`I.H.Sharif :
When Syed Altaf Hossain, my former colleague in the New Nation, asked me to give him a write-up for their 36th anniversary issue. I got delighted because Altaf’s offer gave me the opportunity to describe to the readers how my journalistic career began from the launching issue of the New Nation (then a weekly).
To bring out Barrister Mainul Hossain’s weekly New Nation, its Adviser Editor renowned journalist ABM Musa contacted Dhaka University’s department of journalism (now Department of Mass Communication and Journalism) in the middle of 1977 when we were preparing for our final examination. ABM Musa asked for some good English-knowing students to work for the weekly. Since the students of our batch including AAMS Arefin Siddique, presently the Vice Chancellor or Dhaka University, Enayetullah Khan, the Chief of United News of Bangladesh (UNB) were preparing for our final examination they did not want to work for the weekly at that time. As I agreed to work despite preparing for the final examination, I and the first boy of our preceding batch were recommended by the department.
Accordingly, the first boy of the preceding batch and I met ABM Musa who gave us an assignment to prepare a report on orphans living in orphanages run by foreign NGOs. He and I visited different orphanages run by the foreign NGOs and prepared reports separately. When I showed my report to him, he said “If we submit this report none of us will be given the job of a reporter.” Hearing this I did not lose heart, but kept the hand-written report with me.
On a scheduled date we met ABM Musa who was sitting with some other people in Tikatuli’s Ittefaq Bhaban. ABM Musa went though his hand-written report and tore it into pieces in the presence of all and said to him “Go.” After he left the room, ABM Musa murmured “Polapan class sixe uthe garur rachana lekha shikchhe ar ta bholenai (the boy learnt writing essay on cow in class six and has not forgotten it)”. Then ABM Musa asked me to show him my report. He went through the hand-written report and told me “If you want to be a journalist, you will have to be regular.”
Carrying my report on the front page the inaugural issue of the weekly New Nation came out on the 5th of July 1977 and thus my journalistic career began as an apprentice reporter.
I worked hard preparing for the MA final examination and writing reports for the New Nation. Within six months of joining the New Nation ABM Musa made me a permanent member of the national press club. As a habit of mine, I started paying my annual club subscription fees for Taka 120 at the rate of Taka ten per month.
Following my series reports on Biman Bangladesh Airlines published in the New Nation, Sarkar Kabiruddin, the then Public Relations Manager of Biman gave me a complimentary return ticket to visit London. At that time British High Commission in Dhaka used to give ‘entry certificate’ seal on the passport. Sarkar Kabiruddin advised me not to admit to the High Commission that I had any relative in London because if I would tell them they would ask me to bring sponsor letter from them. Accordingly, I did what Sarkar Kabiruddin advised.
With an entry certificate on my passport I sent a telegram to my maternal uncle Mirza Rezaul Hossain Tapan telling him that I would catch Biman’s London flight in the evening on June 11 and reach London on June 12, 1978 next. Reaching Heathrow airport in London in the morning on June 12, I went to the immigration counter. When the immigration officer asked ‘how long will you stay in London’, I replied “Two weeks.” He then inscribed a one month’s visa seal in my passport. Also, he inscribed the words ‘may not enter employment paid or unpaid’ under the visa seal.
After getting the visa I went towards the exit to find my uncle Tapan. Failing to find him in the crowd I tried to come back to collect my luggage that was giving round on the conveyor belt. But the guard doing duty there impeded and asked me to enter the airport from a different gate.
Entering the airport from a different gate I collected my luggage from the conveyor belt and coming out from the airport when I showed Tapan’s address ’32, Abardin Road, London’ to an English taxi driver he checked it with his map and asked me to sit in the taxi. In some forty minutes I reached Tapan’s house.
Seeing me Tapan said “Oh, you have arrived, I thought your flight will arrive at noon and I would go to receive you then.”
Tapan went to London in 1975 i.e. he went there three years earlier than my arrival in London. Finding me Tapan got happy and asked me to write for him as per his desire arguing why he wanted to stay in London for some time more. Accordingly, I wrote explaining things. When Tapan showed the write-up to his native English lawyer he (the lawyer) asked Tapan “Who has written it?” When Tapan replied that it was written by his journalist nephew based in Dhaka, the lawyer said “Your nephew’s English is better than that of mine.”
Staying in London I used to work for the BBC as an outside contributor (OC) translating English pieces into Bengali and lending voice reading the pieces. The pieces I used to read at 4 in the afternoon would be heard from Bangladesh at 10 in the evening. And the pieces I used to read out in the midnight used to be heard at dawn in Bangladesh.
Staying in London for about fourteen and a half months I returned to Dhaka on August 19, 1979 – instead of 14 days as I told the immigration officer at the time of my arrival in London’s Heathrow airport. Returning to Dhaka I joined The New Nation again.
To end the write-up, I would like to emphasise that the late ABM Musa has set the trend of recruiting journalists from students studying journalism academically. In future there will be many academically qualified journalists in Bangladesh indeed, but the name of The New Nation will remain as the trend-setter.
