A celebration of life
Why talent needs highlighting and nurturing
THERE has regularly been talk of latent talent lying generally undiscovered all over Bangladesh. Such talent has not so often been spotted and brought into the limelight. Against this backdrop, on Friday, Celebrating Life, a cultural event organised by The Daily Star in association with Standard Chartered Bank brought to the fore an array of talented young people in such fields as lyrics, photography and documentary films. What Celebrating Life asserts is the principle that searching for talent throughout the length and breadth of the country cannot but be a continuous, deeply satisfying affair. In this connection, the quality of the lyrics, photography and films that was on display on Friday was a very strong indication of how much more can be spotted and harnessed in Bangladesh through such culture-specific steps. Indeed, with such aspects of culture not adequately focused on in recent times, it is important that more be done to reinforce the traditions that have historically solidified our society.
The event underscores a salient fact of life in Bangladesh today. It is that beyond all our preoccupation with politics, with questions of daily life as it were, the richness that has emphasised our cultural creativity has never diminished. It may be that talent may sometimes have been overwhelmed or overtaken by more pressing realities. The fact remains, though, that given the necessary openings and encouragement, individuals, especially the young, have demonstrated remarkable skill and have gone on to achieve wonders. What Celebrating Life offers, therefore, is a strong underpinning of the thought that we owe it to ourselves to enhance the quality of our lives through promoting culture as a generational continuity. On Friday, the men and women who stepped up to the stage to be acknowledged for their abilities were but a broad hint that there are scores upon scores of others like them in this heritage-driven country.
It is surely the job of society to stress the growth and enrichment of culture in a country. Culture or aesthetics, in our times, is also a theme that needs to be addressed by private enterprise. That is the message coming out of the celebrations on Friday. Let such endeavours be a boost for a full, purposeful flowering of culture in the villages and towns of Bangladesh.
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