Do you know that today is International Mother Language Day? There's a long history behind and my native language Bangla is the reason it became a day!
Long story short, we have to fight for our language Bangla. In 1952, on this day, there was a protest, and many were killed because all we wanted was to speak and use Bangla in our daily life and as an official language.
This made us the first to share blood for mother language. And that's why UNESCO recognized this day as a day to celebrate and promote the uniqueness of language and culture.
I sometimes think about what our lives would be like if our ancestors did not fight. We would probably talk in different languages now and would not be free as a country as well. Because that protest led us to the freedom fight as well.
We usually go outside to celebrate this day. Not always in the martyrs' monument, but in my son's school or anywhere, there's a celebration. It's our national holiday, so it's a perfect occasion for an outing, teaching our future generation about our history, and having a family day out as well.
Last year, my son attended an art competition in his school. He didn't get any place or prize. But that's okay it's the participation spirit that counts, no? This year, because of our busy schedule, we can't make it anywhere and stay home. Hopefully, we will go outside in the evening and see some decor for the day.
This is the Martyrs' Monument located in Dhaka, which was built to remember and respect the Martyrs of the 21st February for Language movement.
We have been to this place many times. But as you can guess, today it's very crowded because of many political parties and general people will also visit this place. So it's better to avoid the crowd and go visit this any time of the year than today.
Being bilingual from an early age sure gave some advantages. Our school system has mandatory English learning, and some even learn Arabic for religious reasons.
There's no doubt that we can express ourselves better in our first language, and I'm not an exception either. Even if I write here in English, I know I have many lackings, but I feel comfortable in my native language.
Are you the same?
Photos: Taken by me (from my son's art book)
Writing: By me
Correction: Using Grammarly
