“Future of Bangla”
I would not try to guess what Sunil Gangopadhyay was thinking when he said “Bengali literature still has bright prospects”. No doubt, he is concerned about the future but I would not expect him to express that explicitly in public. The next day headlines would have been like “Sunil thinks Bangla has got no future?” Well, that would have created a huge controversy and so-called pundits could have spoiled his nostalgic visit of Bangladeshi ancestral home. But as wise as he is, he chose the right expression for his concern.
From evolutionary point of view, it matters very little what we think about the future of our language and literature. Even with the divine intervention, we may not be able to save Bengali from extinction, if that is where we are heading. Too many factors are in play and too little can be done to guide this huge river! This is not a Bengali specific problem. Many great languages and literature will face the same problem and disappear against many millions peoples' wishes and tears.
I do believe Bengali will survive but not in a form or shape that we currently envision. The key factor would be whether Bangla will be truly useful in the daily lives and minds of our future generations.
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