British-born choreographer Akram Khan is celebrated internationally for the vitality he brings to cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary expression. His dance language is rooted in his classical Kathak and modern dance training, which continually evolves to communicate ideas that are intelligent, courageous and new. Khan performs his own solos and collaborative works with other artists, and presents ensemble works through Akram Khan Company.

cB: I was excited to find out that you are working on a piece scheduled for the 40^th anniversary of Bangladesh’s Independence. Growing up in the UK, how do you relate to Bangladesh’s Liberation Movement – what were some of the stories of the movement that you grew up listening to? How has your Bangladeshi identity evolved over the years and how have you woven this identity into your new piece, if at all?

AK: The ‘Bangladesh’s Liberation Movement’ happened during a period when I was still very young, so I was not aware of the struggle and the sense of patriotism that was deeply rooted in our house, in London. However, my mother did organize performances within the Bangladeshi community events, in which I performed regularly. Actually, I spent most of my childhood dancing short choreographies that portrayed the Harvest dance, the fisherman’s lives, I even danced pieces that reflected patriotic songs, that focused on memories of the language movement that had taken place on 21st February, 1952. 

At the time, I did not understand much about the reason, I just enjoyed being on stage, and moving to music. It is only until recently, that I have started to focus on the events and historical moments, that took place during the transition of the independence of Bangladesh, and thereafter. 

In terms of my identity, well, it is constantly shifting still today. However, I do not feel a deep sense of responsibility to help preserve Bangladeshi culture, or any other culture for that matter, because I wouldn’t know what defined a particular ‘culture’ anymore. I mean, most cultures have been contaminated in some way or another, and I am a ‘byproduct’ of that contaminated culture. So, I would not dare to preserve something that I was never directly part of, even if it is where my roots lie. Don’t get me wrong, my roots are an important part of my history, but my history is not what defines me, it is the present that defines my journey! My history only reminds me of what came before me, even if it is a large part of me. And only now, with the creation of the new piece called ‘DESH’, I am slowly learning about my parents’ culture. But I am only taking a few characters and events that are related to Bangladesh, because in all honesty, there is so much history in such a short time, and such incredible stories, that I will not be able to refer to all. 

And so for the time being, I am focusing, to a small degree, on the Nur Hossain story, and then on one particular fisherman’s story (well, it is a fictional story), and several other characters that are from Bangladesh but now live in the U.K. 

[image: Gnosis; photo credit: Laurent Ziegler]

cB: Your parents are very supportive of your work and it was your mother who enrolled you in dance classes as a child. We all know that the Bangladeshi community is not particularly fond of unconventional career choices. More often than not it is a constant uphill battle for the artist or, any creative person, to try to make our community understand and accept our work.  On the flipside, these are the struggles that make us grow as a person and as an artist. Have you experienced these frustrations and, if so, to what extent have they affected and shaped your perspective as an artist? Do you feel that in some ways they may have even made you a better dancer/choreographer?

AK: I would agree that, by the community not accepting my dance and music as a serious career choice, it pushed me to then fight for what I believed in. Sometimes, when somebody fights for something, there evolves an inner belief in what they are fighting for, that then propels them to be better than what they might have been without that conviction. So, it worked out to my advantage, but I am also at a point now that the only person I have to prove something to, is myself. 

But reflecting back, I must say that there are some people that are ‘dreamers’, and then there are others that are ‘believers’. And I feel that without the believers believing in the dreams of the dreamers, there would be no dream that would come into fruition. So here, I have to thank my parents for being absolute believers, not only in me but also in the arts, particularly my mother. She believed that art transcends and also erodes all borders – borders within religion, within cultures, within education, and more importantly, within oneself. 

However, if I did not have my parents’ blessings, I would not have made it this far. They were and are still crucial to my growth. 

cB: What advice would you give to a young Bangladeshi who wants to pursue an unconventional life?

AK: No comment! 

I suppose my ‘no comment’, is a comment towards the way I feel about the uncertainties of choosing the path towards the unconventional life.  I am not sure what advice I can give, simply because we are all so different, hence, we respond to different challenges differently. It all depends on what those challenges are, and how that person reacts to those challenges. The question is.. ‘How badly do you want it?’ For me, I did not simply want to dance; I ‘had’ to dance! Without it, I would disappear into a statistical number. 

If anything, dance became my identity.

[image: Sacred Monsters; photo credit: Tristram Kenton]

cB: You are known for exploring cross-cultural themes in your choreography – from being influenced by Japanese philosophy and aesthetics to working with the National Ballet of China. Have you considered incorporating Jatra or other traditional dance forms from Bangladesh? It is sad to see the demise of Jatra, which in its current form is so grossly corrupted. Any suggestions on how to start a Jatra performing troupe and take it on an international tour?

AK: I have no idea about how to take ‘Jatra’ further than where it is, since it is not something I embodied as a child, and unfortunately, I know so little about it. To be frank, I become interested in a particular art form, when I recognize something within it, that reflects some part of me, and so a relationship takes place between my body and the art form, and I then move forwards towards learning and researching it. However, I hope I have an opportunity in the future to find that relationship between Jatra and myself.

cB: I was reading about your collaboration with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui on ‘Zero Degrees’. In one of Sidi’s interviews, he mentioned that you both drew from your experiences of being raised in Muslim families. Meanwhile your piece ‘Vertical Road’ addresses faith and life after death. What is your audience’s reaction when you bring a spiritual theme to your choreography? In your opinion, how do Muslim artists in the West deal with spirituality and Allah in their work? Is there a major tension or, do they draw positive inspiration from their beliefs?

AK: Most often, we are received well by Muslim audiences, but I would have been able to elaborate in more detail if you asked me after June 2011, since ‘Vertical Road’ will be touring to places like Lebanon, Cairo, and Ramallah in April/May this year. 

I am very excited to learn about how they will respond, and to what they will respond to and why. I feel strongly about spirituality, and so in my humble opinion, what I admire about the notion of ‘spirituality’ is that it is a formless concept, that shifts its definition, depending on who is interpreting and experiencing it. So in ‘Vertical Road’, I wanted to stay true to that… hence, the narrative remains formless…  

Also, I was not so keen with this project to turn it into something too readable for the audience, because in the end, I feel you cannot ‘see’ spirituality, I would like to think that you can only ‘feel’ it. So the same goes with this piece! Its what the audience feel from the images and movements that they witness, rather than the dots that they try to connect to, in order to make it more comprehensible for them to read. Dance is predominantly about feeling something, from what they see, and not reading something from what they see! And so spirituality seemed like an obvious subject. 

[image: Vertical Road; photo credit: Richard Haughton]

cB: Are there any plans to bring the piece with the Bangla text to New York? I would love to see it and am also curious to know what text you are using.

AK: There are some plans that are being discussed that ‘DESH’ will be presented in New Jersey in 2012, which is so close to New York. But its still provisional, and depending on certain dates being available. However, I am extremely excited to embark on this project, even if I don’t know the end destination yet! I suppose the piece feels a little like returning to some place that I may dare to call ‘home’. But in saying that, what is home? 

