The Beauty of Words and Womanhood

Once in a while, life doesn't feel all that great.

Whatever it may be, your left feeling confused, short of breath, jumbled up inside, to a point in which the thoughts inside your head feel like one gigantic run-on sentence. In moments like these, I can only take refuge in one simple yet inevitably remedial process…reading. The way in which chanting to a rosary can soothe the pious; words have always been my source of cathartic release.

Escapism is what it’s called – an escape from banality, an escape from some overwhelming and usually unnecessary feeling, an escape from daily life, plain and simply an escape from reality. My vehicle for escapism is thankfully the world’s most accessible and simple fix - literature. I devour fiction with the same reckless abandon that adrenaline junkies employ when developing their taste for a certain “high” – usually completely unconscious of the time of day or the appropriateness of my actions (yes, I have attempted to read a book while taking a shower); what do I find so irresistible? Well, obviously the words.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: Prose is Poetry. Story telling is an art, and it’s the kind of art that any kind of person can understand and connect to. There’s something about a continuous stream of words, decorated with decorum, (the periods, the commas, the apostrophes, the exclamation marks and the question marks) tip taping on your tongue melodiously while simultaneously metamorphosing together into meaning and purpose…that well, turns me on.

I’m currently revisiting Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Although Alcott’s novel is a simple one, its messages about gender, poverty, and happiness transcend that of much more complex and stylistically revered novels. It’s a union of so many important lessons in life, and written in a format that ten-year old girls can appreciate, understand, and use as a guidebook to unselfish living – which is ultimately happy living.

Alcott, through the trials and tribulations of her characters, Mr. and Mrs. March, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy – tells a simple and beautiful story of the importance of family, the importance of hard work and strong ethic, and most significantly what it means to be a woman. With every page, I feel as though young Jo has manifested herself right out of the novel, and taught me the basic yet crucial criteria to what Maya Angelou would call a “Phenomenal Woman”.

Stuff Our Government Says

There is a new trend on Youtube to post videos titled “Stuff (insert a type of group here) Says”. For example, there are videos titled “Stuff Girls Say” or “Stuff Puerto Ricans Say”; these are meant to be humorous videos based on an amalgamation of stereotypes that pertain to a certain group of people. As many of these videos have recently gone viral, I am left with two distinct feelings; one a moral dilemma -“stereotyping people is an unfair and often baseless thing to do” and the second being, “Oh my god, imagine how funny a video titled Stuff Our Government Says would be!”

Being a concerned member of this society, I find myself reading newspaper articles, op-ed pieces, editorials, blogs, and watching the news at an almost obsessive level. Being young and understanding that this country will one day be the responsibility of my generation compels me to wish the best for it; to hope that those we have given the reigns and therefore full control of this glorious nation will work there best to maintain it and to ensure its future prosperity and health. However, I am often lost for words at our blatant inability to make any progress.

Yesterday, I went to the National Library to view the premier of our late Tareque Masud’s film, Runway. Once again, I was left with two distinct feelings. My first feeling was of pride. Pride in how many well-wishers had joined together to pay respect to Tareque Masud, Mishuk Munier, and Catherine Masud and pride at how beautifully and brilliantly made the film was.

The second feeling was of overwhelming disappointment at how poorly kept the National Library grounds and Auditorium were: there was trash through out the gardens, and the auditorium seemed as though it hadn’t been swept, vacuumed, or cleaned since its inception. My friend and I were baffled at the inauguration plate stating that the auditorium had been opened in 1999, it seemed to us at first glance that it was a sad relic of the past. There is no one to blame but the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Article 24 of the Constitution says, “The State shall adopt measures for the protection against disfigurement, damage or removal of all monuments, objects or places of special artistic or historic important or interest. “ Is the National Library not a place of special artistic or historic importance?

What do our politicians have to say about the various issues that are hampering the betterment of our nation and people? Most of the time, what they do say can be interpreted as comedic, comedic because they are often plain stupid. This is why a video titled Stuff Out Government Says would most definitely become viral; the people running our country tackle issues and give responses to pertinent questions with such a level of ignorance that it becomes baffling, and we are left in laughter.

Recently, senior Awami league leader Mohammad Nasim said that “incoherent comments” made by ministers were embarrassing the party. Nasim was specifying that comments made by finance minister Abdul Muhith and communications minister Obaidul Quader related to the government’s current hot topic, the Padma Bridge, were so inconsistent that they were creating an image of disorganization within the party. On one hand you have the finance minister claiming that no resolution has thus been passed, and on the other hand you have the communications minister claiming than an MOU with Malaysia will soon be signed. How is this not funny?

U.S. diplomat Robert Blake comment that major political parties should reach a consensus to hold credible elections seems to have infuriated railway minister, Suranjit Sengupta to the point of making the statement that “Bangladesh is not dictated by Blakes.” Considering that Blake’s comment holds relevance and seems to be quite a sound piece of advice, Sengupta’s approach to tackling the comment as though it were the commands of a white imperialist seem outright childish and immature.

Then there’s Abdul Muhith’s public statement regarding the state of our economy, according to Muhith our economy lacks any weakness, except for inflation. MP Fazlul Azim recently criticized Muhith for the share market’s poor health, Muhith’s response was that the share market was doing just fine, in fact there were close to 17 lakh investors, of which 15 lakh have capital over 10 lakh each! Why doesn’t Muhith stand in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, most preferably during protests, and talk to investors who have lost everything to stock market manipulation. How is it not funny that the man who we entrust as our finance minister is telling us that the glass is half full when there is no in fact no glass or water for that matter?

The prices of food essentials being as high as they are have caused widespread criticism of the present government’s inability to decrease prices; our past honorable commerce minister, Faruk Khan’s response? “kom kan” (eat less) – what a simple solution! How did we not think about this before?!

Most recently, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina publicly nominated Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, for the World Bank chief position. How ironic considering that she worked relentlessly to strip Yunus of his position within his own brainchild, Grameen Bank – our government is so full of confusing positions and statements that we can’t help but chuckle every now and then.