বসন্তের জন্য অপেক্ষা

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  প্রিয় ঋতু কি কেউ জিজ্ঞেস করলে বিভ্রান্ত হয়ে পড়বো। কোনটা প্রিয় ঋতু? সবগুলোই যে প্রিয়! আমার বর্তমান ঠিকানা যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের দ্বিতীয় ক্ষুদ্রতম অঙ্গরাজ্য ডেলওয়্যার।এই ডেলওয়্যারে প্রতিটা মৌসুম ভিন্নতা নিয়ে আসে। যেহেতু এখানে প্রতিটা ঋতুর একটা   স্বতন্ত্র অস্তিত্ব  আছে তাই তাদের প্রতি আমার পৃথক পৃথক ভালোবাসা জন্মে গেছে। প্রতিটা ঋতুই নিয়ে আসে অনন্য আমেজ, প্রকৃতি সাজে অনুপম সাজে। সেই সাজ  যেন অন্য ঋতুগুলোর চেয়ে একেবারে ভিন্ন। এই যেমন এখন গুটিগুটি পায়ে এসেছে ঋতুরানী বসন্ত: আকাশে-বাতাসে ঝঙ্কৃত হচ্ছে তার আগমনী সুর, আমি সেই সুর শুনতে পাই।  সবগুলো ঋতু প্রিয় হলেও নিজেকে শীতকালের বড় ভক্ত বলে দাবী করতে পারিনা। গ্রীষ্মপ্রধান দেশে যার জন্ম এবং বেড়ে ওঠা, তার পক্ষে ঠান্ডা আবহাওয়াতে মানিয়ে নেওয়া কার্যত কষ্টকর, বিশেষত সেই শীতকাল যদি চার-পাঁচ মাস স্থায়ী হয়। তাই শীতকাল বিদায় নিয়ে যখন বসন্তকাল আবির্ভূত হয় তখন এক একদিন জানলা দিয়ে বাইরে তাকিয়ে ভাবি, "এত্ত সুন্দর একটা দিন দেখার সৌভাগ্য হলো আমার!" শোবার ঘরের জানলা দিয়ে প্রভাতের বাসন্তী রঙের রোদ এসে ভাসিয়ে দেয় কাঠে...

As history was made...


I wished, I so wished that I were there in front of the U.S. Capitol when history was being made. I am not an American citizen, yet the electricity that swept the country on 20 January had not left me untouched. An eloquent speech delivered by Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States, carried messages of hope for Americans as well as people all over the world. I am lucky to have lived this historical moment when the first African-American president of the United States was sworn in.

"I had been planning to be at Obama's inauguration for the last one month, and my visit to the National Mall on January 20 was completely worth the effort,” said Tejaswini Madabhushi, an Indian student at George Mason University in Virginia. “There were huge applauses for Obama, his family, Hillary Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. Bush and Cheney were booed rather loudly - an experience that couldn't have been properly felt on the television screen. I screamed and danced like everybody else," she added.

I myself was at St. Cloud State University’s ballroom to watch the inauguration ceremony on a projection screen. Everyone in the audience stood up and clapped when Obama walked toward the podium. I was amazed at the respect that people showed for a person who they were only watching on screen. It was a well-deserved ovation, I thought. The hall burst into roaring applauses from hundreds of pairs of hands after the pledge was taken. There weren't only Americans in the crowd, but students and faculty members from Asian and African countries, all gathered to watch history as it unfolded.

Radia Abdul Wahab, a Bangladeshi graduate student of Biomedical Engineering at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said that her university observed the Inauguration Day as a holiday. Radia, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, said that the parking lot of the metro station close to her home was full by 4:00 a.m. in the morning -there were people everywhere. "My husband decided to work from home, considering the heavy traffic on roads," she added.

As I watched the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, my mind journeyed back to the 2008 U.S. Elections night. I was at home that night, following news updates on Google and waiting for the historical announcement to be made. The Internet speed was fluctuating wildly, so I left for campus a little after 10:00 p.m. After all, I didn't want to miss the live coverage of Obama's victory speech at Grant Park, Chicago.

I don't know if I grew too emotional but tears did fill my eyes when the MSNBC camera from time to time relayed images of Jesse Jackson, the legendary American civil rights activist. I don't know what emotions the tears of Jackson carried. I wonder how it must have felt for the black people across America when they heard Obama deliver his victory speech. It must have been one of those too-good-to-be-true moments. The new American President has proved that a candidate's skin colour can be a secondary factor in a race as important as the U.S. presidency.

When I asked what his feelings are about the new transition that took place in the political scenario of the U.S., Shalom Staub, Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs at Dickinson College said, "I, like everyone around me, was gripped by the power of this moment in history. We all knew that we were watching something that undoubtedly will forever be remembered as "history," and by a sense of the potential for something good to emerge for the U.S. and the world. And, I'd have to say that the moment and the man represent the very best of American principles and ideals."



By Wara Karim

Date of publication: January 27, 2008

Web link: Click here

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