The solitude and loneliness of civilian life(শহুরে জীবনে একাকীত্বের ছোঁয়া)

 The solitude and loneliness of civilian life(শহুরে জীবনে একাকীত্বের ছোঁয়া) 

The present time is called the age of connectivity. Phone and gadgets in hand. We are connected to different networks all the time. One of the biggest problems we face when using these social media is loneliness. Two students of Buet and Ruet committed suicide a few days ago as I am writing this article. Such unwanted news is frequently appearing on the pages of newspapers and on television screens these days. In the age of information technology of the 21st century, loneliness is pressing hard on us day by day.

This loneliness is like the story of the 'nimgach' of the forest flower. The wife of the house does all the work in the house, serves everyone, everyone squeezes her good, she even gets some praise for her work. But his infinite emptiness in the heart is only the cry of loneliness. People cannot express this feeling through language. This loneliness is also present in Charles Lamb's 'Superannuated Man'. Here, the writer sat in the office and went through file after file and felt tired. The conflict between his artistry and his workmanship continued to grow. You can't explain your loneliness to anyone properly. Mistakes occur in office work. Finally one day he left the job and left. Franz Kafka, the most influential writer of the 20th century, in his famous story 'Metamorphosis' (Transformation) showed human loneliness, isolation and psychological tension. In the novel, Gregor is a symbol, a kind of metaphor, who wakes up one morning to find a cow lying in bed transformed into a gnarled insect. This crisis of human loneliness or existence is most important in existentialist philosophy. Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote in one of his books, 'We are, but we have no basis for being.' This concept of detachment from life is further popularized in the philosophies of Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Research suggests that social isolation is a silent killer for modern humans. A lonely life can be seriously detrimental not only to mental health, but also to physical health. Researchers at Brigham Young University in the United States recently conducted this study on the effects of loneliness on modern life. They say living alone for a significant period of time can be more harmful to health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day or binge drinking. According to World Health Organization estimates, the burden of depression will peak by 2030. According to them, about eight lakh people commit suicide every year. Most of these suicides are due to depression. Recently, some important information has come out in a survey conducted on the inhabitants of more than two hundred countries of the world. The study, titled Loneliness Around the World: Age, Gender and Cultural Differences in Loneliness, details the impact of loneliness and isolation on the lives of people of different ages, occupations, social statuses and genders. According to the data emerging from the survey, the younger generation is more lonely than the middle-aged. Again, the problem of loneliness is more in the middle-aged than the elderly. Women suffer from loneliness more than men. We common people can feel loneliness, but cannot explain it. Gradually we are becoming isolated from the collective. Loneliness is on the one hand reducing our vitality, on the other hand it is isolating us from close people and even from the world. It may sound strange, but the truth is that people's loneliness and isolation have increased so much in Japan that in 2021, a Minister for Loneliness had to be appointed. Not only in Japan, in 2018 the UK also appointed a Minister for Loneliness and Loneliness. On the other hand, these issues are still not given much importance in our country. Barajo ended the matter by talking about seeing a psychiatrist.

Lately a series has been in the news on the OTT platform. 'Indubala Bhatar Hotel' is based on the story written by Kallol Lahiri. Indur of Kalapota village in Khulna got married in Kolkata. With a drunken man. Soon widowed with three children. Now Indubala is seventy years old. Even at this age, he cooked and fed everyone with his own hands. At times, Indubala gets nostalgic. Sometimes he feels lonelier than many, sometimes lonely, sometimes depressed. The great thing is that while surviving, Indubala has created his own life force. Has opened a rice hotel. Sun, storm, flood, illness did not stop it even for a day. He is obsessed with something, keeps himself busy, eats guests and finds the mantra to be good in life. The problem is - not everyone can find such sources. Again, everyone's problems are not the same. Social inequality, instability, deprivation, poverty are pressing us from all sides. This pressure cannot be handled by the individual alone. There is a tendency among us not to accept these things socially. There is no help from the state or society to solve such psychological crises. many times You have to figure out the solution to the problem yourself - which is not possible for everyone.

There are very few people in the world who have not heard of Edward Michael Bear Grylls. He showed how to survive alone in the most remote places of the world in 'Man Vs Wild' program. Bear Grylls has shown thousands of tricks on how to survive in an unknown island, mountain, sea, ocean or frozen area, fighting against dangerous animals or dangerous jungles like the Amazon. This is the story of returning to the locality from an unknown route after fighting alone. On the other hand, a large part of our society is struggling alone with loneliness and isolation. There are no charming moments like 'Man vs. Wild' here, only frustration. We have no Bear Grylls to rescue from here. So what is the way out of this situation?

What seems to be the first need is social security. Necessary steps should be taken by state and society. Then increase the interaction on a personal level. In this case, the advice of the psychiatrist is, 'In addition to daily work, if possible, you should keep yourself busy in physical exercise. Getting up early in the morning and taking a walk in nature is very beneficial for the body and mind, so if possible, you should walk every day along with reading books, chatting with friends, and participating in creative activities.' One fact that is important to always remember is that life is not a bed of flowers. In this life there are ups and downs, there is loneliness, loneliness and depression of civil life. This loneliness or loneliness should be nursed at all levels of the state with the advice of experts. Parents should be more careful about the younger generation. We hope to overcome this crisis through mutual cooperation.