I always say ‘home’ is a place where you find yourself, even if you find yourself in a foreign land, but then again, sometimes I feel ‘home’ is a place where you have to escape in order to find yourself. So go figure!  I don’t have a definite answer, except the fact that I don’t have a definite answer!

Thank you Akram for taking the time to talk to creativeBangladesh! 

For more information on the Akram Khan Company, please visit their website here.

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CREDITS:
1st photo of Akram Khan is by Laurent Ziegler. All other credits accompany individual images.

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creativeBangladesh is an online resource for Bangladeshi art, history or, culture.

It is Edited and Art Directed by Bangladeshi-New Yorker, LABIBA ALI.

creativeBangladesh is on FACEBOOK! Click here to join.

Happy Reading!

Labiba Ali
Editor

creativebangladesh71@gmail.com

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Sundaram Tagore is a New York-based art historian and gallerist. A descendant of the influential poet and Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, he promotes East-West dialogues through his contributions to numerous exhibitions as well as his eponymous galleries and their multicultural and multidisciplinary events. A candidate for a Doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford University, Tagore writes for numerous art publications. He was previously a director at Pace Wildenstein in New York. He has advised and worked with many international organizations including The Peggy Guggenheim Foundation, Venice, Italy; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the United Nations. In 1999, he was nominated by Avenue magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Asian Americans in the United States. He has served as a juror for the 2002 UNESCO Design 21 competition and the Asian American Arts Center in New York. Recently, he was profiled on CNN International’s Talk Asia.  – bio from Sundaram Tagore Gallery website

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cB: What was the inspiration behind starting your own gallery? Was it something that you have always wanted to do or was it a gradual realization? 

ST: I opened the gallery in 1999 with the idea of bringing together a global community of artists and galvanizing intercultural dialogue. Although I represent artists from a wide range of countries such as Korea, Israel, Holland, Mexico, India and the United States, they are all linked by a similar philosophical view. Each artist shares a deep concern to harness art for the betterment of society. Moreover, each of these artists creates work for humanist purposes. Theirs is a quest for aesthetic beauty and spirituality. This has been a guiding force that has allowed me to bring together artists from such disparate places and create a cohesive vision for the gallery. 

I believe that art and culture are of paramount importance to life. Art and culture have the power to bring people together, which is why I formed this gallery based on intercultural dialogue. 

cB: I read somewhere that your father would take the family on month-long adventure trips all over India. What was it like growing up in such a family environment? 

ST: Just about every single day was crazy during my childhood. Indian homes have this tradition of an open house. Starting from 8 to 9 o’clock people would gather at houses to drink until two in the morning. Each evening artists, writers, intellectuals, poets would flood into our home. In Bengali they called this “adda” or discussion. As a child, it was both exciting and confusing. While we were growing up the old world Indian aristocratic structure was collapsing and new wealth was being created. The old aristocracy lived for culture but that lifestyle was disappearing before my eyes. We led a very nomadic life continuously travelling not just to cosmopolitan centers but also to remote villages. My father was a true Bohemian. 

[above image: Sundaram Tagore at the opening reception of ‘New Creative Constructs’ at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Chelsea, NY]

cB: What do you think of the current art scene in both the Bengals? Any Bengali/Bangladeshi artist whose work you particularly admire? 

ST: There is a great deal of talent emerging both from Bengal and Bangladesh. In fact I am thinking about having a historical exhibition of Bangladeshi art but it takes some to identify the conceptual basis of the show as well as the most suitable curator who has the academic background to pull it together. It will be in the same line of exhibitions that we have done in the past.

cB: One of your visions for your art gallery is to facilitate spiritual, aesthetic dialogues. Do you see any change among the younger generation in that they are trying to lead more balanced lives and giving art more importance than their parents? (specifically among the desi youths..) 

ST: Yes I believe that this is true. Art is a necessity. Art is very much like a diet that sustains one’s spiritual and aesthetic well being. It is not to be slighted that we as human beings have always created art since the pre-historic era. Art has existed for 40,000 years. We have a basic need to express ourselves in visual terms. It fulfills the realm of the imagination. The purpose of art is to inspire the soul, to make us think, and help us look at the world in new ways. 

Today art has become an integral part of the economy and society has recognized the important role of aesthetics. Look at the Bilbao effect in Spain for instance. A single museum revived the economic standing of a city in front of a world audience. Prior to Bilbao’s museum, no one talked about that region of Spain. Today the cosmopolitan world visits Bilbao purely because of the museum. Art has allowed them to regenerate the economic side of the story. Particularly in contemporary democratic societies, people are realizing that art is a cohesive factor that can bring together people from many different levels.

[above image: Guests at the opening reception of ‘New Creative Constructs’ at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Chelsea, NY]

cB: You also have a gallery in Hong Kong. How has Asians responded to western art? Earlier art had predominantly traveled in one direction, from East to West – how has that changed in recent years as more Asians get access to western art? 

ST: Asian buyers are playing an increasing role in the international art market particularly as they travel and create relationships overseas. As Asians continue to invest in properties and businesses abroad they are opening up to buy Western art as well as growing their Asian collections. I believe this will continue to a point where people will soon collect art based solely on aesthetics rather than the nationality of the artist. Cosmopolitanism is truly extending into the art world. 

cB: What role can the younger generation play in cross-cultural exchanges especially in today’s fast-paced, hi-tech world? 

ST: The younger generation are facing a globalized world that is more flattened and highly digitalized both in the positive and negative sense. There is also an economic brunt which they have to shoulder from the recent economic crisis. Hence their activities and decisions will either enable them to build a sustainable society or destroy it. I believe that the socially conscious entrepreneurs in our society will play an increasingly leading role in determining the kind of world we create and the kind of society we build. Within that context, art will come to play a progressively important role both offering a critique and serving a celebratory function. 

[above image: ‘Fragile-Dragon’ by Kim Joon, part of ‘New Creative Constructs’ at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Chelsea, NY]

cB: And how can young members of the Bengali diaspora help to bring mainstream awareness to their cultural heritage? 

ST: First and foremost I suggest they create a standard of high aesthetic value, whether they are talking about poetry, literature or compositional art. It is important to present artistic ventures or events with serious intellectual and spiritual thought behind them in a highly cohesive manner. And I am not talking about money, I am talking about ideas. 

cB: Some future projects / plans for Sundaram Tagore Art Gallery that you are extremely excited about… 

ST: I am very excited about our film making ventures. The first film is about an Indian artist and the Indian diaspora. The second film will focus on the Louis Kahn parliamentary complex in Bangladesh. In fact I have already had meetings with government agencies who are highly supportive of the second project.

I am including a short synopsis of the first film below for your reference: 

Natvar Bhavsar The Poetics of Color

A Film by Sundaram Tagore

This documentary explores the life and work of the painter Natvar Bhavsar. Born in Gujarat in 1934, Bhavsar settled in New York City, the very nerve center of the art world, in the mid-1960s where he still lives and works. The central theme of the film is the multicultural nature of Bhavsar’s work and how that has influenced the trajectory of his career. Although it’s common today for artists to work cross culturally and find critical and commercial acceptance outside their own spheres of origin, Bhavsar was a pioneer who paved the way for subsequent generations of artists. This film is not only a history of one artist’s journey, but a celebration of the Asian diasporic community and its contribution to American contemporary art.

