a bilingual poetry quarterly, edited by Hasan-al-Abdullah,
defying Kippling’s skepticism, makes
confluence of East and West possible. One hardly requires mentioning
publications of numerous short-lived literary journals, mostly aimed to
celebrate the Ekushey, as it has become a hallmark
of Bengali sensibility. Yet,
as a community, similar to other ethnicities in the To
understand the complexities of the issue, one must analyze it in proper
perspectives: of parents’ and children. For working parents, whether of high
skill professional or of labor class background, as it is the case for most
Bangladeshis, in addition to dedication, to teach reading and writing
Bengali, time constrains, what makes it an impossible task, as initially,
children must be taught at home. Besides,
in most cases, because of their poor educational background, parents are
either unable to or unaware of the necessity to teach their children Bangla at home. Lack of proper text books, cognizant to
cognitive growth of children only complicates the problem. Consequently,
although in recognition of the Bangladeshi Diaspora, the Department of
Education of As
a result, among the high school going children, who are raised in the But
the battle for Bangla is yet to over, as time and
again, on voluntary basis, attempts to run Bangla
language schools are initiated. Based on pragmatic policy and institutional
support, should they succeed, among the next generation, Bangla
is likely to survive. In sum, in North American continent, with rapid pace, Bangla has made its permanent intrusion. It obviously is
here to stay and expand, as For
the Diaspora, it is of great achievement, as among all South Asian
communities in the However,
the significance of the recognition of the Ekushey
as the International Mother Language Day, in international scene, transcends
the status of Bangla per se, since as opposed to
the prevalent misconception, the elevated status of the Ekushey,
in reality, is a global effort to remember and feel the necessity to preserve
the numerous minor languages of the world, which because of hegemony of major
languages, including Bangla, are about to wither
way. In
this respect, thus, the recognition of the Ekushey
February as the International Mother Language Day is but a global recognition
of the love for one’s mother tongue, of all the
suppressed people on earth. Curzon |