"Bengalis love to celebrate their language, their culture, their politics, their fierce attachment to a city that has been famously dying for more than a century. They resent with equal ferocity the reflex stereotyping that labels any civic dysfunction anywhere in the world 'another Calcutta." - Bharati Mukherjee, American writer and professor emerita in the department of English at the University of California Evenings in 80's and 90's Bengal were marked by sudden power cuts. These were also the times when we spent hours memorizing Bengali Bornomala under oil lamps. Arduous mothers in the kitchen kept a tab whether we carried on with our lessons or wrapped up our studies before time. The introductory session was through verse form because learning our mother tongue was so supremely important. Is is not usual to proudly flaunt the badges of fluent and effervescent Bengali learning, in the land of Sukumar Roy, Robi Thakur, Bankim Chandra Chattapadhyay to Satyajit Ray and a zillion other literary geniuses?
Just like the diversely colourful city, kids growing up here had an equally diverse childhood.
The joyous colours and cacophony surrounding our growing up years can never quite be compensated with the advent of technology.
From অ-অজগর আসছে তেড়ে to আম-টি আমি খাবো পেড়ে poems, we learnt by heart the evergreen two liners, impossible to forget till date. If travelling could be on the wings of time, I can tell for sure that we would all be willing to travel back to the days when learning was fun.
Today Bengali has earned the her place of pride as the sweetest language spoken globally. The softness in terms of pronunciation and the endearing sounds emerging from the Bengali literature and poetic verses contribute towards it's sweetness.
When we at Desi Feriwala started out with the dream of creating these notebooks, we decided to not only cater for kids who are beginning to grow familiar with the 'Bangla Bornomala' or alphabets but also cater to young Bong adults, growing up from the '90s. Check out our Bengali alphabet notebooks from our website to be a part of Bengal's literary beginnings.
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