Professor Dr Anwarul Karim :
ecently Abdul Muqit Chowdhury, a noted poet and journalist, came to see me at my residence in Banani, Dhaka. During his stay, our discussion centered round various topics including Kazi Nazrul Islam and Lalon Shah. We also talked about our recent publications. My recent published book ‘Water and Culture’ caught the attention of the world scholars. The reviews of this book have been published in The New Nation, Daily Star and some other journals with appreciation. Abdul Muqit Chowdhury’s recent publication is ‘Poems and rhymes of family,’ a collection of poems which is written all about the family members beginning with ‘Mother’ on the one hand and the ‘Father’ on the other and those who are primarily connected with them. It is a unique venture and I appreciated him for introducing such kind of family related poetry.
Never before him, poets involved persons belonged to paternal and maternal side and paid tributes to their glorious stand in the family. These poems are full of deep attachment and conveyed love, regards and affection in their respective areas of relations. Although I know him for several years through his books, I actually did never see him personally. Once in 1998, before the Birth Centenary of the National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam-1999, I made comments on his compilation Protyasha, a work on Kazi Nazrul Islam on this occasion while I worked at Islamic University, Kushtia after I retired from BCS, Education as Principal of Kushtia Government College. It was in 2017 I renewed my friendship and some of my articles have been published in the Supplements and Literature pages in the Weekend of The New Nation through his initiative.
We met twice in Dhaka when I came here to work for Northern University Bangladesh from Khulna. In fact, when he came to see me, I introduced my mother to him. My mother is around 95 and is still quite strong mentally. She still reads books. Occasionally when she used to travel with my grandchildren on the streets of Dhaka they were bemused with surprise when she pronounced the way-side English words in banners quite correctly as were used therein. She occasionally reads headlines of English newspapers – The New Nation and Daily Star. All these surprised my grandchildren who had been studying in English medium schools, Dhaka. My mother came to Dhaka with me after years of stay in mufassil areas like Kushtia. They asked my mother, “Do you know how to read English.” My mother laughed and said, “Yes I did, and I taught your Dadabhai when he was a kid like you.” It was awesome for my grandchildren as they took my mother unlearned in English. She regularly reads Bangla newspaper and also reads my published works on various topics. Abdul Muqit Chowdhury too was surprised as he talked to my mother and found her quite strong mentally. She reads the Quran and the Hadith. Once she edited a collection of Hadith in Bangla. The compilation was published.
In fact, my mother made me. From the date I was born and presently the age I hold, I am very much at the disposal of my mother who taught me how to be a good man. She also taught me how to enjoy reading the holy Quran and the Hadith of the Prophet (Sm) and how best could I be able to be most non-communal in my works and deed. She taught me reading books for pleasure. She used to tell stories or sing for me when I went to bed. I learnt the whole of Thankur Maar Jhuli, a kind of folktales from my mother as she told and retold before I slept at night. Gopal Bhanr was very favourite to me. My mother used to read out to me during noon time sleep. I heard folktales from her which was similar to King Lear of Shakespeare when I was a child and it was my mother who did it for me. And now I understand the implication of these stories. In those days of my childhood, I learnt moral stories from my mother as she narrated them from fables and religious books. I remember when I was very young; my mother taught me stories from Borno Porichoy written by Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. There was a story centering round a young boy named Gopal. Gopal used to go to school. His mother used to pay him one silver coin for food. One day Gopal paid the coin to a poor hungry man. He could not eat anything on that day. On his return home, his mother asked him, “Gopal, what did you do with the money” Gopal was little fearful. He did not know to tell a lie. He said to his mother, “Maa, I was not at all hungry today and I gave the money to a poor man who looked very hungry.” Gopal’s mother did not scold him at all, rather she took Gopal to her lap and said, “Tomorrow, I shall give you two coins, one for your food and the other for donating to the poor and hungry.” I still remember this lesson of my mother.