Thank you Sundaram for taking the time to join us for inConversation with creativeBangladesh! 

For more information on the Sundaram Tagore Gallery, please visit their website here.

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CREDITS:
photos: Labiba Ali for creativeBangladesh

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Penned by prolific reader and regular guest columnist NAFIS HASAN, Dissecting Contemporary Bangla Literature (DCBL) reviews and informs us on which recent Bangla books are worth our while….and which ones don’t quite make the mark.

DCBL appears on creativeBangladesh on alternate months. Nafis Hasan writes and delivers his verdicts from an eastern corner of Pennsylvania.

– Labiba / creativeBangladesh

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Given that the month of August holds a special significance in the history of newly independent Bangladesh – the death of the Father of the nation Sheikh Mujib, and also more recently, the death of the famous poet Shamsur Rahman, and co-incidentally I had just read two really awesome books on the liberation war, I thought it would be perfect to do my reviews this time on these two books. So without further ado, let me move on to the reviews.

“Taalash” by Shahin Akhter is very different than most other real life accounts of the liberation war. It is by no means for the weak-hearted and romantic minded for mainly 3 reasons:1. It does not talk about the glory of liberation 

2. It depicts the most cruel and harsh pictures of the war, especially from the perspective of women3. It is all REAL 

The book revolves around a journalist / social worker’s search for the truth about the post-war lives of the female survivors and victims of abuse by Pakistani soldiers. The story is mainly told by a certain Mariam aka “Mary”, a small-town girl who came to the capital for higher education along with her gullible, innocent brother, and by Mukti, the social worker in search of the forgotten lives of the “Birangonas” of 71.The story progresses from pre-war period to post-war era to a newly independent Bangladesh when Sheikh Mujib was still alive to even beyond that. Through riveting emotions and powerful, but simple words, the author erases the line between fiction and reality as she depicts the destitute state of the “Birangonas”, ones who were once hailed as his mother by the Bangabandhu.  

The pages of this book are filled with vehement accusations, despair, defeat, and finally coming to a mystical conclusion making the reader acquainted with the ugliest face of war. The fact that the glory of war does not faze these defeated women, some who even grew to love their incarcerators out of desperation, is evident because as Mary puts it, “maybe we were better off in captivity as some officer’s object of lust and false love rather than being the object of humiliation by the independent society of Bangladesh”.The same words are echoed by a certain interviewed freedom fighter who stated that he could not bear to even look at these captive women once they freed them – forgetting how they were chanting their mantras of saving all their mothers and sisters from captivity. The author lashes out at this continued injustice, even years after the war, when the certificate of a “Birangona” became a license for prostitution, either in the park or in someone’s bed under the pretense of a marriage. All this and more as these women fight tooth and nail for establishing their place in society and to get recognized for bearing the ugliest pain of this land, this country that the Pakistani army inflicted.

This book will bring out the ugliest of the 1971 war, especially not only the highly publicized notorious image of the Pakistani army and the Rajakars, but also those of the freedom fighters, bringing everybody down to the same level of human emotions – be it Pakistani soldier, Rajakar sycophant or a glorified Freedom fighter. 

About the author – SHAHIN AKHTER fights diligently for the rights of women through the organization Ain o Shalish Kendro (ASK) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has previously tried her hand in writing through her journalism and documentaries, but this is the first time she has tried to write a fiction based on real facts.

Caution – This book is not for the weak-hearted or the hapless romantics.

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Although Nirmolendu Gunn is mainly known for his poetry, especially the ones he wrote on his cellphone through texting and claimed them to be “Muthofoner Kabbo”, his skills as a prose writer are on the same par as his poetry skills. And this is very evident in his memoir of the 1971 war “Attokotha” where he blends in personal experience, poetry, ancedotes, publications and various other sources to depict the picture of the liberation war through the eyes of the one who fought with the pen rather than the sword.

The book is doubtlessly one of the best examples of how mellifluous and beautiful Bengali is, and the words juxtapose perfectly with each other without diminishing the effect of the other. In this book, he talks about his experience through the war, how he travelled for six months from Dhaka to his village in Netrokona during the war, his near-death experience and a poetic revelation even in the moment when he was expecting Death to come knock on his door, how his friend saved him from being incinerated in his workplace as he was about to go to work his shift on the night of 25th March.  

The book is filled with powerful emotions, not only because of the amazing vocabulary skills of Gunn, but also because of the experiences and the fact that they are all true and real. The fine mesh of poetry and prose presented in this book is bound to move any reader, and the little sprinkle of humor characteristic of Gunn makes this a bittersweet read with both tears of grief and joy.  

Nothing much can be said about Gunn himself, except his trademark beard and his quirky humor and absolutely astounding poetry that he writes. This book is definitely a must-read for all ages starting from 14. Just a note, this book was first published as a series in the monthly magazine called “2000” before compilation and publication as a book. 

That would be all for this month folks! Any comments or questions or concerns are most welcome!

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CREDITS:
illustration: Usa Seraj
art director / graphic design & layout: Labiba Ali for creativeBangladesh

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It is rare that we at creativeBangladesh get an opportunity to converse with the younger school-going generation. Today we are very excited to have BASHMA SHEEA represent the 2nd generation of Non-Resident Bangladeshis who not only have to assimilate to their adopted homes but also retain the heritage of their parents and the motherland. A tough act of double-duty if there ever was one. A big welcome to Bashma!

– Labiba / creativeBangladesh

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Tell us a little about yourself – where you grew up, what you like to do for fun, hobbies, etc.

I was born in Bangladesh and came to America when I was 7 years old. From the very beginning, I loved to draw, read, and play with Barbies just like any other kid does in her childhood. Believe it or not, I hated to sing. I hated to learn songs and found myself dreading each voice class and session. But after I came to America I started to find myself through music and learned that it’s not something to dread but to enjoy.

You attend the famous Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York. What made you decide to major in music?

What made me decide? Well, when I look at adults I know- mom, aunts, and uncles- they all complain about their jobs saying how boring and dull it is. I didn’t want to end up with a job like that; I wanted something that would leave me satisfied and happy at the end of the day. Music is something that moves me – that keeps me motivated to do more and that’s why I decided to make something out of my hobby.

Who is your role model and why?

My role model is my mom because she’s very straightforward, kind, and caring. She puts other people’s wants and needs before hers and will do anything to make them happy. She’s shown me to do things full heartedly and I love her very much.

Who from the music world is your inspiration?

Artists like Green Day, Kelly Clarkson, Linkin Park, and many many more. They are very talented and are not afraid to tell the truth, to express what they feel about something. They inspire me to step out of the box and think about what’s going on in the world.

If you could be a character from a book, which one would you be and why?

I’d be Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. She gets to be Harry’s close friend, which I really to be, and she gets to be a wizard. I mean, how cool can that get? Magic really intrigues me because it something that ultimately doesn’t exist and Hermione gets to experience and learn about it everyday. She also has a lot of brains, guts, and strength that I love about her. It shows that she’s not just some sidekick who does what the leader tells them to do. I’d love to be her on any given day.

