Written piece
A Common Ingredient
Shreoshee Sarder
Bangladesh
About this piece
When stitching blankets, making candies, upholding your land or saving lives alongside international scientists, all are done and made of the same ingredient- love. It is as true as it is cliche to read.
A Common Ingredient
Blankets, foods and lands
All are made from the same hands
In the land beside the Bay of Bengal,
many creations mingle
Among them lies an everyday blanket,
wrapping infants like a jacket
Nakshi Kantha is her name
You must have heard, she is famed
In the same land of the Bengal,
another creation tingles
Some mangoes, pulped, turned into candies
Sometimes sweet, sometimes spicy
Aam Shotto is her name
She isn’t niche, yet not famed
Now we march to the center of the land,
which you might call bland
But there reside delicious dishes,
made of meat, veggies and fishes
Dhaka is her name
This land is rather badly framed
Pollution, corruption and dust of the city,
despite those she is pretty
On her East lies beautiful red soil,
growing fruits, flowers and joy
In each of the six seasons she shapeshifts
She is blessed by nature gifts
Now we march to a huge building,
She holds labcoats and humans thinking
They dissect and invent, saving many
Food saline was one of plenty
Joined by world pioneers of health,
they saved humans’ greatest wealth
All of them, made of the same ingredient,
forever-lasting and radiant
With hands of love, they were made
With love we must grow, instead of bombs and blades
This is but a wishful ballad,
as world today is but a globe turning calid
Yet we must hold a sliver of light
And we shall fight with our greatest might
Put down our guns and release a dove,
recognize what we all are made of