Trama

This is a story about a man who risked his life to save his culture, his heritage, his language. He is now grandfather to my children and like many immigrants whose children and grandchildren do not embrace or even learn their mother tongue, he is heartbroken that the sacrifices made to save his language are not appreciated or understood by the younger generation. This is a common story for many immigrants. We are lost in translation. In the year of 1952, a group of students actively organized, resisted Pakistan 's attempts to force all Bengalis to speak Urdu. This fight over the language between Bangladesh and Pakistan grew into a civil war in 1971 and 3 million people died. Now, more than 40 years later the grandfather is wondering what the fight was all about when his own grandchildren cannot understand him.

In a typical story of an immigrant family from Bangladesh in Toronto, Canada, Nadim brings up the inevitable question of losing one's mother language and cultural ground rock to English. He takes us into his own family where we meet his adorable teenage daughter and her younger brother. As Canadian children, they speak English which they have learned through school, books, and videos. They play and dance as local kids do in English. Bengali, the language of their parents, and their emotional attachment to it remain on the sidelines. The visit of the grandparents makes the children very happy. The grandfather, a celebrated Poet, and freedom fighter have brought books for them written in Bengali which the children cannot read well although the family maintains Bengali traditions and values at home. So, he keeps entertaining them translating into English his poems and interesting anecdotes. Running down memory lane, he unfolds the history of the noble struggle for the mother language in Bangladesh in her earlier identity as East Pakistan and his participation in it as an adolescent student. He goes further into how over time the inherent question of right in the language issue encompassed larger national issues involving economic deprivation and political devilry by the then Pakistani government, how it eventually brought about a liberated Bangladesh through the Independence war of 1971, in which he was a freedom fighter. The war was initiated due to the language movement which took place back on 21st February 1952. Since then 21st February has been recognized and celebrated as Mother Language Day among Bangladeshis all over the world. In 1999 UNESCO finally recognized the significance of 21st February and officially declared that day as the "International Mother Language Day" (IMLD). Every year Bengali community around the world celebrates the 21st of February to show their respect for the language martyrs. In Canada, Matthew Kellway, MP, and the city councilor Janet Davison both have been helping Bangladeshis to make a 21st Feb monument here in Toronto. Besides this occasion, there are many more traditional festivities, which are regularly celebrated by the Bangladeshis in Toronto, Canada, e.g. Bengali New Year, Spring Festival, Independence Day, Victory Day, etc. In all of these festivals, Nadim observes that the young Canadian-Bangladeshis are involved, and they participate in many cultural events, but unfortunately the usage of their mother tongue "Bangla" remains suppressed and neglected as usual. More or less this is the common story of most immigrant families in Canada. The entire film was recorded in Toronto.