2nd Letter from Rehaan from UK to Nabil in Bangladesh

 

Sender: Rehaan Syed

Senders Location: Glasgow, UK 

Receiver: Nabil Hasan

Receiver Location: Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Dear Nabil Hasan,

I want to thank you for sharing your experience with the OSCH and the efforts you and your 

team are making to preserve the disappearing languages and cultures of ethnic communities 

in Bangladesh. Your story about visiting the Rai Para and the Munda community was very 

touching, and it is heartening to know that people like you are working to preserve the diversity 

of Bangladeshi culture.

I was intrigued to hear about the challenges you faced during your trip, particularly the difficulty 

in communicating with the people because of the lack of a written form of their languages. As 

someone of the Bengali diaspora, it’s easy to forget how ethnically and linguistically diverse it 

is there so it really surprised me to hear that the difference was so large that you were having 

trouble even understanding one another. Also, it’s inspiring to see that you were able to overcome 

this obstacle and were able to record their stories and traditions. 

The moment you described when the old woman Anjali sang a song in her own tongue and 

everyone was mesmerised listening to it was very powerful. It reminded me that music can be 

a universal language that transcends borders and cultures.

I am glad to see that your experience has given you a sense of contentment and appreciation 

for the beauty in unexpected places, like the Marigold plant in the gutter. It is a testament to your 

positive outlook and resilience. Thank you for sharing your story, and I hope that your work with 

OSCH continues to make a positive impact. 

To answer your questions, I live in Glasgow which is Scotland’s biggest city but not the capital. 

The less said about the weather here the better.  As I told you in my previous letter, I’m in high 

school and much like you, I have a few very important exams coming up. 

You might be surprised to hear that despite being born and living here in the UK my entire life, 

I actually feel more at home whenever I go and visit Bangladesh, specifically my family’s home 

town of Rajshahi which I’m aware everyone from your side is very familiar with.

If anything, I feel much more comfortable referring to Bangladesh as “my country” than I do 

Scotland. I educate myself as much as I can on the struggles Bangladeshis faced in the fight for 

independence and the right to speak the language, as ultimately it is my heritage and knowing 

my people’s history is important.

Although there’s always a strange, conflicted feeling because going back to visit family, I feel as 

though I am at home with my people, but there are still many things that remind me that I am in 

fact a foreigner. The culture that I was brought up in is inherently very different to that of 

Bangladesh, so of course I’ll never quite understand what it’s like as a native. But even in what is 

supposedly my home country, things happen that make me question my identity. It’s like I’m seen 

as an outsider by Scotland but I’m also too Scottish to be Bengali.

I, similarly to you, have a keen interest in working with different kinds of people from different 

backgrounds, so writing to you has really been a pleasure. I’m eager to hear your response to 

this as well as my other letter, and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about life 

in Scotland.

Best regards, 

Rehaan