[shahidulnews] Being Ekushey

[Shahidul Alam]

http://shahidul.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/

Being Ekushey

rahnuma ahmed



  Words or Deeds?

Apology to Aborigines
The wrongs were done not through words but through deeds. The rights  
need to be done in exactly the same way. Much breath is wasted in  
polemic while peoples lives are twisted and broken out of sight of  
those who speak it.

Zubair's e-mail, published in New Age, Monday Feb 18, 2008 caught my  
eye.

I had turned the pages of the newspaper, but his words brought back  
memories of my school years. The infinite number of times I had said  
"sorry" to my mother only to be faced by sheer incredulity on her  
part. "Sorry bollei hoe gelo?" (So you say you are sorry and that's  
it?).

It would be over little things. Everyday things. I had forgotten to  
put the milk back into the fridge. I had not locked the front door  
properly. While crossing her, my foot had accidentally touched hers.  
"Sorry." I could not help but utter this little word that the  
Canadian nuns had taught us. This was the mid-sixties. I was studying  
at a convent in Chittagong. The sisters were patient. They would  
repeatedly instruct us, If you make a mistake, if the fault is yours,  
you must say, "I am sorry." When I used the word at school, they  
would smile at me. Their smiles were kind and encouraging.

But things were different at home. My mother would immediately  
retort, Sorry bollei hoe gelo? I  was always at a loss. I never knew  
what to say. What could I say? What should I say? Should I say, "But  
ma, this is what I am taught at school." Or, "You are supposed to say  
this ma." Or, much later, when I was in high school in Karachi,  
devouring Barbara Cartland, and Mills & Boons romances, should I have  
tried to explain "Ma, this is English etiquette, you have to say it.  
It doesn't mean anything." But I was sure all hell would break loose.  
I was sure she would pounce on my words and say, "Why say it then?"  
And of course I would be at a total loss.

Full article at: http://shahidul.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/

Shahidul Alam
http://shahidul.wordpress.com





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://drik-amsterdam-01.drik.net/pipermail/shahidulnews/attachments/20080222/8d956c02/attachment.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 3422 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://drik-amsterdam-01.drik.net/pipermail/shahidulnews/attachments/20080222/8d956c02/attachment.bin