ধন্যবাদ

When I read through all the postcard contributions from volunteers and visitors to the vaccination centre, I was moved by the ways in which people were aware of how having the vaccine wasn’t just be about protecting themselves but also about protecting others: others they wouldn’t ever even meet.

When I started to think through what that meant, one line from one of the postcards stayed with me: “It means the world.” Inspired by the scientific processes of dilution and dissolution, I reflected that while one vaccine in a global pandemic might be thought of as “a drop in the ocean”, each single drop of a substance changes the entire ocean’s chemical structure too.

I am also currently pregnant, and as covid-19 vaccines are not yet being routinely offered to pregnant women, I am also aware on a personal level of how my wellness and my baby’s is dependent on everyone else having the vaccine for us. I wanted to express gratitude for this, but it was hard to find the words.

That struggle for meaning led me back to Bangla, my mother tongue, and a word that Bengalis use to express thanks, but which is also much more than that: it means the world.

Markii aan akhriyey dhammaan kaarashii boostada ee ay soo direen mutaddawaciinta iyo booqdeyaasha xarunta tallaalku, waxaa beerkayga lulay hababka ay dadku uga war hayaan in helidda tallaalku aanay ku saabsanayn uun badbaadinta naftooda laakiin weliba badbaadinta dadka kale; dad kaloo aanay weligoodba arki doonin. Markii aan bilaabay in aan ka fiirsado ahmiyadda ay taasi leedahay, hal weedh oo ku jirtay kaarasha boostada midkood ayaa maskaxdayda ku hartay: “Ahmiyaddeedu dunida ayay leeg tahay.” Anigoo ay i niyad geliyeen nidaamyada cilmisayniska ee baraxa iyo milista, waxaan ku fikiray inkastoo hal tallaal oo loo helo cudurka safmarka ee dunida ku baahsan loo arki karo “dhibic lagu shubo badweynta”, in haddana dhibic kastoo keliya ee walaxu ay beddesho qaabdhismeedka kiimikeed ee badweynta oo dhanba. Iminka weliba uur ayaan leeyahay, oo maadaama aanan tallaallada cudurka covid-19 weli si caadi ah loogu baaqin haweenka uurka leh, waxaan weliba shakhsi ahaan ka war hayaa in wanaagqabkayga iyo midka ilmahayga dhallaanka ah uu ku xiran yahay in dadka kale oo dhani ay annaga tallaalka noo qaataan. Waxaan rabay in aan tan ka mahadnaqo, laakiin waxaa igu adkaatay in aan ereyo u helo. Rafaadkaas aan u galay macnaha ayaa aniga dib iigu celiyey Bangla, luqaddayda hooyo, iyo erey ay dadka Bengaliga ahi ku mahad sheegaan, laakiin weliba taas aad uga badan; waxuu ka dhigan yahay dunida.