What is your favorite place to visit when on vacation in Bangladesh?

My favorite place to visit in Bangladesh is Dhaka because that’s where all of my family is. We all get together- my cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents- and just eat, laugh, and remember old times. No matter where I go in Bangladesh, if my family is with me, then I always have a great time.

Which was more fun – middle school or high school? Why?

Middle school was definitely more fun. That was the period where I didn’t give a care about the regents or what college I want to go. I had recess and a trip to Wendy’s every other week. It was a time of carelessness and freedom, where I felt like I had all the time in the world. But now, I feel like I need more time because I have so many things to do. I wish I can go back to 5^th grade.

If you weren’t studying music, what would have been your second career choice?

Honestly, I really don’t know. It’s one of those hypothetical things. I might have gone with a major in math because it’s my next favorite subject after voice. I’m really good in math and I actually love doing it so it’s kind of like my 2^nd passion.

If you were asked to do a cover version of a popular song, which one would it be and how would it be different from the original?

I really don’t know which song it would be because there are so many popular songs that I love. But if you give me a pop song by Lady Gaga, I’ll turn it into an acoustic/rock song. I have my own way of interpreting songs and each interpretation is different. For example, No One by Alicia Keys which is an R&B song sounds like a soft rock song when I sing and play it on the guitar.

What piece of advice you would give to young Bangladeshis your age growing up outside Bangladesh?

Don’t forget your roots. It’s easy to become westernized or modern or whatever you want to call it, maybe “cool”- I don’t know. But do not forget your culture, your religion, and your traditions. It is a part of who you are and who you will be as a person. It doesn’t matter that you live in America, England, or even France. What matters is that you don’t leave behind the origin of your ancestors.

BASHMA SHEEA, besides going to school and majoring in voice/music, is also part of the three member band – ‘Tin Konna’. The band has already played at a few gigs in New York to very positive audience response. The name, ‘Tin Konna’, was conceived by Shahnaz Yousuf of Adhunika Foundation.

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CREDITS:
photos: Roshni Basu / Raad
graphic design & layout: Labiba Ali for creativeBangladesh

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New York

LUBNA MARIUM and her troupe
“In Search of Creative Unity Through Dance”
July 18, 2010
Presented by Adhunika Foundation
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
405 West 55th Street (at 9th Avenue), New York, NY 10019

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New York

BIPA – Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts
Open Air Concert / Live Dance and Musical Performances
July 16, July 23 and August 6, 2010
Athens Square Park
30th Avenue at 30th Street, Astoria, NY

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CREDITS:
photography & editing: Labiba Ali for creativeBangladesh
music: ‘Esho Shyamolo Shundoro (Raag Desh)’ by Srikant Acharya and Rajib Chakrabarty.

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DCBL will appear on creativeBangladesh on alternate months. Nafis Hasan writes and delivers his verdicts from an eastern corner of Pennsylvania.

– Labiba / creativeBangladesh

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RUPA by the famous contemporary author Humayun Ahmed is a recent publication that made its way to my hands few weeks ago. Now, I have pretty much read most of his new books that came out in the last couple of years, but I got really excited about this particular book because of the title. Rupa, in his previous books, has been the mysterious beauty who has had a love interest for his much-celebrated, anti-logical creation Himu and not much has been said about her throughout the whole series. But as I found out, this book is entirely different and only the title has any similarity to the character with the same name in the Himu series. Before I launch into my critical dissection of this book, let me unravel the plot a little bit. 

The book follows on how Rupa met and fell in love with Rashed, a Math professor from the US, who accidentally comes to Rupa’s house. There are side stories that involve Rupa’s father, an eccentric retired person whose goal in life is to verify and debunk myths that come up in newspapers with the help of his friend; Rupa’s mother, who has divorced her husband, re-married and has another child but cannot get over her ex-husband; and a young village girl with a tumor in her frontal lobe that gives her some sort of extra sensory perception. 

So that is basically the plot. After reading this, here is my verdict – this book is TRASH! I mean, after literally growing up reading Humayun Ahmed, this book does not even live up to the downplayed commercial literary standard. The plot is a stereotypical Humayun mix containing an eccentric father with childish traits, a very gullible but smart and established male protagonist, a hard-on-the-outside-but-soft-inside uber-beautiful, artist female protagonist and some side characters that include a super-talkative maid and a very helpful poor tea-stall owner.

These character designs have been used repetitively in the recent books that he has written. Even with all the unorthodox dialogues, character personalities and activities like when the tea-stall owner tries to alleviate Rashed’s headache through some herbal medicine and gets beaten and kicked out, the book fails to provide any sort of literary enjoyment. The over-used plot develops poorly and the ending is even worse when the author tries to tie all the strings together by throwing in the secret, ever-watchful, all-powerful NATURE who solves everything unknown to mankind. 

Overall, I would definitely not recommend this book to any avid readers out there if you are looking for some intellectual fun! But, if you are in a bus or in transit or you would just can’t fall asleep, then you can read this! 

You can find the book here but you will need to register!

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MANUSH HISHEBE AMAR OPORADH-SHOMUHO – it was by a mere coincidence that I read two consecutive books by authors with the same first names. But I have been reading Humayun Azad for a while now and it still impresses me to see his use of the language to develop the plot, the characters, their emotions and thoughts, and even the plain simple surroundings. It was almost a 180 degree turnaround for me when I picked up this book after reading Rupa by Humayun Ahmed. Obviously, as you can understand from my elated sentences, I loved it! Before the critical dissection, here is a plot preview:

The protagonist, Anis, is a government official and the book tells the story of his life. Anis is a very normal, but sensitive and emotional person whose life, as he believes, is continuously haunted by his guilty conscience. He feels guilty to be alive when his friend dies and he gets involved in a relationship with his dead friend’s wife, Dolly. Although he feels attracted to Dolly and wanted to stay away from her lest he does something despicable, he inevitably gets entangled in a strange relationship where he cannot think of Dolly as his wife but he still wants to make her happy.

Anis does not want to procreate because of his belief that he shouldn’t add to the guilt of this world by producing offsprings, and that estranges him from his wife. As he steadily rises up the ladder of success through promotions in his job, he has come repeatedly in intimate contact with other females and his guilty conscience only comes to nascent after his tryst with these women. His final quickie with a teenage girl leaves him guilty and questioning what he wants from life – and in the end, he is seen to be leaving the city and going back to the nature where he wants to take refuge in the unknown.

The story is simply AMAZING! The whole network of fine language, character traits, scene settings come together in a fine mesh of literary excellence with shades of existensialism etched deeply between the lines. The book repeatedly points out the hypocracy that exists within our society and the urgent need for a victim to be blamed for any sort of mishap. The author shows us how the society judges an individual who questions the very foundations of such a society by trying to exercise his freedom of choice.

