What’s Makes Me Bangladeshi?
Bangalir hazar bosorer itihas (thousand years of Bengali’s history)…………………..
Let me say what makes me Bangladeshi? First of all I would like to say about the population of Bangladesh. The population of Bangladesh is almost 160 million and it is the 7th most populous nation of the world. One the other hand, the land area of Bangladesh is 147,570 km2 . That’s mean the density is 1,099.3/km2 . Can you imagine? I think this over population makes Bangladesh unique in International arena.
Another important thing is its culture. More or less, Bangladesh is a homogenous country except a few ethnic groups. Most of the people are Muslim. We are practicing folk songs (Jari, Shari, Murshidi, Vawali, Pala Gaan, Puthi) over the centuries. In relatively modern context, Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul geeti form precious cultural heritage of Bangladesh. Pohela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year is celebrated in our country as a traditional festival. It is usually celebrated on the 14th of April. On that day we gather under a Banyan tree and sing our traditional song, eat pantha vat (one kind of rice) and hilsa fish. Bangladeshi dress also unique and men wear Lungi and Pnangabi and women Shari and Salwar Kamiz.
"Amar Shonar Bangla, Ami Tomaii Bhalobashi..." (National song of Bangladesh)
Many people of the world devoted their life for their motherland, dignity, independence. But there is no example except the Bengali who sacrifices their life for their mother tongue. In February 21, 1952 after sacrificing a river of blood, we got the rights to talk in our mother language. In 2000, the UNESCO recognized February 21, as an “International Mother Language Day” and every year about 194 countries observe the day in order to respect their mother language.
Food Habits of the people of Bangladesh reflect the geographic and climatic conditions of the land as well as effect of social and religious customs and it’s different from the other parts of the world. We used to eat Rice, Spicy vegetable, dal, pitha puli, (sweetmeat whish is basically milk based), traditional fruits like Jackfruit (largest fruit of the world) and we use our finger rather than spoon to eat. Vuna Khishuri is very delicious and spicy also and when I taste it, I feel I am pure Bangladeshi.
Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh is called the city of Mosque, the city of Rickshaw. If you go to the Dhaka city you see thousand of Rickshaw and most of the people of Bangladesh use Rickshaw as a vehicle for their short trip. Don’t miss to ride in a Rickshaw. As I told about Mosque, yes there is uncountable Mosque in Dhaka city as well as in all over the Bangladesh and many of the mosques are under National heritage. I would like to mention some name of the famous Mosque like Sixty Dome Mosque, Laldighi Mosque, Baitul Mukarram, Chandanpura Masjid etc. That’s the symbol of our religion.
When somebody tell me where are from? I feel proud to say about my country. Our customs, our culture, our history makes us special and I want to introduce those things to the universe. Though my country is over populated, but we all are united and have a strong believe in nationalism. I hope that one day Bangladesh will lead the universe. I want to devote myself and my knowledge for my motherland.