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Hand on my heart, I sing

In the midst of all the hardship, heartbreak and disappointment in our national daily life, the news of our national anthem ranking the second best in the world feels like a ray of sunlight piercing through the dark overshadowing clouds.

Junayed Ahmed Chowdhury
Even a couple of months ago, when I awoke early in the morning to get ready for the hustle and bustle of everyday city life, my usual alarm clock was our national anthem sung by the school children at the Banani Vidya Niketon School across my flat.
Sometimes, I would tire of the same, discordant melody of the song (not that the children sang like that on purpose). Nowadays, the school had stopped the national anthem singing session.
I remember when I was younger, how we used to stand in our school playground, singing our national anthem. I had hated it then. I used to ask myself why we would be forced to sing something we didn't like in the early hours of the morning, when getting out of bed to go to school was an uphill task. I had thought it was stupid.
Yesterday, I saw in the Guardian -- a British newspaper -- an article by Alex Marshall, who heard the 205 national anthems at the Beijing Olympics and ranked the ten best. Ours was the second best, after Uruguay. In his words, ours is a "wonderful anthem that sounds like it was written for a stroll along the Seine."
At first, I was just surprised. A couple of minutes later, I started humming Amar Shonar Bangla - -rather subconsciously -- and for the first time in my life, I felt inspired and euphoric by singing our national anthem. They say axthat the national anthem is
sqpposed to stir up yom pridp. I felt it at that moment -- a feeling I had never had in my school days or in the mornings when I was awakened by the school children's national anthem singing session.
Everyday, we read in the newspapers distressing and dismaying reports involving many facets of our national life — social, political and economic. I cannot recall the last time I was inspired by an event or an achievement in Bangladesh.
The last two occasions eliciting inspiration and euphoria were when Bangladesh beat Australia at Cardiff in cricket, and when Dr. Mohammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize. Both of these happenings were at least two years ago.
I felt a sense of belonging on
those two occasions -- being a part of something extraordinary and brilliant. I felt as if I myself had won the match against Australia and the Nobel Peace Prize. It was a wonderful feeling.
I am experiencing the same feeling as I write this article. I feel emotional too. In the midst of all the hardship, heartbreak and-disappointment in our national daily life, the news of our national anthem ranking the second best in the world feels like a ray of sunlight piercing through the dark overshadowing clouds.
We are going through an interesting time — a time of uncertainty, and a journey to the unknown. A nation that has been torn apart by antipodean politics and corruption, having one of the best national anthems in the world should inspire us to better ourselves. We all need to work together to build a better Bangladesh and give true meaning to the words we sing: Amar Shonar Bangla, Ami Tomay Bhalobashi.
Junayed Ahmed Chowdhury is a Barrister and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.