Joy Bangla Concert 2020: Looking back
Music has the power to transport one through various emotions. Last year’s Joy Bangla Concert did exactly that for me. The concert rekindled the sentiments that the Father of the Nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman once ignited with his historic speech on March 7, 1971. For a few hours, I found myself completely engrossed in the spirit of freedom and independence.
The concert featured songs from iconic and rising bands of Bangladesh including Minar, Shunno, Cryptic Fate, and Arekta Rock Band among others. Through their music, these bands led the crowd onto a path of experiencing a film in their minds where the history, culture, and struggles of our nation were portrayed. The beautiful words, the magical clusters of the instruments, the indulgent tone of musical notes were all painting pictures in the minds of the audience as if the new generation was on the edge of experiencing some of the images of our country's birth, and it’s rooted.
The highlight of last year’s concert was the holographic visual of Bangabandhu’s 7th March speech. At the end of the presentation, I looked at the older generation, few but still just as moved by the younger crowd. Through the lenses of their spectacles, I witnessed part of a teary-eyed generation who were reliving every moment of their journey and episodes with Bangladesh betar and shadhinota radio. Our Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana were also in attendance at the concert. As we stood between and the image of the man that led our country to freedom and the woman who continues to lead the country to a better tomorrow, a sense of pride, security, and assurance engulfed the crowd.
Being part of a generation who grew up listening to stories of the monumental speech of 1971, I always wondered what it must have felt like actually listening to the speech. The rush of adrenaline, the feeling of unity and harmony and so much more. While I am aware that it’s impossible to feel those exact emotions, as I stood there with hundreds of others, singing on the top of our lungs, I felt a great sense of concinnity. The audience members who were strangers to one another came together singing and jamming along to the songs. With frequent glances and smiles, everyone bonded over their shared sense of excitement, connecting with one another over their love of music.
The concert finally came to an end as the crowd of people wait for the last flash of lights to blaze the stadium and the people start to dissipate. And thus year after year, the Joy Bangla Concert continues to successfully manage infuse the spirit of liberation and history in us- the newer generation.
Writer: Musarrat Mahtab, Student, North South University (8th semester)
