Striking a Chord

The Band of Youth

Elita Karim

Bangladesh is a country of story tellers, knitting stories over the centuries, exotic and unique. Though filled with traditions and rich literature, however, some of the stories that we hear of from friends, parents, old relatives or sometimes read in the newspaper may seem stranger than fiction, but indeed are true. Today we hear stories of the young revolutions happening all over the country. Thanks to facebook and other social networks online, many of these revolutions reach people, before they are either heard of or recognised by the policy makers in the country, or people who 'call the shots' in the country.

Over the last decade, emergence of young thinkers, young doers and of course the several young organisations in the country, makes one think; with over 70 percent of the total population in Bangladesh being under the age of 40, do the authorities in the country offer any kind of platform to these young people to express themselves?

Platforms do not exist as such, even today. However, this does not stop the young people or deter their spirit of doing something meaningful for themselves and for the young residing in Bangladesh. In the year 2011, the Star Campus team had made an effort to bring to its readers the true stories of the young people, their activities and of course their thoughts and ideas. While we discover a whole bunch of young architecture students striving to rescue the ancient structures and designs in the old part of Dhaka, a whole new generation of thinkers, on the other hand think of moving into an unconventional path -- taking up sound engineering, music, film making etc. While the students in the fields of International Relations look for ways to keep the pride of their country shining on the world map, students majoring in Gender are finally getting their voices heard.

Anything is possible in Bangladesh today, especially since the young have taken into their stride to make it happen. We dedicate the year 2012 to these young warriors, who do and make it happen.