The Bangla culture is among the world’s most precious and glorious. I was first drawn to Bengali literature when I chanced upon the writing of Rabindranath Tagore, a literary genius and polymath, foremost known as a Nobel Prize-winning poet. Tagore mingled with many renowned individuals including Albert Einstein. He was also well-travelled, thanks in part to his Brahmin heritage and wealthy background. But what enthralled me the most about Tagore was not just his worldliness, but his spirituality and dislike of divisiveness. Tagore is a source of pride for Bengalis but is only one drop in the ocean of many talented writers—including Taslima Nasreen, a highly controversial writer whose life was threatened but who courageously continues to share her passion for writing uncensored material with the world— who hail from the Bangla tradition. Bengali films and art are also appreciated throughout the world.
But, I have a more tangible reason for loving the Bengali culture, and that stems from the connections I have made throughout the years with extraordinary Bengali souls who grow expansively in the sacred space of my heart. It is easy to write about world-famous people, but we forget that what unites is the connections we make with people who we talk to over the phone, who cook traditional food for us, who invite us into their homes, who serve the community. And it is these quotidian connections we have that teach us that Bengalis and Kuwaitis are one and the same, as are Italians and Americans, Nigerians and Filipinos, Australians and Chileans, Japanese and Mexicans.
We are products of our culture only because we are born into our societies. And I love Bengalis because I love the Source of Life and because I love human beings. And I hope to continue to develop my friendship with one particular Bengali – Sadika – who has introduced me to several Bengalis here in my hometown of Kuwait. It is through our friendship that I learned that by embracing one another, we have unconsciously become ambassadors of our backgrounds, silently securing bonds that were made in heaven. And how grand is that?
06:55:00 PM {"id":49,"user_id":1,"title":"From Kuwait, with all my love for Bangaliana","slug":"from-kuwait-bangla-love","excerpt":"The Bangla culture is among the world\u2019s most precious and glorious. I was first drawn to Bengali literature when I chanced upon the writing of Rabindranath Tagore, a literary genius and polymath, foremost known as a Nobel Prize-winning poet.","content":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">by Nejoud Al-Yagout<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p><img src=\"\/storage\/app\/media\/from-kuwait.png\" width=\"100px\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>The Bangla culture is among the world’s most precious and glorious. I was first drawn to Bengali literature when I chanced upon the writing of Rabindranath Tagore, a literary genius and polymath, foremost known as a Nobel Prize-winning poet. Tagore mingled with many renowned individuals including Albert Einstein. He was also well-travelled, thanks in part to his Brahmin heritage and wealthy background. But what enthralled me the most about Tagore was not just his worldliness, but his spirituality and dislike of divisiveness. Tagore is a source of pride for Bengalis but is only one drop in the ocean of many talented writers—including Taslima Nasreen, a highly controversial writer whose life was threatened but who courageously continues to share her passion for writing uncensored material with the world— who hail from the Bangla tradition. Bengali films and art are also appreciated throughout the world. <\/p>\r\n<p>But, I have a more tangible reason for loving the Bengali culture, and that stems from the connections I have made throughout the years with extraordinary Bengali souls who grow expansively in the sacred space of my heart. It is easy to write about world-famous people, but we forget that what unites is the connections we make with people who we talk to over the phone, who cook traditional food for us, who invite us into their homes, who serve the community. And it is these quotidian connections we have that teach us that Bengalis and Kuwaitis are one and the same, as are Italians and Americans, Nigerians and Filipinos, Australians and Chileans, Japanese and Mexicans. <\/p>\r\n<p>We are products of our culture only because we are born into our societies. And I love Bengalis because I love the Source of Life and because I love human beings. And I hope to continue to develop my friendship with one particular Bengali – Sadika – who has introduced me to several Bengalis here in my hometown of Kuwait. It is through our friendship that I learned that by embracing one another, we have unconsciously become ambassadors of our backgrounds, silently securing bonds that were made in heaven. And how grand is that?