Midnight Sun in Anchorage.
In the early history of exploration and voyaging to find various shipping routes around the world and to map the world as we know it today, navigating for the ‘northwest passage’ is one of the earliest endeavors. Northwest passage is a "mythical" ocean trade route that potentially could have provided a shipping route between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans via the Arctic Ocean. There were many expeditions that were designed to find it, but none succeeded; as there is no such route (not until very recently due to global warming melting the polar ice caps opening up the ocean in summer times).
However, there is no such thing as a failed expedition. I was thinking about Captain James Cook’s third voyage that was bound for the famed northwest passage. It was a phenomenal expedition which had failed in finding the northwest passage, but essentially mapped the entire northwestern coast of the North American continent, mapped the whole Alaskan coastline, ‘found’ Anchorage, mapped Bering Strait and mapped the northern coast of Siberia between 1776-1779 via only two ships, HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery. These ships compared to modern standards are nothing but large glorified sailboats. I was recently in the northern Pacific during what I call fair weather on a 40 Meter Catamaran with a powerful diesel engine, and I can tell you even during fair weather, the northern Pacific is no fun in the icy north of 60 degrees latitude. So I find it incredible what amazing achievement the HMS Resolution accomplished in what is considered a failed expedition.
The reason I brought this up is quite simple. Often the measure of success is predetermined and vague. It can be as simple as, "did you pass that exam or fail?"or, did you score 90% on that exam or not; did you make a profit on the previous month of trading or not. As you can see, these are all very discrete finite conditions. The answer of these questions are yes-no type, and that is okay, but that shouldn’t evaluate anyone’s performance. That is why it is the journey or the process that matters. Also if you are doing a good job, you should keep a good record of it. Captain James Cook’s log book and mapping was phenomenal. I was privileged to see some of it in the museum and it's immaculately detailed even today. So whether Cook’s expedition found the northwestern passage or not; as the midnight sun shines on the city of Anchorage, we can celebrate his legacy of discovery. We can also think about how we can do the things that we like to do without thinking about the result. It is good to have a goal, but we shouldn’t limit ourselves to the limitation of our goal or measure our success or failure this way. It is always the journey that matters, and not the destination.
-Editor
"Tell me one thing that makes you sad," he asked her as she took a puff of the burning cigarette dangling loosely on her fingers.
It was a beautiful night; with the moon hiding its presence behind the clouds every now-and-then, before letting her presence known. They sat on the hood of his car, looking at the highway in front of them that lit up as the moon came out and darkened as she disappeared.
"I have a lot of things that make me sad," She spoke with mirth in her eyes, lungs letting out the smoke it held.
"I know that, but just tell me one." He looked at her as she snorted. "The purest one. The one that's striking out the most, right now." He pushed on, hoping to get something out of her ever-sealed mouth.
His words made her pause for a moment, lost in thought as she racked her brain for the right answer before looking up at the sky above, drinking in the stars while the wind rushed around them. And without seeming to realize, she let out the sigh she had been holding in for ages.
"I'm sad that I am drowning in oblivion," She finally settled on, her voice barely a mumble as she cast her eyes downwards, mouth forming a sorry smile.
He gazed at her in confusion.
"But aren't we all drowning in oblivion? Everything will come to an end, eventually." He commented, trying to understand how her mind worked.
"We are, but that oblivion is something that was decided way before we were created. It’s a part of life. That can't be avoided. But my oblivion is different," She replied as she looked at him, taking another drag from her almost finished cigarette.
"Tell me how." he said as she chuckled.
It was quiet between them for a few seconds. Him waiting for her words and her, looking at the darkness that surrounded them like it was a long-lost friend.
"You see, even if we die, even if anyone dies after living a normal life or just, a life really, they leave a thread behind. A line, something that works as a proof that they were here, you know? And no, I'm not talking about books or songs or movies or anything, I am talking about something that's one of a kind. Something that's infinite. A bloodline."
He looked at her, baffled, "I am not getti—"
"I can't have kids, you know. I can never have children," she said as she took out another cigarette from her bag and lit it up. "It's something that's not in the cards for me, ever. And I know I’m not the only one that's like this in this world, and I know it's a silly reason to get sad over. Cause, adoption is an option, right? It's a beautiful thing. So I’m not sad that I won't have kids." She paused again, trying to gather her thoughts before staring.
"I’m sad that after I die, no one I know is going to look at someone and say, 'hey, you have your mothers eyes' or 'you smile just like your mum' or 'you have the same taste as her'. No one is going to look at my kid and remember me, or how I smiled, or how I acted. And I know what you will say, 'there are photographs of you for people to remember, there are your poems' but they, these photographs and poems and everything else that I have, fades. They will fade as time passes and one day, my photographs will get ruined and my poems won't make someone remember how I looked. They won't. So in the end, I will have nothing, nothing to leave in this world when I go. No ties, no connection, nothing that's made by the strings of the universe that decided to create me in the first place." She said as she looked up at the sky with her sad eyes, speaking her final thoughts.