My mother was all through very caring and affectionate to me, but she was also very hard at times when I was careless in my study or used to whirl past my time this way or that. In my young age I was naughty and particularly at noon times in summer when I was asked to stay back home to avoid heat in day time. The period was around 1943-46.My father was then an Agricultural Officer at Jhenidah subdivision in Jessore district. At day time during holidays, I used to move with friends flying kites or moving here and there braving hot summer. Sometimes I used to fall sick as I enjoyed bathing in the sun or in rains. I remember, a number of times I suffered from diseases like pneumonia or typhoid. My mother then invented stories to prevent me going out. The story refers to animal fable : Contd on page 9
ecently Abdul Muqit Chowdhury, a noted poet and journalist, came to see me at my residence in Banani, Dhaka. During his stay, our discussion centered round various topics including Kazi Nazrul Islam and Lalon Shah. We also talked about our recent publications. My recent published book ‘Water and Culture’ caught the attention of the world scholars. The reviews of this book have been published in The New Nation, Daily Star and some other journals with appreciation. Abdul Muqit Chowdhury’s recent publication is ‘Poems and rhymes of family,’ a collection of poems which is written all about the family members beginning with ‘Mother’ on the one hand and the ‘Father’ on the other and those who are primarily connected with them. It is a unique venture and I appreciated him for introducing such kind of family related poetry.
Never before him, poets involved persons belonged to paternal and maternal side and paid tributes to their glorious stand in the family. These poems are full of deep attachment and conveyed love, regards and affection in their respective areas of relations. Although I know him for several years through his books, I actually did never see him personally. Once in 1998, before the Birth Centenary of the National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam-1999, I made comments on his compilation Protyasha, a work on Kazi Nazrul Islam on this occasion while I worked at Islamic University, Kushtia after I retired from BCS, Education as Principal of Kushtia Government College. It was in 2017 I renewed my friendship and some of my articles have been published in the Supplements and Literature pages in the Weekend of The New Nation through his initiative.
We met twice in Dhaka when I came here to work for Northern University Bangladesh from Khulna. In fact, when he came to see me, I introduced my mother to him. My mother is around 95 and is still quite strong mentally. She still reads books. Occasionally when she used to travel with my grandchildren on the streets of Dhaka they were bemused with surprise when she pronounced the way-side English words in banners quite correctly as were used therein. She occasionally reads headlines of English newspapers – The New Nation and Daily Star. All these surprised my grandchildren who had been studying in English medium schools, Dhaka. My mother came to Dhaka with me after years of stay in mufassil areas like Kushtia. They asked my mother, “Do you know how to read English.” My mother laughed and said, “Yes I did, and I taught your Dadabhai when he was a kid like you.” It was awesome for my grandchildren as they took my mother unlearned in English. She regularly reads Bangla newspaper and also reads my published works on various topics. Abdul Muqit Chowdhury too was surprised as he talked to my mother and found her quite strong mentally. She reads the Quran and the Hadith. Once she edited a collection of Hadith in Bangla. The compilation was published.
In fact, my mother made me. From the date I was born and presently the age I hold, I am very much at the disposal of my mother who taught me how to be a good man. She also taught me how to enjoy reading the holy Quran and the Hadith of the Prophet (Sm) and how best could I be able to be most non-communal in my works and deed. She taught me reading books for pleasure. She used to tell stories or sing for me when I went to bed. I learnt the whole of Thankur Maar Jhuli, a kind of folktales from my mother as she told and retold before I slept at night. Gopal Bhanr was very favourite to me. My mother used to read out to me during noon time sleep. I heard folktales from her which was similar to King Lear of Shakespeare when I was a child and it was my mother who did it for me. And now I understand the implication of these stories. In those days of my childhood, I learnt moral stories from my mother as she narrated them from fables and religious books. I remember when I was very young; my mother taught me stories from Borno Porichoy written by Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. There was a story centering round a young boy named Gopal. Gopal used to go to school. His mother used to pay him one silver coin for food. One day Gopal paid the coin to a poor hungry man. He could not eat anything on that day. On his return home, his mother asked him, “Gopal, what did you do with the money” Gopal was little fearful. He did not know to tell a lie. He said to his mother, “Maa, I was not at all hungry today and I gave the money to a poor man who looked very hungry.” Gopal’s mother did not scold him at all, rather she took Gopal to her lap and said, “Tomorrow, I shall give you two coins, one for your food and the other for donating to the poor and hungry.” I still remember this lesson of my mother.
My mother was all through very caring and affectionate to me, but she was also very hard at times when I was careless in my study or used to whirl past my time this way or that. In my young age I was naughty and particularly at noon times in summer when I was asked to stay back home to avoid heat in day time. The period was around 1943-46.My father was then an Agricultural Officer at Jhenidah subdivision in Jessore district. At day time during holidays, I used to move with friends flying kites or moving here and there braving hot summer. Sometimes I used to fall sick as I enjoyed bathing in the sun or in rains. I remember, a number of times I suffered from diseases like pneumonia or typhoid. My mother then invented stories to prevent me going out. The story refers to animal fable : Contd on page 9
