The joy of December

People born during years of  British rule or the troubled year of the Partition of 1947, have suffered various kinds of trauma, lost land, family and friends, and have had three nationalities in the course of one lifetime.

Our young children have grown up in relative peace, and have been spared all those sad experiences. They have little memory of anything before Bangladesh. For them, unlike our parents' generation and ours, British rule and Partition are just part of their education and history, taught in the classroom.

They were fortunate enough not to experience the carnage of our own War of Liberation, and were born into an independent happy country.

For those of us who live in our own country, there is linguistic, racial and religious homogeneity, a clear sense of identity and the pride of being rooted in an ancient culture. Those who go abroad by choice, or for other reasons, always have a home and family to return to, when they are ready.

There comes a time in life when it is comforting to step out of the door and hear a familiar language in the streets, see faces that resemble our own, understand the comfortable nuances of the social behaviour that is unique to us, and who dress ourselves in the same clothes that our people have worn for generations.

Being at home is rather like living in the family compound of old. The feeling of warmth and security is similar to the experience we had as children at home with our parents and other family members. There are familiar faces at social events, the warmth of old retainers in the house, and the traditional norms of behaviour in the shops and bazaars.

While most of our traditional ways of life have survived, we have successfully adapted ourselves to the modern world. We have created NGOs that are a model for other developing nations, made giant strides in most areas of development, and have an enviable growth rate.

The idea of home and motherland can mean many things. Apart from the larger aspects, there are the little pleasures of home. COVID-19 has brought a new way of life to us all. There is still much comfort to be had just staying at home.

Now that the temperatures have fallen, we can look forward to wearing cosy warm slippers, drink hot cocoa brought in by loving hands, and use a hot water bottle in bed when it is especially cold.

We can look forward now to cooking nehari, paya, halim and other winter delights, and watch a good film on the TV after the day is done.

Truly there is nothing like Home.