"So when I die, I really die. Completely. And it's weird because I don't even want to live in the first place. I never asked to be born, you know? Yet, I am still here, breathing away my oblivion."
Hundreds of people are dying every day due to the covid-19 pandemic in my country. Many more have died and are dying throughout the whole world. It was a couple of days ago when a factory caught fire and more than fifty people died there. Every death is like a great disaster for the whole family. Apart from these two particular incidents, there are a lot of incidents too that are shedding blood here and there. Have you ever thought about how easily we count those death numbers every day and compare if that makes a new top or not? For us, those are just some numbers and disasters for the victims.
Hey you, yes you! How are you? Here from my place, I can clearly say that I am pretty well and satisfied with my and my family's condition. Going through this covid pandemic pretty easily and safely. Nothing has happened with my family or relatives so far, everyone is hale and healthy. Recently my big brother faced a financial disaster and lost a good amount of money. We are thankful that this disaster drowned financially without any major impact on our health or something like that. Those incidents mentioned above are way bigger than any kind of financial problem even those incidents can't be tackled with money too in most cases. My mom has just prayed to the Almighty and thanked Him that my brother is fine, nothing happened to him.
Sometimes it's better to face some tiny disasters in order to get a glace at those devastating ones people are facing every day. If we see and try to feel those incidents then we will be able to easily overcome our tiny problems. So, in the end, I want you to ask yourself how many problems you are facing currently. Are those problems bigger than the disasters I mentioned above that we are counting every day? If no, be grateful for your life.
-@Minhajulmredol
You can be humble and kind. You can also be strong and independent. Just because you're generous with other people doesn't mean that you're docile or fragile in any sense.
People usually associate the word "Alpha" with arrogance, presumptuous, intimidating, temperamental, and condescending but that's not always the case. We all have negative traits, some are apparent and some not so much. An alpha personality isn't all about the aforementioned attributes. I'm not redefining any theory and this isn't gender-biased in any sense, there are alpha females as well as males. What I'm trying to say that the typical "angry young man/woman" or "hot-blooded" stereotype isn't all that the alpha personality is about. Neither it is about being the best looking or the richest or most intimidating.
It's about balancing the energies. A typical alpha is seen as a leader but not all alphas become leaders nor all leaders are alpha, so that assumption is out the door. Their dominant qualities are in sync with their gentler side. They're strong yet kind, confident and humble, assertive and powerful yet often genteel, calm, and collected; the sort of person you go to who you believe can help you with a difficult situation. It isn't about being a control freak. An alpha usually defuses a heated situation rather than feeding fire to it. Think of a typical bully in high school and college, they're usually the ones not exuding alpha traits but fun and jokes are beside the point.
An alpha is blessed with a charming personality and charisma. Though I have not mentioned anything about their intelligence you can already sense that on many occasions they prove to be wiser than most among the crowd. Rather than going out of their way to show their dominance over an individual or situation, they prefer you to listen to them through sheer force of will. It is unlikely that they're devoid of negative emotions or traits. Even though aggression is diminutive, but defence mechanism is still perceptible. You can say, they neither initiate a fight nor they tolerate bullshit and ungracious behavior. They have their boundaries and own set of morals like a code of conduct to follow.
It's quite typical for an alpha (both male and female) to attract attention, it follows them. But of course, there are differences. Although both alpha males and females prefer working harmoniously, women have the tendency to build more interpersonal relationships and rarely seek to dominate people or situations. Women can be intimidating but they mask orders behind polite suggestions or in other words choose to wield a velvet hammer. And to show that they're alphas, they don't necessarily have to pertain to the looks of a man.
Regardless of their strong pursuits, their conventionally intense nature can suffocate coworkers or other business associates and turn off those who work with them; their intimidating personality being the primary reason. They're "think fast" people, somewhat impatient, and dislike tardiness.
Maybe you're an alpha personality yourself or maybe you're working closely with one but due to many other stereotypes, you or they haven't figured it out yet. Tyrants are not commanders.