The contradictions presented in Anis’ life is very representative of what an individual would face in a stalemate marriage, or in a mid-life crisis or even at a government job where corruption runs rampant and honest officials are coaxed to participate or facilitate such activities. The ending of the book shows Anis tired of civilization where all his attempts to atone for his sins fail and he thus runs away to the place where he has no idea about how things work – to the wilderness.

This book is a must-read for anyone who would like some stimulating wordplay and want to get a glimpse at the machinations of the human mind. I am sure a lot of us can relate to Anis’ guilt trips since they are so common in our everyday lives. Just be warned that intellectual exercise, not too rigorous though, is required for understanding.

Enjoy folks!

**

CREDITS:
illustration: Usa Seraj
art director / graphic design & layout: Labiba Ali for creativeBangladesh

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creativeBangladesh turns 1 this May and to celebrate cB is giving away this unique Folk Desktop Wallpaper (above) to its readers in appreciation for their continued support and encouragement.  

Thank you, readers!

To download to your PC, please click the links below:

Folk Desktop Wallpaper jpg

Folk Desktop Wallpaper with Bangla months-seasons calendar jpg

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The Folk Desktop Wallpaper was specially designed for cB’s first birthday by graphic designer ANITA RAHMAN. I fell in love with Anita’s aesthetic when we first worked together on a project for Drishtipat in 2004. When I asked Anita to provide a short bio of hers for this post, this is how she wittily responded….

Anita Rahman is formally trained as a designer. As a Bangladeshi, she happily contributes her skills to non profits, such as VAB, Drishtipat and Amnesty International. She is currently working on Wall Street with Jim Cramer’s company, TheStreet.com. Anita’s inspiration and muse is her mom. Her dream in life is to make a great horror movie.

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creativeBangladesh would also like to convey a very special  THANK  YOU to each of its Feature Contributors for 2009/2010!

(in order of appearance)

GMB AKASH

LEAR LEVIN

SHEHZAD NOORANI

SHABBIR FERDOUS

SUJAN E BIN WADUD

RAFIQ AZAM

MUBIR CHOWDHURY & AMTALI RESORT

ASHIK MASUD

SOHINI ALAM

MUNA SHAMS

ABBASUDDIN AHMED

SHAHRIAR RAHMAN

ABDUL ALIM

ANITA RAHMAN

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On April 14, 2010 we ushered in a new Bengali year – 1417. While we celebrated our Pohela Boishakh with many festivities all around the world last week, let’s take a step back today into the past to listen to the evergreen folk songs of the great ABDUL ALIM. As I listen to his throaty voice rendering songs like Padma-r khul nai, Holudia Pakhi, I feel nostaligic for the colors of Boishakh and the smell of belly phool. I wish all the creativeBangladesh readers a very beautiful Pohela Boishakh!

-Labiba / creativeBangladesh

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 ABDUL ALIM: the King of folk songs

A forgotten chapter

By Sadya Afreen Mallick

from Daily Star, July 25, 2004

‘Every artiste is identified by his/her tonal colour,’ said Abdullah Abu Sayeed, chairman of the trustee board of the Biswa Sahittya Kendra. ‘Only the radiant ‘golden glow’ can match that of Alim’s admirable vocal range and tonal quality,’ he added. ‘He displayed unparalleled talent in songs such as Premer mora jole dobe na, Holudia pakhi shonar boron, Amare shajay dio nowshar shajey, Porer jayga porer jomi, Mone boro asha chhilo jabo Modinay, Sharbonasha Padma nadirey, Babu selam bare bar, Shab shakhire par korite nebo ana ana, Ujan ganger naiya and many more,’ Sayeed said.

Track: MEGHNA-R KHULE 

The Folk Music Council (FMC) recently gathered to pay rich tributes to the folk maestro Abdul Alim at the Biswa Sahittya Kendra. Chief guest Sayeed, special guest Tax Inspector M Khurshid Alam, eminent artistes Nadira Begum, Abdul Latif and others spoke on the occasion.

The founder president of FMC, Indra Mohon Rajbangshi took great pride in organising the programme commemorating the birth anniversary of the legendary singer for the first time in Bangladesh. ‘Abdul Alim’s talent in Bhatiyali songs was a treat to the listeners. His melodious and gifted voice is yet to be surpassed by any other folk artiste. Alim played a vital role in popularising folk music and epitomised the very essence of folk culture,’ said Rajbanshi.

Track: SHARBONASHA PADMA NADIREY  

Nadira Begum, a prominent folk singer, reminisced on how Alim often spent time with her father Abdul Aziz, a noted lyricist. Alim had often visited her house and stayed over to collect songs. ‘In those days cassettes were not common. Gurumukhi bidda or learning from the Guru was the only way artistes developed themselves,’ she said.

‘Once, while returning from a programme,’ Nadira said, ‘our train was halted for several hours by the local people at Akhaura, keen to have a glimpse of the great singer Alim. And this was not an uncommon feature,’ she added. ‘Often the other accompanying artistes fled from the scene, fearing audience reaction once Alim declined to perform any more,’ Nadira added.

Track: KE-JAW BHATI DESHER 

Abdul Alim was born on July 27, 1931 at Talibpur village of Murshidabad, India. Soon after the Partition, he came to Dhaka and joined the Dhaka Station of Pakistan Radio as a staff artiste. His musical talents flourished from a very young age. He grew fond of music through listening to records of the Gramophone Company. At the age of 14 he recorded two songs for the company. It is said that Sher-e-Bangla A K Fazlul Haque, was so moved by his voice that he gifted him with a handsome honorarium.

Once he settled here, he started to take music lessons from Mumtaz Ali Khan and Mohammad Hossain Khasru. Later he got in touch with Poet Jasimuddin, Kanailal Shil, M Osman Khan, Abdul Latif, Shamsher Ali and others.

Track: SHUNO-GO RUPOSHI  

He recorded over 300 Gramophone records and sang playbacks in over 100 films. He recorded songs for Mukh O Mukhosh, the first film ever produced in the erstwhile East Pakistan. He won the National Award 1974 posthumously for playback in Shujan Shokhi directed by Khan Ataur Rahman. During his career, he performed at a number of music conferences. Alim was awarded five gold medals for his virtuoso performance and contribution to music.

I vividly remember our music classes at Chayyanaut. Eminent Nazrul singer Sohrab Hossain, a very close associate of Alim, often filled us with humorous anecdotes on their long friendship. ‘He was very afraid of heights, and dreaded the government delegations which were sent to far away countries by plane. Then there were times when the microphone had to be kept at a fair distance to avoid distortion while recording a song because of his powerful vocal range,’ Sohrab Hossain would reminisce.

Track: DOL DOL DOLUNI  

Stout and short in stature with deep penetrating eyes, Alim was a man of simple habits. Many of you who have seen Alim perform on stage or at the BTV will remember him in his simple dress of white pajama-panjabi. Popularity never drove him into illusory glamour.

With a life of great achievement, it is unfortunate that his work is gradually fading.  BTV has stopped airing the recorded programmes of Alim, which are now mostly damaged due to the sheer negligence of the authority.

It was however, praiseworthy and heartening to see Bibi Russell organising Alim’s popular songs to be presented by his children at the recently held Aarong Bangladesh Fashion display.

