Dyasher kotha-o to bhabti hobe
Progressive Bangladesh, a new online magazine, has started its journey with the mission to analyse “society and politics with an aim toward what Alan Lightman has called “actively disturbing the status quo”. Among all the articles published, my favourte one is the one by Rubaiya Ahmad. Rubaiya Ahmad was educated at the University of Texas in the United States. After working in the US for over 5 years, she returned to Bangladesh. She is currenly engaged with Bangladesh Golden Agri Seed Associates (BGASA) and a project called Champions of Change, which aims to highlight positive grassroots initiatives. This new project Champions of Change is something that you all will hear about in the coming days as some of us from Drishtipat plan to engage with it heavily. Rubaia’s report is from one such village where she went to find a champion of change.
Read Rubaia’s inspiring article here.
Helaluddin asked, “Tumi ki kaaz koro”? I said, “Brac e kaaj kori”. He replies promptly, “Tomago Brac to amader shob dhani beez ar jomi shesh kori disse! Sakri korba koro, dyasher kawthao to bhabti hobe!”
Read the Progressive Bangladesh here.
Image: Mahrukh Mohiuddin
May 18th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Looks like a very nice initiative. I liked the letter by Farhad Mazhar - something definitely to think about. The Rubaya article was very good too. Would like to know more about this Champions of Change project.
May 20th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Your mission did struck my mind. ‘Individual freedom’ and too much of ‘materialism ‘ correlates the whole issue. Individual greed and lust overshadowing social and collective good of the society. No wonder this is today’s ‘freedom’.
Helaluddin’s Story did not tell much except may be your mission. But than if it is about ‘indigenous seeds’, prolific Farhad Mazhar has been working on this for quite some time. What difference you make in your approach with FM.
Moving lives and improving on it is the heart of the issue, what is so overwhelming to me is so many grassroot poverty healers, with all their good intentions and prolific ideas did not move much economically over the decades. Is it the plight of economies of these hapless or the sustainable economics ideas that is alluring the young chaps towards leaving their comfort and mixing with mud and slang.
I wish you all the best.
May 20th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Haque, yea i also think too much emphasis on individuality can be bad. but if everyone has room to grow and develop, which is a freedom most in bd has been denied by oppressive social structures, that would be very desirable. and does freedom have to come at the expense of the collective?
May 21st, 2007 at 10:16 am
Maf, what is being oppressed or taken away is my rights.
My sovereignty or freedom in this world as a human being can not be curtailed, black hole or the super nova can not pull or explode the ordained status.
What you think for yourself, you may not wish for others, it is upto you but collective good benefits all. What ever preference you have in life it depends on how good or bad you are.
In its relative terms BD may be worse, but the society that can offer more to humanity, far more constraining it.
I am for every rights of my fellow beings.
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Haque, I agree, collective benefits are good, but problem is, who decides what’s good for the collective? Best to leave it to initiatives at the local level (like the Helaluddin Story) than impose them from above using stashes of donor funds.
Also local initiatives can’t succeed without a good justice system that can protect individual rights and promote tolerance.