By Sharifa Chowdhury
“We shall overcome, we shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday,
Oh! Deep in my heart,
I do believe,
We shall overcome someday.”
Never ever I felt the relevance of the song until the present time. It was a very common chores sung by the 90s scout teams in high schools in our country. The current pandemic has been persisting for more than ten months now and not showing any sign of disappearing very soon. We all are going through abrupt changes in every sphere of our lives for which we didn’t have minimum preparation. The people of this era have had to adapt themselves overnight with the unnoticed paradigm shift. While confronting a life-threatening agent (covid-19) out there, they are also keeping up the pace of work, business and study online at the same time to accept the “new normal” reality. It is most striking for the young generation of this time as they are experiencing a devastating pandemic, usually, which used to be a leisure time story of their grandparents.
However, with great havoc, great resolution comes. Nothing happens meaninglessly in the universe. Much injustice has been done to the Mother Nature and the break was a must for her- now we all are admitting the very truth unanimously. Organic Nature is being seen thriving everywhere. Beholding this, when we should take the vow of rectifying ourselves, very shamelessly we are showing our incorrigible state in killing wild lives brutally and in continuing committing heinous crimes.
Nonetheless, the ray of hope never leaves us. The new “covid fighter” generation are being observed as earnestly dedicated to coming up with and executing so many humanitarian actions that have kept the heart of humanity alive. With an indomitable zeal for goodness, this new generation will be the fore bringer of the next world. May be the current hullaballoo was much required for the Nature to warn and teach her future habitants compassion towards every living creature what her immediate past children utterly failed to have. The socio-psycho evaluation that they are about to embrace must come with a refined sense and sensibility toward the existence of each animate or non-animate beings to embark the new decade.
Therefore, dear Youngs, do not just study syllabus, like the old fool us, rather study the Nature as well. Start from observing the life span of Money plants growing in your house or the tactics of an ant roaming around you. Surely, you will be amazed by their every move no matter how slow and tiny they are! Take a virtual ride on the countries of the planet you are living. Know the ancient and ethnic cultures of this decade old earth. Discover who, where and why you are in this whole universe. Learn the precious part of your race through ‘know thyself”!
Let your beautiful emotions preside over you for a while, hence, make “real life” friends. In this endeavour, you will find your classmates worthy of doing a thousand of interesting things together than just competing for grades! And yes, your very original “self” is precious to the universe, it doesn’t know anything about your grades! Do not let us suffocate you with selfish and useless theories anymore. Prove us how terribly wrong we are in leading you only to be “successful” in our way. It is going to be a new world, your very own world, stay with the Nature in it’s making.
With you, we shall overcome someday!
(The writer is a Lecturer at the Department of Language, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University)