The Bangladesh Betar is the birthplace of so many talents. The authority should wake up and take immediate steps to preserve the golden voices of yesteryears. Let’s not pay tribute to the legends who left a powerful footprint in the realm of music in death only.

Let’s give folk music a boost!

–source, The Daily Star

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Track: PREMER MORA JOLE DUBENA   

Track: EI-JE DUNIYA  KISHER-O LAGIYA  

Track: KEHO-I KORE BECHA KENA      

Track: PORER  JAYGA PORER JOMI      

**

CREDITS:
image: photographs are from varous sources in the internet. 
graphic design & layout: Labiba Ali for creativeBangladesh.

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On the occasion of International Women’s Day (March 8), I decided to dig out some books and, then, proceeded to explore the Status of Bengali Women Over The Years. While doing research for this article, I have been educated myself, not only, on Bengali women’s history (or rather, I should say, herstory) but also on the trajectory of Bengali society in general. I hope that the readers of creativeBangladesh, upon reading this article, will also experience, at least, some of the enlightenment that I went through.

The sole purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the subject. For more detailed analysis and scholarly opinions, readers can look at the books I have cited as sources below. Some of these books are conveniently available on google books (you gotta love google for this!).  After the article, I have included a list of leading Bengali/Bangladeshi women who have contributed to our progress.

Also of importance to note is that this article is not meant to vilify men. There are very wonderful men out there (including among cB readers) who respect, cherish, and give importance to the women in their lives.

And to those equally very wonderful women out there – Congratulations on carrying on the torch for women, children, the underprivileged, and humanity for hundreds of years! (now, you can give yourself a pat on the back).

Best Wishes,  Labiba / creativeBangladesh 

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The Status of Bengali Women Over The Years

  by Labiba Ali for creativeBangladesh

Ancient Times :  Not much is known about the history of ancient Bengal and so it is also difficult to decipher the status of Bengali women in antiquity. However, the presence of Goddesses in indigenous and non-Aryan societies in Bengal show that women were revered for their ability to give birth and, hence, were worshipped as a symbol of fertility. This is not an exclusively Bengali phenomenon. Other ancient, egalitarian, and non-urban cultures also worshipped Goddesses before patriarchy fully entrenched itself in society with the advent of the agricultural revolution and urban centers.  Archaeology findings in Catal Huyuk in present-day Turkey ( 7500 BCE to 5700 BCE) and parts of the Middle East from the Neolithic period (9500 BCE) show the supremacy of a goddess figure, thereby, indicating women’s elevated and, maybe, even dominant position in society. In recent times we can see equal status for women among the egalitarian societies of the Pygmies of Central Africa. Meanwhile, women in many Native American tribes such as the Iroquois in the northeast were important and respected. Inheritance passed through the mother, women were politically active and when a woman wanted a divorce, she simply put her husband’s things outside the door (what a cost effective way to divorce – no lawyer’s fees or headaches!).

In ancient Bengal, Goddesses such as Chandi and Manasa (snake Goddess) held very important positions among the indigenous peoples.  Under Tantric traditions, which prevailed in ancient Bengal, women were accorded a high respect as they were supposed to be the embodiment of the female energy. Some tribal and native groups even credited women with the invention of agriculture. In present day Bankura district of West Bengal, a festival called Bhadu Puja still takes place to worship Goddess Bhadu during the early harvest season (Samaren Roy). The belief is that praying to Goddess Bhadu will bring a good harvest.

These early Goddesses were eventually integrated into the Aryan/Brahmanic pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, whereby they became a wife or a daughter of Shiva. Chandi evolved into Durga/Kali as Shiva’s wife whereas Manasa became his daughter. But what is important to note is that originally these Goddesses ruled supreme without being affiliated to a male counterpart. This shows that in our indigenous society, the male God did not play a significant part and this may indicate that the prevailing culture at that time might have been matrilineal or even matriarchal with women holding a more central position in society than men. The Garo community in Bangladesh continues to maintain a matrilineal tradition where the women inherit and own property. And, to this day, there is a major festival and a major national holiday, in both Bengals, that is dedicated to a Goddess –  Durga Puja. Does this not, then, signify women’s importance in indigenous, ancient Bengal and which has trickled down in some form to the present?

[above image: print of ‘Girl’ by Abdus Satter; watercolor]

Folk ballads or, rupkatha in Bangla are a good source to learn about the nuances of rural history. Richard Eaton commented on a folk ballad from Chittagong called ‘Nizam Dacoit’ which conferred special reverence on women. Eaton reflected, ‘… we see the tenacity of the Bengali emphasis on divine power as manifested in female agency’.  The Mymensingh Geetika, published in 1905, is a volume of folk ballads collected by Dinesh Chandra Sen, who was the Ramtanu Lahiri Professor at Calcutta University. These folk ballads provide us with a valuable insight into the position of Bengali women in rural societies of East Bengal, which was less Aryanized and Brahmanic than West Bengal, and, consequently, retained more of its indigenous culture. Dinesh Chandra Sen wrote:

‘The high cultural level reached by the people of Eastern Mymensingh is manifest in their folklore and ballads. Here the girls select their own bride-grooms and they do not marry before attaining puberty. If the choice of the girls ran counter to that of their guardians they did not yield to the decision of their elders, but followed the bent of their minds. In doing so they remained true to their vows and still behaved as modest women without showing that spirit of defiance and coquettish revolt which have characterized the heroines of some of our modern novels (Labiba’s comment: for an example of modern novels, think of Sarat Chandra’s stories where the image of the woman is one of a docile homemaker who devotes her entire life to caring for her husband and his family). On the other hand their spirit shows the holy flame of unflickering devotion with a graceful modesty and firmness of purpose which truly adorn the feminine nature.’

Recent scholarly research has disputed the original dates of these folk ballads and have now dated them to be of more recent times. Nevertheless, they still give us a glimpse of indigenous Bengali rural culture and women’s significant role in it.

[above image: print of ‘Santal Woman’ by Safiuddin Ahmed; wood engraving]

Pala Dynasty (750 CE – 1174 CE): From Emperor Ashoka’s reign (304 BCE – 232 BCE) to the Pala Kings, Buddhism was the main religion of Bengal.  The Pala Kings were Buddhists and during their reign much of Bengal was also Buddhist. Historical evidence from this period suggests that women enjoyed a relatively good status in society. They tended to be educated, did not live in seclusion and travelled freely. The Buddhist Bhikhunis (female monks) were experts in religious texts and customs and conducted religious ceremonies.

Tantric Buddhism also developed during the height of Buddhism in Bengal. It was a synergy between Tantric and Buddhist rituals. Therefore, the high respect accorded to women in Tantric traditions, in all likelihood, carried over to Tantric Buddhism giving the women of Bengal at that time a higher status than, as we shall see below, in later periods.

