Editor's Note

Things in May

May has its share of 'days'- May Day, Mother's Day and so on. There's no shortage of occasions to give you a topic for that day; to structure your activities and possibly even some of your thoughts. Take Mother's Day- this is about honouring and remembering your mother. In most of the world this is celebrat on the second Sunday of May. It is a secular event, although one might argue it is a secularised continuation of previous Christian and other religious rituals. Even the 'ancient' Romans had their special day in which they gave gifts to their mothers. From a commercial point of view, the more secular the better- excluding people is not very good for profit. 'Mother' is, no doubt, a powerful idea- a tempting one for governments and businesses to appropriate. When something is psychologically connected to this idea- we are sold. It can make you buy presents (often things that nobody needs) for your mother, or it can make you speak of your nation as though 'she' were a kind of 'mother'. And criticising your mother without feeling a little evil is not a very easy thing to do.

On a different note, this month the district level festival for “Celebrating Life” also kicks off. It starts on May 20th in Rangpur then it moves on to several other districts. Hopefully CL will become a regular annual event and we'll see lots of interesting works in the days to come. The heat of the summer months is often the biggest thing on the minds of Bangladeshis. Shakespeare might have loved the weather of May, but here we tend to get dangerously dehydrated. Here's hoping that the heat doesn't get you down too much and that you find something to celebrate.

Abak Hussain
From the Insight Desk

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