Project our culture

Quoting some fellow Bangladeshis here, "I'd prefer to watch 10 more Close-up 1 finalists who were eliminated towards the end, rather than watching some junk Hindi stuff. Come on, what are the Indian channels for? They are doing there job pretty well!" I want to ask the following question to the makers of the show: "Why are you spending so much money to show something that does not reflect us at all"? Let that money stay in our home, invest it to make ourselves larger. Pay that money to 10 more hidden gems in the distant corners of Bangladesh. We earn here and send our money home not to see our culture not getting due coverage in television programmes.

Please promote more contests like Close-up 1. We smiled, rejoiced, gossiped, laughed, and cried watching the show. Believe me, we are impatiently waiting to watch the show with Close-up 1 finalists, not the Indian Idols. They mean little to us. Bangladesh has its own talents and they are so pure at the heart. They touch the soul, make us proud . Our tunes are timeless.

Some of my friends tell me from Bangladesh how excited they are about the show with Indian Idols. I asked them how many times did they stop and listen to some good old Bangla songs? Quiet they remained. Songs like "Je chhilo drishtir shimanay.", "Amay gethe dao na mago ekta polash fuler mala..." I won't deny that I listen to Bollywood stuff too but they never touched my soul as the songs I mentioned above did. I'm not asking people to boycott Bollywood or anything like that. Bollywood has reached us so well that even if someone wants to deny it, he cannot. If you have your ears open when you walk down the streets in Bangladesh, you will be in touch with it, no matter what I am trying to say.

My final words: Promote the new generation in Bangladesh. It is in your hand to decide what you will do. Please get into our culture before the virus in it becomes incurable. The real pride is in accepting all cultures but reflecting our own.