Sena Dynasty (1070 CE – 1230 CE):  The Sena Kings were warriors from Karnataka (South India) who served in the army of the Pala Kings. With the demise of the Pala Kings, the Sena Kings took over and established their dynasty. During the Senas’ rule, there was a revival of Brahmanism, specifically Kulinism, and, gradually, Buddhism lost its prominence. Under the Brahmanic influence, society became more stratified and caste conscious with the Brahmins residing at the top of the class hierarchy. As a result, while the ‘male elite’ occupied a superior class, women slowly began to lose their prior status and to live under stricter environments.

Later in the 16th century, there was a religious reform movement led by Chaitanya that, to some extent, undermined the established Brahmanic order. He revitalised Vaishnavism, which revered Vishnu rather than Shiva, and gave devotion (bhakti) a priority in religious practice over the scriptures. The rigid caste structure of Brahmanism was not allowed to make an entrance in Chaitanya’s Vaishnavism. Ghulam Murshid surmised that since Vaishnavism had close ties to folk culture, Vaishnava women also enjoyed more rights. Many Vaishanava women had knowledge of the sastras (religious scriptures) and helped to spread the new religion’s message.

[above image: print of ‘Prosadhan‘ by Samarjit Roy Chowdhury; pastel]

Delhi Sultanate / Mughal Empire (1204 CE – 1760 CE): The status of women did not improve under the Muslim Sultans or, the Mughal Empire. The seclusion of both Hindu and Muslim women were fully established and rooted, predominantly, in the urban areas and the upper classes. Most women were not educated during this period. In the case of Bengali Muslim women, at the most, they may have been taught basic Arabic to read the Quran but not to understand it.

It is very important to note here that in Bengal urban Muslims and rural Muslims differed significantly from each other. Most of the urban ‘ashraf’ Muslims were descendents of Arabs/Turks/Central Asians/North Indians who settled in Bengal  after the Turkish conquest. They followed a more orthodox form of Islam, which had its roots in the male-centric Islam largely developed during the Abbasid empire. Conversely, the rural Muslims were mostly converted to Islam by Sufi pirs. Under Sufism, women had a much higher status than in orthodox Islam. As Leila Ahmed noted in her book, ‘Sufi ideas permitted women to give a central place in their lives to their spiritual vocation, thus by implication affirming the paramouncy of the spiritual over the biological….in contrast, establishment Islam gave precedence to women’s obligations to be wives and mothers’. Of course, the Bengali rural culture was already more liberal and open, which made Sufism more attractive to rural Bengalis than orthodox Islam. Therefore during this period in Bengal, rural Muslim women were, in effect, more emancipated than upper class and urban Muslim women.

Eaton wrote in regard to Bengal, ‘The idea of Islam as a closed system with definite and rigid boundaries is itself largely a product of 19th and 20th century reform movements’. And sadly due to these ‘reform’ movements, we have lost much of the beauty of the original rural Bengali-Islamic culture, which was organic, spiritual, and porous. Even then, quite a bit of it still exists in our present rural culture. For example, Bauls have seamlessly incorporated teachings from three schools of thoughts: Tantric, Vaishnavism, and Sufism. Meanwhile, Murshidi folk songs, which are sung in our villages, have traces of Buddhist ideology.

[above image: print of ‘Tribal Girl’ by Abdus Satter; watercolor]

Bengal Renaissance – 1940s (late 1700s CE – 1940s):  Historically, poor rural women probably had a higher status and were more vocal than their upper class counterparts. This was because a poor rural woman, in most cases ,worked alongside her husband in the fields to provide for the family or tended to the vegetable garden which brought in additional income. During harvest, certain jobs were the domain of the woman, for example, chaffing the rice stalks. Her contribution to the family income, hence, gave her more voice which women from richer families did not have as they did not participate in the economic activities of their families. But with the Bengal Renaissance, the upper class women usurped her rural sisters. This period saw upper class women beginning to be educated, coming out of seclusion, and even going onto to having careers. Some notable Bengali women from this period were:

1. Bamashundori, Brokhomoyee Devi, Nistarini, Radharani Lahiri, Jyotirmoyee Gangopadhyay, & Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain were instrumental in spearheading Bengali women’s education. 

2. Chandramukhi Basu (was likely the first highly educated Bengali woman), Bidhimukhi Basu (MBBS doctor), Jamini Sen (medical doctor), Kadombini Ganguli (medical degree from UK), Fozilatunnessa (was likely the first Bengali Muslim women to pursue higher education, was also a professor at Bethune and Eden Colleges ). 

3. Gyandanandini Devi and Krishnobhabini Das helped to bring women out of seclusion and the purdah. Gyandanandini Devi allowed her daughter to choose her own husband, which was unheard of in those days. 

4. Nawab Faizunnessa Choudhurani contributed to women’s education by establishing schools, the most famous one being Faizunnessa Girls’ High School in Comilla. After her mother’s death in 1883, Faizunnesa inherited her property and became the zamindar of Pashchimgaon. For her social work, Queen Victoria awarded her the title ‘Nawab’. She was also the author of several books.

[above image: print of ‘Uki‘ by Quamrul Hassan; goauche]

Now let’s take a look at why the Bengal Renaissance brought about the subsequent women’s liberation movement in Bengal. The East India Company arrived in Bengal in the 17th century (1600s). In 1757, the English defeated Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah at the Battle of Plassey (aka Palashi). Although Nawab rule continued for a few years after the battle, it was not until 1765 that the East India Company took over the complete rule of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa from the Nawabs. By the latter decades of the 1700s the English had established Company rule, colonialism officially started, and Calcutta became a major hub for economic and intellectual activity. Consequently, towards the end of 1700s and beginning of 1800s, there arose a new Bengali middle class employed in Company administration and well-versed in English and western education.

It was in this environment that Raja Rammohan Roy started the Brahmo Sabha in 1828. The main thesis of the Brahmo Sabha was to reform Hindu society. Rammohan strongly believed that for these social reforms to be successful, women had to be emancipated because they reared and shaped the minds of their children. The Brahmo Sabha became the Brahmo Samaj in 1843 at the initiation of Debendranath Tagore (Rabindranath’s father) long after Rammohan’s death in 1833 in distant Bristol, UK (his grave is still there at Arnos Vale Cemetery, if anyone wishes to visit). According to David Kopf, who has done extensive research on the Brahmo Samaj, ‘…this community played a crucial role in the genesis and development of every major religious, social and political movement in India from 1820 to 1930‘. It is no wonder that Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a Marathi politician and a member of Congress, made that famous comment in the early 1900s: ‘What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow‘.

Earlier in 1817, the Hindu College, which later became the renowned Presidency College, was set up in Calcutta (also by Rammohan Roy) to provide Bengali men with a western style education. Many of these newly western educated young men of Hindu College were attracted to the ideas of social reforms promulgated by the Brahmo Samaj. With the influence of Brahma Samaj’s progressive philosophies combined with a western style education, these young men desired a wife who could be a supportive life companion and with whom they could have lively intellectual discussions. Prior to this, husbands and wives in Bengal did not have a relationship based on friendship; marriage fulfilled other purposes, namely procreation and safeguarding the inheritance line. 

