নিয়তি অনতিক্রম্য

আমার ইংরেজীর দৌড় বড়জোর I go home পর্যন্ত। তাই ইংরেজী বই পড়ার ইচ্ছে থাকলেও কাজটা খুব কঠিন হয়ে দাঁড়ায়। কারন অসংখ্য ইংরেজী শব্দের মানে জানি না। বারবার ডিকশনারী খুলতে হয়। মানুষ হিসেবে আমি অলস প্রকৃতির।

ফলে ইংরেজী বই আর পড়া হয়ে ওঠে না। মাঝে মাঝে মনে হত, অজানা শব্দের অর্থগুলো যদি কেউ লিখে রাখত। বাজারে অনুবাদ পাওয়া যায় বটে কিন্তু তাতে লেখকের ভাষা পুরোপুরি পাওয়া যায় না। তাছাড়া তাতে ইংরেজী পড়ার অভ্যাসও গড়ে ওঠে না। আলস্য কাটিয়ে একসময় নিজেই কাজে নেমে পড়লাম।

অর্থাৎ পেন্সিল দিয়ে অপরিচিত শব্দের অর্থগুলো বইয়ের মার্জিনে লিখে রাখতাম। একসময় মনে হল, আমাদের বইগুলো যদি এভাবেই প্রকাশিত হত তাহলে আমার মত আরো অনেক পাঠক, যারা ইংরেজীতে দূর্বল, তারা কিছু ভাল ইংরেজী বই পড়তে পারত। এই ব্লগটিতে আমার সেই চিন্তারই প্রতিফলন ঘটানোর চেষ্টা করেছি। বই হিসেবে বেছে নিয়েছি হিলারি ক্লিনটনের " Living History"। যে শব্দ অপরিচিত মনে হয়েছে সেগুলোর উচ্চারন ও বাংলা অর্থ পাশে লিখে দিয়েছি।

একদম সহজ পদ্ধতি । শুরু করেছি একদম ভূমিকা থেকে। কাজটা পুরোপুরি অনুবাদ না। শুধু মাত্র কিছু শব্দের বাংলা অর্থ লেখা হয়েছে, পুরো বাক্যের বাংলা অনুবাদ করা হয়নি। তাই নাম দিলাম অর্ধ-অনুবাদ।

কাজটা শুরু করে একটু চিন্তায় পড়ে গেছি। কাজটা নিতান্তই সরল, কোন ঘোর প্যাঁচ নেই। জাতি হিসেবে আমরা জটিল মনের। সহজ সরল জিনিস আমাদের পছন্দ হয় না। আমরা জটিলতা খুঁজতে পছন্দ করি।

