Ekushay February or International Mother Language Day

Yesterday was Ekushay February or  in simple English 21st of February. It's a bitter sweet day for the Bengalis. Ekushay February or 21st February has been declared International Mother Language Day by the UNESCO in 1999. If you click on the link, you can read through the wiki article to learn the history and background of this day. Every year very early morning, politicians and common people alike go to Shaheed Minar or Martyrs' Monument and take flowers to commemorate the loss of students. And of course through out the day people continue to go there. When I was little, we never went to Shaheed Minar. But on Ekushay February we would cut a pic of the Martyr' monument from the newspaper and then put it against the wall (keeping it on the floor, the picture) and put some flower in front of it. It was a sweet memory.

This year, I decided to check out Shahid Minar finally. Unfortunately, the roads were all blocked and no car could enter that area and we would have to walk to get there. I decided against it as I had little miss E with us. Instead, decided to roam around Dhaka University area where it was buzzing with people, old, middle aged and kids...full of them. It was starting to get bit hot as well.  We checked out Fine Art Center and took some pics. On the street it had a festive feeling all around. Lots of hawkers selling Bangladeshi flag, bangles (loads of it, those bangles were made of glass and very colorful), cloths, bags, books, street stalled food etc etc etc. We happened to check out the grave of a famous Poet as well, Kazi Nozrul Islam.I really enjoyed the day and afterwards we went to Nando's to get something to eat. And unfortunately, little miss E already had enough of the day and by then was in full fussy mood. So, I only got to have brownie and ice cream and miss E's dad had burger...mmmm...I am bit pissed that I couldn't eat burger LOL I tried the fries and it was delish! Really good quality.

Here are pictures from our Ekushay February outing: