আমি বাংলায় গান গাই
আমি বাংলার গান গাই
আমি আমার আমিকে চিরদিন এই বাংলায় খুঁজে পাই

-প্রতুল মুখোপাধ্যায়

The first song I ever learned was in Bangla. “আমি বাংলায় গান গাই” (I sing in Bangla) by Pratul Mukhopadhyay doesn’t have the same meaning nor does it express the true emotions behind the song when translated into English. While the word for word translation of “আমি বাংলায় গান গাই” is “I sing in Bangla”, what it truly means is that my heart sings in Bangla. Living under the British rule and the subsequent Pakistani rule in Bangladesh, my grandparents and great-grandparents were not allowed to speak Bangla. So being able to speak, sing, think, learn, love and most importantly live in Bangla has been the utmost privilege for me.

While I might not be particularly patriotic about Bangladesh, I am able to understand those who are due to the history of the Bangla as a language. One such person being my grandmother. My grandmother, who lived on a 10’x10′ boat with her family during the nine month war between Bangladesh and Pakistan often sings songs about revolution from back then. Singing and speaking in Bangla is a form of resistance itself. As such, music has been my form of resilience. I make sense of the world around me through exploration of music. I hope others also find resilience in their language, and realize that existence is resistance.

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