আমার এই ব্লগে কোন জটিলতা নেই। কাজটা একটু এক্সপেরিমেন্টাল ধরনের। ব্লগারদের প্রতিক্রিয়া দেখার জন্য আমি আগ্রহ নিয়ে অপেক্ষা করছি। ******************* AUTHOR’S NOTE ********************* In 1959, I wrote my autobiography for an assignment in sixth grade. In twenty-nine pages, most half-filled with earnest ( আর্নেস্ট - উৎসুক/ব্যগ্র) scrawl ( স্ক্রল - মন্দ লেখা ), I described my parents, brothers, pets, house,hobbies, school, sports and plans for the future. Forty-two years later, I began writing another memoir ( মেমোয়ার - স্মৃতিকথা), this one about the eight years I spent in the White House living history with Bill Clinton. I quickly realized that I couldn’t explain my life as First Lady without going back to the beginning ― how I became the woman I was that first day I walked into the White House on January 20, 1993, to take on a new role and experiences that would test and transform me in unexpected ( অপ্রত্যাশিত) ways. By the time I crossed the threshold ( থ্রেশোল্ড - চৌকাঠ/ দ্বার) of the White House, I had been shaped by my family upbringing (লালনপালন ও শিক্ষাদান), education, religious faith and all that I had learned before―as the daughter of a staunch (স্টঞ্চ - বিশ্বাসী/ অনুগত) conservative ( রক্ষণশীল ) father and a more liberal mother, a student activist, an advocate for children, a lawyer, Bill’s wife and Chelsea’s mom. For each chapter, there were more ideas I wanted to discuss than space allowed; more people to include than could be named; more places visited than could be described. If I mentioned everybody who has impressed ( প্রসন্ন করেছিল), inspired, taught, influenced and helped me along the way, this book would be several volumes long. Although I’ve had to be selective, I hope that I’ve conveyed ( বহন করা / জানানো) the push and pull of events and relationships that affected me and continue to shape and enrich (সমৃদ্ধ করা) my world today. Since leaving the White House I have embarked ( কোন কাজে প্রবৃত্ত হওয়া ) on a new phase of my life as a U.S. Senator from New York, a humbling (বিনীত, নম্র ) and daunting (যা ভীত করে ) responsibility. A complete account of my move to New York, campaign for the Senate and the honor of working for the people who elected me will have to be told another time, but I hope this memoir illustrates how my success as a candidate for the Senate arose out of my White House experiences. During my years as First Lady, I became a better student of how government can serve people, how Congress really works, how people perceive ( পারসিভ - অনুভব করা ) politics and policy through the filter of the media and how American values can be translated into economic and social progress. I learned the importance of America’s engagement (এনগেজমেন্ট - সংশ্লিষ্টতা) with the rest of the world, and I developed relationships with foreign leaders and an understanding of foreign cultures that come in handy today. I also learned how to keep focused while living in the eye of many storms. I was raised to love my God and my country, to help others, to protect and defend the democratic ideals that have inspired and guided free people for more than zoo years.These ideals were nurtured (নারচার - পালন করা, পুষ্টিদান করা) in me as far back as I can remember. Back in 1959, I wanted to become a teacher or a nuclear physicist ( পদার্থবিদ) . Teachers were necessary to “train young citizens” and without them you wouldn’t have “much of a country” America needed scientists because the “Russians have about five scientists to our one.” Even then, I was fully a product of my country and its times, absorbing my family’s lessons and America’s needs as I considered my own future. My childhood in the 1950s and the politics of the 1960s awakened my sense of obligation to my country and my commitment to service. College, law school and then marriage took me into the political epicenter ( ) of the United States. A political life, I’ve often said, is a continuing education in human nature, including one’s own. My involvement ( ইনভলভমেন্ট - সংশ্লিষ্টতা) on the ground floor of two presidential campaigns and my duties as First Lady took me to every state in our union and to seventy-eight nations. In each place, I met someone or saw something that caused me to open my mind and my heart and deepen (গভীর করা) my understanding of the universal concerns that most of humanity shares. I always knew that America matters to the rest of the world; my travels taught me how the rest of the world matters to America. Listening to what people in other countries are saying and trying to under stand how they perceive their place in the world is essential (এসেনশিয়াল - প্রয়োজনীয়) to a future of peace and security at home and abroad. With this in mind, I have included voices we don’t hear often enough ― voices of people in every corner of the globe who want the same things we do: freedom from hunger, disease and fear, freedom to have a say in their own destinies, no matter their DNA or station in life. I have devoted considerable space in these pages to my foreign travels because I believe that the people and places are important, and what I learned from them is part of who I am today. The two Clinton terms covered not only a transforming period in my life but also in America’s. My husband assumed the Presidency determined to reverse ( রিভার্স - বিপরীত দিকে বদলে দেয়া) the nation’s economic decline, budget deficits and the growing inequities (বৈষম্য) that undermined opportunities for future generations of Americans. I supported his agenda and worked hard to translate his vision into actions that improved people’s lives, strengthened our sense of community and furthered our democratic values at home and around the world. Throughout Bill’s tenure, we encountered political opposition, legal challenges and personal tragedies, and we made our fair share of mistakes. But when he left office in January 2001, America was a stronger, better and more just nation, ready to tackle the challenges of a new century. Of course, the world we now inhabit is very different from the one described in this book. As I write this in 2003, it seems impossible that my time in the White House ended only two years ago. It feels more like another lifetime because of what happened on September 11, 2001. The lost lives. The human grief. The smoldering (ধিকিধিকি করে পোড়া) crater ( ক্রেটার - আগ্নেয়গিরির মুখ). The twisted ( টুইস্টেড - পাকানো ) metal. The shattered (ভেঙে যাওয়া) survivors. The victims’ families. The unspeakable tragedy of it all. That September morning changed me and what I had to do as a Senator, a New Yorker and an American. And it changed America in ways we are still discovering. We are all on new ground, and somehow we must make it common ground. My eight years in the White House tested my faith and political beliefs, my marriage and our nation’s Constitution. I became a lightning (লাইটনিং - বিদ্যুৎ) rod for political and ideological battles waged over America’s future and a magnet for feelings, good and bad, about women’s choices and roles. This book is the story of how I experienced those eight years as First Lady and as the wife of the President. Some may ask how I could write an accurate ( সঠিক/ নির্ভুল) account of events, people and places that are so recent and of which I am still a part. I have done my best to convey my observations, thoughts and feelings as I experienced them. This is not meant to be a comprehensive ( ব্যাপক) history, but a personal memoir that offers an inside look at an extraordinary time in my life and in the life of America.
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