By Faria Islam

Every year lavish events are held around the world for Thirty-First Night. This foreign culture has, in the twenty-first century, been blending into ours too. Crores of taka are wasted every year in the name of spending, and the environment is harmed in many ways. Sleeping people, the sick, children and the elderly are frightened by sudden loud noise and the blast of fireworks. Innocent animals are not spared either: lakhs of birds die of fright, and many animals crawl about with helpless, frightened eyes looking for shelter.

Can a culture in which people are terrified, thousands of animals die and the environment is seriously damaged ever be part of sane thinking? Can these absurd, fleeting fireworks and loud music really be called celebration?

What is Thirty-First Night, really? Have we ever thought about its true meaning? A year passing means a chapter of our lives leaving the world. A year passing means part of our lifespan is used up. Are these chapters not important in our lives? Should we not feel at least a little regret?

Thirty-First Night can be celebrated through good deeds. If we wish, we can turn our thinking in a slightly different direction and celebrate through humane and charitable work.

There are many people around us who spend their days hungry on pavements or in the corners of streets, not getting even one meal a day. They shiver in the bitter cold with no warm clothes. If the money wasted in the name of Thirty-First Night could feed even one hungry person a full meal, or give warm clothes to someone helpless, humanity would live on.

Through one small good deed we can find inner peace; doing good keeps both body and mind well. So on Thirty-First Night, instead of sharing pictures of lavish fireworks and loud singing and dancing on social media, let us spread pictures of humanity, and stories of bringing smiles to the faces of people in need.

The writer is a student at Bhairab Government Women's College.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.