Makama Mahmud Chowdhury
‘The night is still, dark and dark,
There is no response so my sound of breathing is heard.’ (Polli Janani by Josim Uddin)
Forest of Amla tree as trembles in fear of losing its leaves due to the harshness of winter, the destruction of the corona virus is shaking the earth and the earth is trembling now in fear. Human lives and resources are being lost; many important times of life are running out. If this terrible situation continues, the world will gradually become human empty. Like the silent darkness of the fairy tale mentioned in Josim Uddin’s poem Polli Janani, it is horrible to go near someone in this prevailing darkness of Corona Virus. There is no more energy left to breathe cheerfully. There is a great danger. Corona germs will be extracted from person to new person just like honey is extracted from the flower of delusion. It is no longer easy to understand how the virus will attack unconsciously. In the evolution of time the currents of the waterfalls that fall along the hills have changed their course and become blocked likewise Corona virus, that spread from Wuhan has arrived with thorny thrones and soldiers to change the course of our lives by shifting us to house arrests and expanding his empire. The whole world today is stunned, terrified and upset by its ever new forms and symptoms.
In this game of light and darkness of the corona virus, the life of the earth seems to be constantly fighting as the wind with a fading lamp. Life can end at any moment. There is no shortage of hundreds of efforts by scientists to increase the brightness of the light of that fading lamp. The effort is on and will continue. There is no chance to look back. The corona virus must be defeated. So now the only wish is to heal the world soon. Come back in your own form, in your own glory. Then we will get back to our normal life. We will get rid of Corona’s black darkness. We will learn to live in a healthy, strong and new way. Then we will be able to break the chains of the small window and go out again, in search of our own destination. We will get back those golden days.
Anyway, one day a vaccine will be discovered as the deadline is heard. The curved spine of the earth will straighten again. Shake off all the worn-out, push away the chains of the virus, the earth will bring back its vitality. Yet the same question comes back again and again in unknown skepticism, repeatedly hitting a small hole in the brain, ‘Will we be alive that long?’ From the individual to the family, from the society to the state, from the country to the world, Corona’s blow has devastated the world. Politics, sociology, economics, nothing was left out of his hands. Forcing everything to be re-arranged. Our education system has not been spared from that black hand of Corona Virus. The Corona Virus seems to have done the most damage to the education system after the economy and the health sector. Students are tired and exhausted as they have been under house arrest for more than three months.
Yet we have a lot of hope in our heart – the world will be the same again. There is still a longing to survive in this hope because life without hope is meaningless. People survive because they have hope, they dream and they realize their dreams. The drowning man also hopes for the last time of his life, someone will come to rescue him and will give back his life. A new world will give as a gift. We also hope that the corona vaccine will be discovered, the world will be as beautiful as before. Today this is to say in the hope of survival-
The world, hopes to heal again,
Want to see the inseparable faces of life,
Want to enjoy the beauty of,
Open sky, river, field and forest.
Dream of conquering the virus,
New sunrise,
And a beautiful morning free from disease after a fierce battle. (One Morning Free from Disease – Jannatul Fardous Jyoti)
Finally, I am talking about the poor miserable working people who have earned our present day civilization in return of their hard labor. Their sacrifice for the betterment of the country is immense and immeasurable. Today I remember them with a few lines of a poem by a poet though it is very difficult to paint their inhuman life with tiny ink colors. Still say-
‘Not a house but a bird’s nest to look at, Venna leaf cataract,
When it rains a little, turn into waterfalls.
Even a little air shakes the house,
The poor people live under them all the year round.
Can’t eat on a full stomach, their bones of the chest can be seen,
It is a testament to how many days they have been starving.’
Let the government and the rich come forward for their welfare with the thought of ‘We all are for all’. May humanity be awakened, may humanity win.
(Makama Mahmud Chowdhury is a Student of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology)
