ŚABDA

                                        The Bengali word শব্দ (Śabda) bears within it two meanings; that of a 'word' and of 'sound'. In alignment with this thought, there is a certain necessity, a demand of the present moment, that words be written, words be spoken; spoken with a sense of purpose, with a sense induced by an understanding of where we stand - the here and now. But the problem(s) we face at this very moment is subtle to such an extent that it requires conscious effort, an attempt towards demythifying and demystifying our own selves, our own surroundings, an effort to be critical in every sense and essence. To refer to 'society', to mention the very word as a center of any discourse, is marked primarily by academicians to be too cliché. Unfortunately, at the very root of this issue lies a long history of speculative, subjectivized and isolated ponderings on ideas and concepts. What has this resulted in? To speak from lived experience, it has contributed towards a perversion of man's cognitive abilities. The academic domain has distanced itself distinctively and discriminately from the very causes from which it had once developed. The collective effect of this is felt by the rise of a society, whose political environment is dominated by mediocrity, consumerism, and compromise. Never has knowledge been meant to be a doorway to escape towards meaningless speculation. But, where we stand now, the very purposive nature of knowledge and education has been subverted. To protest has become expositions of performances, art has become a practice in luxury for many, culture is everything that the industry manufactures, and man, above all has become what he has been subtly forced towards becoming. Tutelage is upon us anew, in new forms and new methods. Breathlessness is upon us, we're losing ground. No scientific or academic endeavor, no matter how far it might be removed from the general population, has been able to provide the slightest reason to believe that we are progressing collectively. Hence, it is not that we lack knowledge. We do have an idea of where we stand and what we are heading at. Yet, there is silence. This very moment demands; and it forcefully demands, a collective effort towards conscious struggle, towards preemptive discursivities. Academics need to be made to stand on its feet, it must let go of its imaginary daydreamer's wings. Non-academicians need to be made more and more accompanied with tools of critical thinking. The material world demands a change in the internal construct of man. The lack in strength and militancy in thinking is the greatest crisis of this moment, of the present condition. Hence, Śabda. To write, and to speak. To break, and to build.