This was the very day when our independent identity was reborn after nearly 200 years of transition. The fearless students and the general mass alike laid down their precious lives and soaked the green patches of Bengal red with determination and steadfastness. Time took its course and lead the dreams of the Ekushey martyrs to the making of a new nation and a new flag that hung high over the green patches with a red rising sun in the background reminding the world of the selfless sacrifices that many had recognized as a new voice of freedom. The UN recognized the sanctity of this day and in honor, declared the 21st of February as the "International Language" day. It is definitely an honor and pride for the whole nation.

Ekushey's was not merely a fight for the recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages of Pakistan but was an initiation of a long-term struggle for independence to save our very identity that was built over the years, as a nation, that combined the melody and chirps of the birds, the beauty of Shapla spreading over the water and the patches of yellow mustard flowers dancing with the breezes reminding all the proud heritage. It was a making of the very foundation of Bangladesh. Ekushey is not about boycotting other languages, rather is a stark reminder that Bangla is an equal partner with other languages. Ekushey is not the source for any narrow nationalistic feelings of the Banglaees rather is a reminder that Banglaees are equal partners in the world stage where there are people who speak other languages.

There is no room for any isolationism or narrow nationalistic extrapolation in the spirit of Ekushey. On the contrary, Ekushey teaches us to broaden our vision and conquer new horizons of understanding with peoples of other languages and increase the awareness through lateral communications using other languages to broaden our knowledge. While the new wave of changes in the world order and introduction of technology is inducing more borderless lateral communication, we are falling behind in making the necessary adjustments to our socio-cultural upbringing and embracing the need for the time.

Our major asset is our manpower and therefore, we need to capitalize on their best utilization. Our access to major international markets have been limited to only unskilled labor forces and even there we are badly beaten by Hyderabad, Kerala and Madras of India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and so many other nations just because of their communication skills in English. Have these people done any injustice to their mother tongue by learning English as their second language? Just by their mere presence in the international markets, they have been able to spread their good names and thus made their culture known to the people of other cultures.

Looking at the need for Nurses in the Western world, Bangladesh could have very easily capitalized on this market with Bangladeshi Nurses given the reputation of Bangalee girls being motherly and kind. But again we are unable to capitalize on this great opportunity. The Philippinos, the Keralites, the Sri Lankans and even the Chinese are capturing this market just because they can communicate better in English. They are not being unfaithful to their mother tongue rather they are spreading the good name of their cultures and their language and spreading the wings of their language. Patients get to learn some words of their language being in contact.

Another opportunity that is slipping out of our hands is the call centers where various international organizations are outsourcing their Customer Relationship Management activities to international companies to bring down their operating costs and be competitive in the international markets. There are a number of CRM operations in India and Sri Lanka who have been banking on theses opportunities and making good on their promises of hard currency income from the appropriate use of technology. This has been possible due to their ability to understand and respond to international customers. We could have very easily banked on these opportunities should we have mastered spoken English. This would not have gone against the spirits of Ekushey rather would have brought more respect for our culture.

On this auspicious occasion, we need to reevaluate our priorities and take immediate steps to make good on our promises by turning this land into a real Sonar Bangla, where people would have their economic solvency and be able to live in peace and harmony with other nations and to capture the imagination of the new world order by spreading the wings of success first at home and then in the region and finally in the world. The great language and our liberation movement had taught us the sacrifices one needs to make to keep the sanctity of our nation and keep our heads high.

We are a nation that once produced muslin, created history in developing the first prototype radio and mesmerized the world with the melody of modern poetry composition. Time and again we have produced talents of international standards in almost all fields, be it chemistry, Physics, architecture, literature, or mathematics. Our prosperity was the envy of so many invaders. It shows the preciseness and ingenuity of our craftsmanship, the brainpower and art of our endeavors. Were these all merely one-time chance of our individual talents or rather a thread of skilful hands working together for a common cause and a desired outcome? We have come a long way from those early days of ours but have miserably failed to build on our successes and create an institutional framework around those early successes.

Are we losing the sense of our identity and purpose that had united us as a group of harmonic people ready to sacrifice their well being for the greater cause of our pride as a nation? We have missed the technological boom that ushered in during the last part of the twentieth century and are about to miss the surge of the so called "third wave" that have changed the faces of so many nations and peoples bringing in prosperity and economic balance. Are we on the verge of getting bankrupt with our creative ideas or is it a transitional phase that we are passing through? We still have good products and services to our credit but the world has changed a lot faster than our efforts to catch up with it.

Our major problem that faces us as a nation is our dwindling image. The status-quo of our image is still ravaging all our positive endeavors into oblivion. We are unable to get out of the doldrums and the spins of our own making that kind of zeros out all our efforts. We have not only failed to portray our right image abroad but have unintentionally contributed to the negative campaign of the international media and thus have fallen out of the new world order in the making. We are slipping very fast with the onslaught of the surrounding technology builders and users. Thus we are missing our rightful position in the global market place. Our short and unsteady steps in the international markets have only proven insufficient and in many cases ineffective.

A mere barefoot walk to the Ekushey shorony and some evening cultural shows along with linguistic rhetoric will not solve our problems. We need to understand our shortcomings, accept them with courage and make necessary and bold changes in our social, cultural, political, and economic systems to make good on our promises and bring back the glory of this land. Let us not waste the blood of so many who had a dream of a prosperous and proud nation standing high among the union of nations.

Mohammed Rial Ahsan
Mississauga, Canada
rial982000@yahoo.com