Happy International Mother Language Day! This year the theme is “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education.” According to the UN site, International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. This year they added, “Local languages, especially minority and indigenous, transmit cultures, values and traditional knowledge, thus playing an important role in promoting sustainable futures.”

We know that two nations Bangladeshis and Finnish gave blood for their languages. On Feb. 21, 1952 during curfew few Bangladeshi people namely Salam, Rafiq, Barkat, Jabbar etc. got killed by the police during a demonstration. They were neither prime ministers nor professors, they were students, members of a political front for language movement. Among them few later became prime ministers of an independent country and few became language movement heroes. It is always like that if you stand up for something good, it will bring huge results for which you can boost on. When people get derailed from good, deprive other, taking away their due rewards, those bad people cannot survive long in the world. However, that language movement was successful. On Feb. 29, 1956 Bangla became a state language besides Urdu. After 1971, free nation Bangalies can use Bangla as an office language in the offices and it has become the only state language. I pay homage to those language martyrs fought for justice. As Bangla is my mother tongue, I know it. In mother tongue we called Bengali Bangla. I am a bookworm. I read all kinds of books. Many of those are in Bangla too, though English books dominate. I like few US university presses’ publications much.

I would like to suggest anyone to master English and few languages besides mother tongue. While mother tongue eases education, empowers and enlightens one’s soul, other languages like Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese etc. are of great value in the global business environment.

To know Bangla, you have to know Rabindranath Tagore who transformed Bangla literature into a great new level. Bangla language has a rich, old history. It got its elegance, esoteric enlightenment and new magic with the poetry of Tagore. To celebrate “Happy International Mother Language Day”, I am sharing one of my favorite songs’ lyrics of Tagore. I hope that you all find it worthy. It is like that he is asking Supreme, Good God for his higher self in a great, impassioned voice. I wonder that though it is a tough Bangla for this time, it has lots of appeal for something that is we called true, eternal, great literature, true enlightenment, true quest of God and a majestic, sacred hymn. Tagore wrote:

“প্রাণ ভরিয়ে তৃষা হরিয়ে
মোরে আরো আরো আরো দাও প্রাণ ।
তব ভুবনে তব ভবনে
মোরে আরো আরো আরো দাও স্থান ॥
আরো আলো আরো আলো
এই নয়নে,প্রভু,ঢালো ।
সুরে সুরে বাঁশি পূরে
তুমি আরো আরো আরো দাও তান ॥
আরো বেদনা আরো বেদনা,
প্রভু, দাও মোরে আরো চেতনা ।
দ্বার ছুটায়ে বাধা টুটায়ে
মোরে করো ত্রাণ মোরে করো ত্রাণ ।
আরো প্রেমে আরো প্রেমে
মোর আমি ডুবে যাক নেমে ।
সুধাধারে আপনারে
তুমি আরো আরো আরো করো দান ॥”

(“Satisfy my life, quench my thirst, add more energy to my life.
Provide me with more space in your abode, your world,
Shine more light before my eyes, O Master,
Give me more melody, whistling through your flute.
Grind me with more pain, wisdom to unveil.
Gates flung open, obstructions shattered, save my soul.
Donate yourself in terms of drops of your potion.”)

Dr. Knight Salim B Shahid, MBBS, MBA

For Investment directly contact me by cell:+8801775551861 or by email sshahid1111@yahoo.com or by Skype ID: Dr. Knight Salim B Shahid.