(The writer is Copy Editor of the Daily Observer and can be reached at [email protected])
When Syed Altaf Hossain, my former colleague in the New Nation, asked me to give him a write-up for their 36th anniversary issue. I got delighted because Altaf’s offer gave me the opportunity to describe to the readers how my journalistic career began from the launching issue of the New Nation (then a weekly).
To bring out Barrister Mainul Hossain’s weekly New Nation, its Adviser Editor renowned journalist ABM Musa contacted Dhaka University’s department of journalism (now Department of Mass Communication and Journalism) in the middle of 1977 when we were preparing for our final examination. ABM Musa asked for some good English-knowing students to work for the weekly. Since the students of our batch including AAMS Arefin Siddique, presently the Vice Chancellor or Dhaka University, Enayetullah Khan, the Chief of United News of Bangladesh (UNB) were preparing for our final examination they did not want to work for the weekly at that time. As I agreed to work despite preparing for the final examination, I and the first boy of our preceding batch were recommended by the department.
Accordingly, the first boy of the preceding batch and I met ABM Musa who gave us an assignment to prepare a report on orphans living in orphanages run by foreign NGOs. He and I visited different orphanages run by the foreign NGOs and prepared reports separately. When I showed my report to him, he said “If we submit this report none of us will be given the job of a reporter.” Hearing this I did not lose heart, but kept the hand-written report with me.
On a scheduled date we met ABM Musa who was sitting with some other people in Tikatuli’s Ittefaq Bhaban. ABM Musa went though his hand-written report and tore it into pieces in the presence of all and said to him “Go.” After he left the room, ABM Musa murmured “Polapan class sixe uthe garur rachana lekha shikchhe ar ta bholenai (the boy learnt writing essay on cow in class six and has not forgotten it)”. Then ABM Musa asked me to show him my report. He went through the hand-written report and told me “If you want to be a journalist, you will have to be regular.”
Carrying my report on the front page the inaugural issue of the weekly New Nation came out on the 5th of July 1977 and thus my journalistic career began as an apprentice reporter.
I worked hard preparing for the MA final examination and writing reports for the New Nation. Within six months of joining the New Nation ABM Musa made me a permanent member of the national press club. As a habit of mine, I started paying my annual club subscription fees for Taka 120 at the rate of Taka ten per month.
Following my series reports on Biman Bangladesh Airlines published in the New Nation, Sarkar Kabiruddin, the then Public Relations Manager of Biman gave me a complimentary return ticket to visit London. At that time British High Commission in Dhaka used to give ‘entry certificate’ seal on the passport. Sarkar Kabiruddin advised me not to admit to the High Commission that I had any relative in London because if I would tell them they would ask me to bring sponsor letter from them. Accordingly, I did what Sarkar Kabiruddin advised.
With an entry certificate on my passport I sent a telegram to my maternal uncle Mirza Rezaul Hossain Tapan telling him that I would catch Biman’s London flight in the evening on June 11 and reach London on June 12, 1978 next. Reaching Heathrow airport in London in the morning on June 12, I went to the immigration counter. When the immigration officer asked ‘how long will you stay in London’, I replied “Two weeks.” He then inscribed a one month’s visa seal in my passport. Also, he inscribed the words ‘may not enter employment paid or unpaid’ under the visa seal.
After getting the visa I went towards the exit to find my uncle Tapan. Failing to find him in the crowd I tried to come back to collect my luggage that was giving round on the conveyor belt. But the guard doing duty there impeded and asked me to enter the airport from a different gate.
Entering the airport from a different gate I collected my luggage from the conveyor belt and coming out from the airport when I showed Tapan’s address ’32, Abardin Road, London’ to an English taxi driver he checked it with his map and asked me to sit in the taxi. In some forty minutes I reached Tapan’s house.
Seeing me Tapan said “Oh, you have arrived, I thought your flight will arrive at noon and I would go to receive you then.”
Tapan went to London in 1975 i.e. he went there three years earlier than my arrival in London. Finding me Tapan got happy and asked me to write for him as per his desire arguing why he wanted to stay in London for some time more. Accordingly, I wrote explaining things. When Tapan showed the write-up to his native English lawyer he (the lawyer) asked Tapan “Who has written it?” When Tapan replied that it was written by his journalist nephew based in Dhaka, the lawyer said “Your nephew’s English is better than that of mine.”
Staying in London I used to work for the BBC as an outside contributor (OC) translating English pieces into Bengali and lending voice reading the pieces. The pieces I used to read at 4 in the afternoon would be heard from Bangladesh at 10 in the evening. And the pieces I used to read out in the midnight used to be heard at dawn in Bangladesh.
Staying in London for about fourteen and a half months I returned to Dhaka on August 19, 1979 – instead of 14 days as I told the immigration officer at the time of my arrival in London’s Heathrow airport. Returning to Dhaka I joined The New Nation again.
To end the write-up, I would like to emphasise that the late ABM Musa has set the trend of recruiting journalists from students studying journalism academically. In future there will be many academically qualified journalists in Bangladesh indeed, but the name of The New Nation will remain as the trend-setter.
(The writer is Copy Editor of the Daily Observer and can be reached at [email protected])
