A Generation Awakening: February 2013

I was becoming a cynic about this country. No one seemed to care enough about anything or anyone. There were so many complaints. Some may have had good things to say but everyone definitely had something negative to share.  It was becoming harder and harder to blindly follow a country that was imploding into itself. It was getting more and more difficult to believe that I am a patriot. Or that I was raised a patriot. Or that the love of the land and its people were the only reason I have ever cared to do anything at all. Working with youth volunteers, I was unfortunately getting deeper and deeper into the mindset of a generation that seemed to care about nothing but its resume and a healthy paycheck.

Then it happened; Shahbag. Someone wrote something. Couple hundred kids got some candles out. A voice started calling out slogans, a group started singing, some poets recited, posters were made, festoons were hung and I witnessed through the mist, a generation growing a conscience.  

Generally as a rule of thumb, I hate going into crowds in Dhaka. All we girls know why. But here was a new kind of crowd! Each person respectful of the one next to them. Men and women deemed equal. Sitting shoulder to shoulder. A packet of Energy biscuits were opened and shared amongst a crowd of strangers smiling at each other. No one was taking credit for sponsoring but candles were being passed around, banners were popping up without logos and water bottles were in abundance.

I went once, skipped class and went again, dropped work and went a third time. First I was calling people, scheduling meet-ups. Then I started going alone. I found myself near where Lucky Akhter was belting out a volcano and I started to point my finger, raise my fist and reply to her chants. Every time I went, I found a miracle. I could not stay away; I could not wait to be amongst a crowd of the most magnificent men and women I have ever met. The air was electric and I was proud to be a charged particle. A generation was awakening, letting its presence acknowledge, rising up to social responsibility. I was at the epicenter of life; happening. I felt reborn.

Often times we lose sight of what we fight for and we complain about things that don’t change. Someone trying to get an objective opinion asked me why I keep going and I have no good answer. I just know that if I didn’t then I would be missing out on history being made. I didn’t want to be objective; I wanted to be young, spontaneous, obnoxious, uninhibited, hopeful and completely biased. No matter how cynical I still feel and how much my faith wavers that something good is going to come out of all this; I keep going for completely selfish reasons. Projonmo Square gives me hope. It gives me roots and a sense of solidarity. It pumps me with the feeling of self-worth. It makes me part of a huge soul being shared by a million Bangladeshis. 

So I’ll keep going.

Join me, or don’t.