On behalf of the
editorial committee I warmly welcome you to our August edition of Songsoptok
that takes a closer look at the humanitarian practices of the current time. The
publication of this edition coincides with the World Humanitarian Day. Since 2009,
the United Nations has dedicated August 19 for this observance. The modern
times have witnessed ever increasing demands for humanitarian assistance – from
the war-strife corners of the world to areas affected by natural disasters. The
United Nations aims to increase public awareness about humanitarian assistance
activities worldwide by profiling Humanitarian Heroes this year.
At Songsoptok, we
want to understand what ‘humanitarianism’ means to our contributors and
readers. Consequently, we are publishing 9 interviews of our own ‘humanitarian
heroes’ who have been engaged in related activities in various ways. Together,
these discourses highlight the challenges and excitements of caring for fellow
human beings. We would like to thank all our participants for their time and
dedicated effort.
As humanity is
compartmentalized by nation, race, religion, and wealth in our ever complex and
chaotic world, thereby prompting humanitarian actions, the notion of 'universal
man' ("visva manav") championing a plural cosmopolitanism becomes
more relevant. Our discussions on humanitarianism won’t be complete without a
reference to Rabindranath Tagore who embraced this universal man
in his life and work. It is in August that Tagore left this mortal world some
seventy-four years ago. We pay tribute to this great humanist of the 20th
century through an interview and an essay.
We round out the
World Humanitarian Day issue with a collection of poems by our regular
contributor Chryssa Velissariou. Chryssa’s work explores multiple facets of
humanitarianism, from the abyss of the Greek economic crisis to the depths of
human conscience and compassion.
Besides the special
features, the current issue includes the regular sections on poetry and story. Songsoptok
encourages our readers to share their thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings and
above all emotions through creative writing. It aspires to become the conduit
for all writers irrespective of their countries of origin or background, a
dedicated platform for sharing their creative genius through the World Wide
Web.
It is our sincere
hope that this issue of Songsoptok will be as thought provoking for you as the
past ones and you will be encouraged to continue supporting this webzine with
your own contributions.
Subhodev Das
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