<\/p>","content_html":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">by Nejoud Al-Yagout<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"\/storage\/app\/media\/from-kuwait.png\" width=\"100px\"><\/p>\n<p>The Bangla culture is among the world\u2019s most precious and glorious. I was first drawn to Bengali literature when I chanced upon the writing of\u00a0Rabindranath Tagore, a literary genius and polymath, foremost known as a Nobel Prize-winning poet. Tagore mingled with many renowned individuals including Albert Einstein. He was also well-travelled, thanks in part to his Brahmin heritage and wealthy background. But what enthralled me the most about Tagore was not\u00a0just his worldliness, but\u00a0his spirituality and dislike of divisiveness. Tagore is a source of pride for Bengalis but is only one\u00a0drop in the ocean\u00a0of many talented writers\u2014including Taslima Nasreen, a highly controversial writer whose life was threatened but\u00a0who courageously continues\u00a0\u00a0to share\u00a0her passion for writing uncensored material with the world\u2014\u00a0who\u00a0hail from the Bangla tradition.\u00a0Bengali films and art are also\u00a0appreciated throughout the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But, I have a more tangible reason for loving the Bengali culture, and that stems from the connections I have made throughout the years with extraordinary\u00a0Bengali souls\u00a0who grow expansively in the sacred space of my heart. It is easy to write about world-famous people,\u00a0but we forget that what unites is the connections we make with people who we talk to over the phone, who cook traditional food for us, who invite us into their homes,\u00a0who serve the community. And it is these quotidian connections we have that teach us that\u00a0Bengalis and Kuwaitis are one and the same, as are Italians and\u00a0Americans,\u00a0\u00a0Nigerians and Filipinos, Australians and Chileans, Japanese and Mexicans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We are products of our culture only because we are born into our societies. And I love Bengalis because I love\u00a0the Source of Life\u00a0and because I love human beings. And I hope to continue to develop my friendship with one particular Bengali \u2013\u00a0Sadika\u00a0\u2013 who has introduced me to several Bengalis here in my hometown of Kuwait.\u00a0It is through our friendship that I learned\u00a0that by embracing one another, we have unconsciously become ambassadors of our backgrounds, silently securing bonds that were made in heaven. And how grand is that?<\/p>","published_at":"2019-03-06 18:55:00","published":1,"created_at":"2019-02-18 18:39:26","updated_at":"2020-02-24 17:32:56","metadata":null,"ginopane_blogtaxonomy_series_id":null,"seo_title":null,"seo_description":null,"seo_keywords":null,"canonical_url":null,"redirect_url":null,"robot_index":null,"robot_follow":null,"summary":"The Bangla culture is among the world\u2019s most precious and glorious. I was first drawn to Bengali literature when I chanced upon the writing of Rabindranath Tagore, a literary genius and polymath, foremost known as a Nobel Prize-winning poet.","has_summary":true,"categories":[{"id":25,"name":"\u09b8\u0982\u09b8\u09cd\u0995\u09c3\u09a4\u09bf","slug":"culture","code":null,"description":"","parent_id":null,"nest_left":29,"nest_right":42,"nest_depth":0,"created_at":"2019-01-29 13:30:50","updated_at":"2019-02-12 14:15:34","url":"https:\/\/www.banglaworldwide.com\/category\/culture","pivot":{"post_id":49,"category_id":25}},{"id":28,"name":"\u09b8\u09be\u09b9\u09bf\u09a4\u09cd\u09af","slug":"litrature","code":null,"description":"","parent_id":25,"nest_left":30,"nest_right":31,"nest_depth":1,"created_at":"2019-02-07 12:35:48","updated_at":"2019-03-30 13:00:16","url":"https:\/\/www.banglaworldwide.com\/category\/litrature","pivot":{"post_id":49,"category_id":28}}],"featured_images":[{"id":126,"disk_name":"5c6a60b3990dd996082877.jpg","file_name":"1 - Nejoud Photograph .JPG","file_size":66590,"content_type":"image\/jpeg","title":null,"description":null,"field":"featured_images","sort_order":126,"created_at":"2019-02-18 18:37:23","updated_at":"2019-02-18 18:39:26","path":"https:\/\/www.banglaworldwide.com\/storage\/app\/uploads\/public\/5c6\/a60\/b39\/5c6a60b3990dd996082877.jpg","extension":"JPG"}]} December 21st pm 31 7:42pm
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