why, indeed, the country?
The GP ad is finally done!
The British have tea and biscuits, Japan has technology, America has capitalism. We Bangladeshis have our country, rescued from the arbitrary machinations of imperialist politics, wrested forcefully from those who would not treat us as their fellow human beings, those whom we had no cultural connections with, who would deny us even the right to speak our language. We have the new-day glory of a country that's not even half a century old, and we have the highminded art that's the legacy of a culture that's been around for thousands of years. We have economic reforms, military coups, political instabilities, corruption, dirty streets, even Nature against us. And at the same time we have the happiest people in the world, we have a country where art and music and literature are considered worthy of dying for, where on the one hand culture stagnates and is held in check by self-appointed guardians and yet, at the same time, we have breakthrough work happening in art, music and literature. We're a country full of religious fundamentalism which at the same time will accept anybody from any religion as its own as long as the love for the people and the soil exist in their hearts. A country, you might say, of contradictions.
Just like every other country in the world.
Where does our pride and patriotism come from? Back in the old days, it was easy. The enemy was the vile Other (not naming countries because my best friend works at Warid!) and our job as Patriot was to literally to wage war and cleanse the country with our bleeding sacrifice. The enemy now is No One. Which is confusing, because we're still not everything we want to be. So the enemy becomes that which keeps us, that which is within ourselves, from being the best that we can be. And what of our pride and patriotism? It's the force which keeps us working towards achievement, both as individuals, and as members of the Bangladeshi community. It's the knowledge that tells us that even though the SIDR cyclone wrecks thousands of homes, we still have one hundred and forty million soldiers fighting against the forces of nature and entropy, working tirelessly to renew their own lives and the lives of those around them. We have two hundred and eighty million pairs of hands that can toil for our country, and for the world.
The new patriotism is recognizing that we are all of us human beings (Banglar Hindu, Banglar Bouddho, Banglar Christian, Banglar Mussulman, Amra shobai Bangali!) living in a world filled with other human beings. Within this world is a tiny bit of space filled with people who are more like us than others, and these people are our neighbors and we are, through causalities beyond the grasp or ability of any single individual, stuck in this ride together. Instead of being patriotism being defined as a common stand against a common foe, patriotism now is defined as a distillation of loving all humans, and loving a specific group of humans more because they're the people that you've shared centuries of history with, and these are the people to whom you turn to for help, and these are your neighbors, your sisters, brothers, your own.
All of this is probably rambling and kind of all over the place. I wrote it to describe my feelings towards the making of this ad (which is one of those things that the whole team did together), for GrameenPhone, celebrating thirty six years of freedom. Joy Bangla!
The British have tea and biscuits, Japan has technology, America has capitalism. We Bangladeshis have our country, rescued from the arbitrary machinations of imperialist politics, wrested forcefully from those who would not treat us as their fellow human beings, those whom we had no cultural connections with, who would deny us even the right to speak our language. We have the new-day glory of a country that's not even half a century old, and we have the highminded art that's the legacy of a culture that's been around for thousands of years. We have economic reforms, military coups, political instabilities, corruption, dirty streets, even Nature against us. And at the same time we have the happiest people in the world, we have a country where art and music and literature are considered worthy of dying for, where on the one hand culture stagnates and is held in check by self-appointed guardians and yet, at the same time, we have breakthrough work happening in art, music and literature. We're a country full of religious fundamentalism which at the same time will accept anybody from any religion as its own as long as the love for the people and the soil exist in their hearts. A country, you might say, of contradictions.
Just like every other country in the world.
Where does our pride and patriotism come from? Back in the old days, it was easy. The enemy was the vile Other (not naming countries because my best friend works at Warid!) and our job as Patriot was to literally to wage war and cleanse the country with our bleeding sacrifice. The enemy now is No One. Which is confusing, because we're still not everything we want to be. So the enemy becomes that which keeps us, that which is within ourselves, from being the best that we can be. And what of our pride and patriotism? It's the force which keeps us working towards achievement, both as individuals, and as members of the Bangladeshi community. It's the knowledge that tells us that even though the SIDR cyclone wrecks thousands of homes, we still have one hundred and forty million soldiers fighting against the forces of nature and entropy, working tirelessly to renew their own lives and the lives of those around them. We have two hundred and eighty million pairs of hands that can toil for our country, and for the world.
The new patriotism is recognizing that we are all of us human beings (Banglar Hindu, Banglar Bouddho, Banglar Christian, Banglar Mussulman, Amra shobai Bangali!) living in a world filled with other human beings. Within this world is a tiny bit of space filled with people who are more like us than others, and these people are our neighbors and we are, through causalities beyond the grasp or ability of any single individual, stuck in this ride together. Instead of being patriotism being defined as a common stand against a common foe, patriotism now is defined as a distillation of loving all humans, and loving a specific group of humans more because they're the people that you've shared centuries of history with, and these are the people to whom you turn to for help, and these are your neighbors, your sisters, brothers, your own.
All of this is probably rambling and kind of all over the place. I wrote it to describe my feelings towards the making of this ad (which is one of those things that the whole team did together), for GrameenPhone, celebrating thirty six years of freedom. Joy Bangla!
Labels: 16 december, bangladesh, grameenphone, patriotism, tvcs, victory
posted by Dhaka Adman at
7:47:00 PM
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