Sayed Asif Mahmud, Bangladesh

My City of Unheard Prayers

Be wise, O my Affliction, be serene.
You called upon the evening; now it falls;
Obscurity surrounds all the town,
To some brings peace, to others brings ordeals.

Charles Baudelaire.

In an exponentially booming 'third world' city, Dhaka, I was forced to face two significant aspects-its practice of individualism and the ruthless race to success. My quick transition from the suburban life to the urban race triggered the realisation of the differences. I felt deeply the hopelessness and loneliness in my life even when I was amidst a crowd. The naive child in me that once saw the glitter of hope in the city was slowly backing away, too scared to run. The entire world was indeed an extravagant stage and I barely knew my part. However, this arcane city was slowly modifying the person in me. I gradually learned to see the glimmering hope in crevices of the hard concrete. I recognized the need for me to be a part of my surroundings. I found the trigger points of my nostalgia, which in fact nourished my dream and helped me move forward. Nature, once again became my niche, my solace, changing its webbed face and washing away my frailties.

The city is indeed an enigma. Everyone seems isolated yet somehow in their strings of despair they are connected as a whole. There is a lure of this mysterious place that keeps me from going back. I found a hope that taught me to reincarnate those dreams in the apparent concrete of this city.

It is a perception… an experience… and it’s still continuing in my life.