By Shah J Choudhury
Translated by Zahan Ara
The year 2022 is at its end. Well, what was the most significant event of 2022? What happened in 2022, for example? Was this the year of sluggish growth? Or was this the year that poverty alleviation came to a halt? or another year marked by mounting debt? The World Bank claims that the current economic crisis is the worst since the crises of the 1970s. The year of the return of COVID-19? About 10 lakh people are getting infected with COVID each day in China. Or you can say “a year of food insecurity.”
Numerous people have been killed by floods in Pakistan; millions have been affected by droughts in China and the Horn of Africa; and Europe is currently experiencing the worst drought in 500 years. The year of climate change is also upon us. Another way to describe this year is as the year of the energy crisis or the year of education loss. Ten out of every 100 children in nations with low and intermediate incomes are unable to attend school. 47 of them were denied access to educational resources prior to the epidemic. Is it possible to call it a year of war? Yes, I’m recalling the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Yet, the American winter is the one that first springs to mind. This year’s winter has come in dreadful shape.
Winter has arrived. Instead of snow, eastern countries experience fog. In America, it snows. Additionally, because Christmas is on December 25, there is a strong link between Christmas and snowfall. The fact is that if it doesn’t snow on Christmas, Christmas cheer simply doesn’t spread over this nation. It appears to be missing something. Most often, Christmas Day coincides with the first snowfall of the season. Perhaps this is why Christmas Day is often referred to as the first snowfall day of the year in this country. Such theories, however, lack a scientific foundation.
This year, the snow started long before Christmas. The snowfall turned into a terrible winter storm. The United States experienced the coldest Christmas Eve ever in 2022. According to the headlines, America is currently extremely frozen. My home’s water pipe burst one morning from the extreme cold. It was necessary to fix it and summon the plumber. America’s highways were covered with a thick layer of ice. At 50 degrees, the temperature fell below freezing. It’s minus 50 degrees. It snows when you heat water and fling it into the air. 50 Americans have frozen to death this winter as of this writing.
The West used to go into complete hibernation throughout the winter. A few months in advance, folks began making preparations for the coming winter. They made an effort to make the homes as airtight as they could. They would’ve made repairs to fireplaces and chimneys and collected enough wood to fuel the fireplace all winter.
There is an old tale. Sam’s tale. Sam’s wife once traveled far to visit her father with their kids. Sam is completely untense. There’s a lot of food storage. That winter was really chilly. There is plenty of wood available, and a lot of it is stored outside, so no worries at all. Sam is eating, sleeping, and reading to pass the time.
Suddenly one day Sam got sick. But nobody is there to look after him. Within days, Sam’s condition worsened. Even though the food did not run out, the wood did. He doesn’t even have the strength to go outside and get wood. Then Sam started setting fire to each piece of furniture in the house, including chairs, tables, bookcases, bookshelves, and all of his books. At the end of the winter, when Sam’s wife came home with the kids, she discovered the house in ruins. And Sam’s body is stiff from the cold.
Fireplaces are not needed in this country anymore. The fireplace that is currently there serves to improve the décor. However, gas is also used in certain homes. However, the fireplace is no longer as necessary as it once was. The absence of a fireplace in this modern age is not possible due to the power grid. What happens if there is no electricity? If not, because it is below 50 degrees, people will become stiffly frozen. According to today’s newspaper, the snowstorm has caused damage to the electrical infrastructure across much of America. As a result, two lakh individuals are currently without electricity. So far, this horrible snowstorm has claimed the lives of 50 people. The death toll could go up even more.
At the conclusion of the previous year and the beginning of the new one, there is a celebration. This event is known as the Thirty-First Night. Everyone yelled “Happy New Year” at that moment. May the new year bring us happiness. It’s not like the “New Year” doesn’t take notice of that. On a personal level, certain people can be heard. Perhaps this is why some are superior. but the majority of the voices go unheard. My sincere hope is that the year 2023 will at least heed the majority’s cries.
As we sing on the Pohela Boishakh, “muchhey jak glani, ghuchey jak jora, ogni-snaney shuchi hok dhora (Let the weary be erased, infirmity cease; hallowed be the earth to bathe in your fire)”. In the next year, may a holy, pure, and clean world help us start living a pure life once more. 2022 did not see it take place. Let’s start over in 2023.
Happy New Year to everyone, with lots of greetings!