কল্পনার ছবিকে বাস্তবে রুপ দেওয়া অথবা শব্দের মালায় তাকে গাঁথার প্রচেষ্টা চলেছে যুগে যুগে। তবে সেটা কবিতায় ফুটিয়ে তোলা সহজ কথা ছিল না। তথাকথিত পুরাতন কবিতার ধারা থেকে বের হয়ে এই কঠিন কাজটিই করে দেখিয়েছেন আধুনিক যুগ ঊষার কবিরা। কবিতায় কলোকুয়াল ভাষার ব্যাবহার আর সম্যক তুলনা চিত্রকল্পবাদী কবিদের কবিতা হয়ে উঠেছে অনন্য এক শৈল্পিক সাহিত্য।
বিংশ শতাব্দির শুরুর দিকে ইংরেজি আধুনিক কবিতায় 'চিত্রকল্প' ব্যপারটা প্রথম নজরে আসে। কিছু আমেরিকান কবিদের হাত ধরেই কবিতার রাজ্যে এর আগমন। সাহিত্যে আধুনিকতার প্রথম পদক্ষেপ হিসেবে ধরা হয় এই ধরনের কবিতাকে। কল্পনাপ্রসূত বাক্যালংকার, স্পষ্ট আর শানিত উপস্থাপনায় এ ধারার কবিরা ফুটিয়ে তুলেছেন মুহুর্ত চিত্রের এক অপুর্ব অবয়ব। যেখানে তারা প্রথাগত রোমান্টিক আথবা ভিক্টোরিয়ান কবিতার ধারা থেকে বের হয়ে গড়ে তুলেছেন ইংরেজি সাহিত্যে আধুনিকতার এক নতুন সোপান।
যাই হোক, এ সকল কবিরা স্তবক রচনায় এক নতুন কৌশল প্রয়গে ব্রতি হয়েছেন। আর তা হল কবিতায় 'ফ্রি ভার্স'। সাধারনভাবে তথাকথিত ছন্দ আর বাধাধরা রাইমস্কিম প্যাটার্ন থেকে বের হয়ে নতুন গদ্য ছন্দের ব্যাবহার কবিতায় ফ্রি ভারস হিসেবে পরিচিত। এটা তারা কবিতায় ব্যবহার করেছেন বৃহৎ ঘটনা থেকে একক দৃশের সুস্পষ্ট বিভাজন সৃষ্টি এবং সেটার শব্দবন্দী পোয়েটিক দৃশ্যায়নের জন্য। এই ধরনের কবিতায় প্রচুর ডিটেইল ব্যবহার করা হয়। বিখ্যাত আমেরিকান কবি এজরা পাউন্ড একে লুমিনাস ডিটেইলস বলে আখ্যা দিয়েছেন।
চিত্রকল্পবাদী কবিরা তাদের কবিতার বিমূর্ত ধারনাগুলো প্রকাশ করার জন্য অনেক সময় অকাট্য দৃষ্টান্তের অবতারনা করেছেন। যা কবিতাকে পাঠকের কাছে ফুটিয়ে তুলেছে একক চিত্র হিসেবে। রোমান্টিক কবিরাও এই ধরনের চিত্র ব্যাবহার করেছেন। উইলিয়াম ব্লেক তার কবিতাকে সুচারুভাবে প্রকাশ করার জন্য প্রত্যেক কবিতার সাথে এঁকেছেন ছবি। কিন্তু চিত্রকল্পবাদী কবিরা তাদের কবিতাকেই সৃষ্টি করেছেন এমনভাবে যেন তাদের বিমূর্ত ধারনাকে বাস্তব তুলনার মাধ্যমে চিত্র আকারে প্রতিষ্ঠা করা যায়।
এতে কবিতার সৌন্দর্য উঠে গেছে অনন্য এক উচ্চতায়।
তবে এতসব তাত্ত্বিক কথার বাইরেও সরল কথা আছে। এই নতুন ধারার সাহিত্যরস আসবাদনে করে সাধারন পাঠক যে কতটা আনন্দিত হয়েছিল তা সমসাময়িক ইতিহাস থেকে জানা যায়। এজরা পাউন্ড ছাড়াও উইলিয়াম কারলোস উইলিয়ামস, জেমস জয়েস, ডি. এইচ. লরেন্স, রিচার্ড এল্ডিংটন, এফ. এল. ফ্লিন্ট, এমি লোয়েল ইত্যাদি লেখকেরা এই লিটারেরি মুভমেন্টকে নিয়ে গেছেন আধুনিক ইংরেজি সাহিত্যধারার অনন্য এক উচ্চতায়।
পরিশেষে বলতে চাই, সাহিত্যজগতে লেখকের কল্পনাকে বাস্তবে রুপ দেয়াটা অনেক কঠিন একটা কাজ। আর এর প্রকাশ যখন সাধারনের বোধগম্য ভাষায় করা হয় তা ছুঁয়ে যায় কোটি পাঠকের হৃদয়ে।
সামনের দিনগুলোতে বাংলা সাহিত্যে আধুনিকতা এবং চিত্রকল্পবাদের ব্যবহার এবং প্রভাব নিয়ে আলোচনার বাঞ্চা থাকল। ভালো থাকবেন....
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