Prithvi Shams

“It is the impossibility of living by any other means that compels our farm labourers to till the soil whose fruits they will not eat, and our masons to construct buildings in which they will not live. It is want that drags them to those markets where they await masters who will do them the kindness of buying them. It is want that compels them to go down on their knees to the rich man in order to get from him permission to enrich him ... What effective gain has the suppression of slavery brought him? ... He is free, you say. Ah. That is his misfortune. The slave was precious to his master because of the money he had cost him. But the handicraftsman costs nothing to the rich voluptuary who employs him ... These men, it is said, have no master – they have one, and the most terrible, the most imperious of masters, that is need. It is this that reduces them to the most cruel dependence”
― Simon linguet

“রাজনীতির খাতিরে উনি (শেরেবাংলা ফজলুল হক) একাধিকবার দল বা জোট বদল করেছেন। যে ঘটনার কথা লিখতে যাচ্ছি সে ঘটনার সময় উনি মুসলিম লীগের পক্ষে। কৃষক প্রজা দলের ছাত্ররা স্টিমার ঘাটে কালো নিশান নিয়ে বিক্ষোভ দেখাবার জন্য প্রস্তুত হয়েছে। গণ-সমর্থকদের শেখান হয়েছে, হকসাহেব স্টিমারের সিঁড়ি বেয়ে নামলেই তারা নিশান আস্ফালন করে “shame! shame!” বলে ধিক্কার দেবে। কিন্তু ব্যাপারটা একটু গোলমাল হয়ে গেল। ঐ বাঘের মত মানুষটিকে সামনে দেখে নিশানবাহীরা পালাবার পথ পায় না। অতি সঙ্কোচে মুখ হাতে ঢেকে বিক্ষোভকারীরা শ্রীরাহিকার মত নরম সুরে বলল, “ শ্যাম! শ্যাম!” হক সাহেব মুচকি হেসে এগুলেন। পরবর্তী স্টপ আমাদের বাড়ি। সেখানে ওঁর বাল্যবন্ধু ইন্দভূষণ গুপ্ত বসে আছেন সদলে: “আইজ আউক! ফজলুরে আইজ ধোয়ামু”। হক সাহেব ঢোকামত্র ইন্দুবাবুর আক্রমণ: “ফজলু, তর লইগগা ভদ্দরসমাজে আর মুখ দ্যাহান যায় না।“ হক সাবেহ গভীর সহানুভূতির দৃষ্টিতে বালুবন্ধুকে কিছুক্ষণ দেখে বললেন, “হেইলে ত তর বড় মুশকিল! ভদ্দরসমাজে মুখ দ্যাহাইতে পারিস না? তয় হোগাটা দেহাইস।“ এই ঋষি বাক্যের পশ্চিমবঙ্গানুবাদ আর দিলাম না।”
― Tapan Raychaudhuri, রোমন্থন অথবা ভীমরতিপ্রাপ্তর পরচরিতচর্চা

“My Fellow Non-American Blacks: In America, You Are Black, Baby Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black. Stop arguing. Stop saying I’m Jamaican or I’m Ghanaian. America doesn’t care. So what if you weren’t “black” in your country? You’re in America now. We all have our moments of initiation into the Society of Former Negroes. Mine was in a class in undergrad when I was asked to give the black perspective, only I had no idea what that was. So I just made something up. And admit it—you say “I’m not black” only because you know black is at the bottom of America’s race ladder. And you want none of that. Don’t deny now. What if being black had all the privileges of being white? Would you still say “Don’t call me black, I’m from Trinidad”? I didn’t think so. So you’re black, baby. And here’s the deal with becoming black: You must show that you are offended when such words as “watermelon” or “tar baby” are used in jokes, even if you don’t know what the hell is being talked about—and since you are a Non-American Black, the chances are that you won’t know. (In undergrad a white classmate asks if I like watermelon, I say yes, and another classmate says, Oh my God that is so racist, and I’m confused. “Wait, how?”) You must nod back when a black person nods at you in a heavily white area. It is called the black nod. It is a way for black people to say “You are not alone, I am here too.” In describing black women you admire, always use the word “STRONG” because that is what black women are supposed to be in America. If you are a woman, please do not speak your mind as you are used to doing in your country. Because in America, strong-minded black women are SCARY. And if you are a man, be hyper-mellow, never get too excited, or somebody will worry that you’re about to pull a gun. When you watch television and hear that a “racist slur” was used, you must immediately become offended. Even though you are thinking “But why won’t they tell me exactly what was said?” Even though you would like to be able to decide for yourself how offended to be, or whether to be offended at all, you must nevertheless be very offended. When a crime is reported, pray that it was not committed by a black person, and if it turns out to have been committed by a black person, stay well away from the crime area for weeks, or you might be stopped for fitting the profile. If a black cashier gives poor service to the non-black person in front of you, compliment that person’s shoes or something, to make up for the bad service, because you’re just as guilty for the cashier’s crimes. If you are in an Ivy League college and a Young Republican tells you that you got in only because of Affirmative Action, do not whip out your perfect grades from high school. Instead, gently point out that the biggest beneficiaries of Affirmative Action are white women. If you go to eat in a restaurant, please tip generously. Otherwise the next black person who comes in will get awful service, because waiters groan when they get a black table. You see, black people have a gene that makes them not tip, so please overpower that gene. If you’re telling a non-black person about something racist that happened to you, make sure you are not bitter. Don’t complain. Be forgiving. If possible, make it funny. Most of all, do not be angry. Black people are not supposed to be angry about racism. Otherwise you get no sympathy. This applies only for white liberals, by the way. Don’t even bother telling a white conservative about anything racist that happened to you. Because the conservative will tell you that YOU are the real racist and your mouth will hang open in confusion.”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

“And since we don't just forget things because they don't matter but also forget things because they matter too much-- because each of us remembers and forgets in a pattern whose labyrinthine windings are an identification mark no less distinctive than a fingerprint--it's no wonder that the shards of reality one person will cherish as a biography can seem to someone else who, say, happened to have eaten some ten thousand dinners at the very same kitchen table, to be a willful excursion into mythomania.”
― Philip Roth, American Pastoral