[above image: print of ‘Fallen Tree’ by Abdus Satter; watercolor]

Around this time wives were encouraged by their western educated husbands to take up studies and become educated like them. This brings to mind a scene from Satyajit Ray’s rendition of Rabindranath’s ‘Ghore-Baire’ where Swatilekha Chatterjee is taking lessons from a female English tutor hired by her husband. In 1849, the Bethune School was established in Calcutta by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune to provide education to Bengali women. By the 1850s, more girls’ schools were set up in other districts outside Calcutta through the efforts of Vidyasagar. Bengali women took this opportunity and maximized it to their advantage, using education to carve out a new modern image of Bengali women. At this junction of the Bengali women’s movement, Bengali Hindu women played a very crucial role – their contribution helped to shatter the initial barriers. They had to overcome various obstacles, the biggest being the criticisms from mainstream society. Many families who sent their daughters to schools were shunned by society and some even lost their castes. 

It is interesting to observe that the near exact phenomenon occurred in Egypt during its British occupation of 1882-1922, where Egyptian men educated in western-type secular schools began to also educate their wives and daughters. The same maybe said about other nations under colonial rule and exposed to ‘western education’. 

For Bengali Muslim women, the journey to education and, subsequent, emancipation was longer. This was because Bengali Muslim men embraced western style education much later than their Hindu brothers. And as a result, Bengali Muslim women had to wait until their husbands were themselves educated to realize the gift of education. Bangladeshi women’s activist, Farida Akhter, pointed out a noteworthy observation of Bengali Muslim women (which I couldn’t resist not sharing). She remarked that while Bengali Muslim women have held onto wearing the sari, Bengali Muslim men (at least in the urban areas) have forsaken the lungi in favor of the ‘punjabi-pajama’ and ‘pant-suit’. With this she gave an example of how Bengali Muslim women did not readily give up her heritage as did their men. And with this she also showed that Bengali Muslim women were indeed fighting for their rights even from behind seclusion. I, for one, find the lungi-clad village farmer with his natural biceps to be quite sexy!

With perseverance and with trailblazer women such as Begum Rokeya, Sarala Devi and Sufia Kamal, the women’s movement in Bengal gained more momentum in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. It took several more decades and well into the 1900s to see women actively participating in most aspects of Bengali/Bangladeshi society. It was not an easy ride for those pioneer Bengali women. And there are yet many more miles to go before we can rest, not only for Bengali/Bangladeshi women but for the entire women race. Hopefully, someday soon, we will regain our lost ancient status as strong, independent women, who are respected and revered by all of society.

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100 years of Bengali/Bangladeshi Women

The ten names that appear below are taken from the book, Shoto Bochorer Bangladesher Nari (100 years of Bangladesh’s Women), which was published by Narigrantha Prabartana in 2003. The order of names was not determined by me but by the book’s editors, most probably by date of birth. There are a total of 79 women featured in this book. It was not possible to type in all of their names (I only have two pairs of hands and limited time!). Therefore, I hope the readers will be satisfied with the ten names below. This obviously does not encompass the countless unnamed women who have led and continue to lead the Bengali/Bangladeshi women’s movement.

1. Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) birthplace: Rangpur – she needs no introduction. What she has done for Bengali women, especially for Bengali Muslim women, is immeasurable. If it wasn’t for her, I might not be sitting here in NY, with a college degree and a career, writing this article. My immense gratitude to this wonderful celebration of womanhood  – Begum Rokeya.

2. Nurunnessa Khatun Bidyabinodhini (1892-1975) birthplace: Murshidabad – first Bengali Muslim female published novelist. She was widely published in the literary magazines of those times including Shawgat and Kohinoor. In a short time she published six novels, which was rare for any women or, men during that period. Nikhil Bongo Shahitya (literary organization) conferred the title ‘Bidyabinodhini‘ (knowledgeable one) upon her.

3. Sara Taifur (1893-1971) birthplace: Barisal – was a writer and social worker. Her writings were published in Shawgat as well as in other publications. She also wrote a biography of Prophet Mohammad. Through her social work, she was a member of Nikhil Bharat Mohila Samiti-Dhaka, All India Women’s Council and Bengal Presidency Women’s Council. She was also Dhaka Radio’s first Muslim female broadcaster. In 1939, Sara Taifur caused quite a stir when she led a congregation of women to the mosque for Eid prayers.

4. Ashalata Sen (1894-1986) birthplace: Noakhali – was a poet, a social worker, and politically active. She played a significant role in India’s Independence Movement. At the age of ten, a nationalistic poem written by her was published in Ontopur, a monthly magazine. At a young age she would help her grandmother to get signatures for petitions for the Swadeshi Movement. For her social work, she established ‘Mohila Samiti’, where women would sell deshi made koddor as part of the Swadeshi Movement. During her life she set up many such organizations such as Kalyan Kutir Ashram, Jurain Shikkah Mondir, Bikrampur Rashtrio Mohila Shongyo.

5. Akikunnessa Ahmed (1896-1982) birthplace: Mymensingh – she was the writer of two books on modern marriage: ‘Adhunik Stri’ (modern wife) and ‘Adhunik Shami’ (modern husband). Her first book, ‘Adhunik Stri’ became very popular and was hotly debated. In response to these debates, she wrote ‘Adhunik Shami’ to show that men must put in as much effort as women do to make a marriage work. Her books were instrumental in shaping a new image for the modern Bengali marriage.

6. Monorama Mashima (1897-1986) birthplace: Barisal – although she was not educated and grew up in a poor family, Mashima was very active in social work, politics, and the Swadeshi Movement.  In Barisal, she set up a branch of Sorojonlini Mohila Samiti where underprivileged women were given training in handicrafts so that they could earn an income. She also started the Matrimondir Ashram for destitute women. Until her last days, she continued to live in Bangladesh and carried on her social work, even though, her children had already moved to India. Such was her love for her motherland.

7. Meherbanu Khanom (1885-1925) birthplace: Dhaka – a famous female painter of her time. One of her paintings inspired Kazi Nazrul Islam to write the poem, ‘Keyaparer Toruni’.

8. Nawabzadi Poribanu Khanom (1884-1958) – birthplace: Dhaka – although she was brought up in purdah, she educated herself and learnt as many 7-8 languages. To help out her father, she used to actively manage their zamindari estates. At 21 she was widowed but managed to raise her children single-handedly and made sure that they were brought up in a liberal, progressive environment. Her daughter was one of the first Muslim woman to be awarded a BA in Sanskrit from Calcutta University in 1927.

9. Leela Nag (1900-1962) birthplace: Sylhet – first female student of Dhaka University. Previously, DU did not enroll female students, but it was due to Leela Nag’s insistence that the authorities started to admit female students. Prior to her MA from DU, she got her BA from Bethune College. She was also politically active, especially, during the Quit India Movement. Through her efforts, Dipali Shongho, a women’s organization, was established in Dhaka. In 1931, she started publishing a women’s magazine called Jayashree, which was administered by an all-female management.

10. Jobeda Khatun Chowdhury (1901-1986) birthplace: Assam – she spent most of her life in politics and social work. Jobeda Khatun was politically active during India’s Independence Movement. She helped to set up ‘Shrihot Mohila Shongyo’ during Gandhi’s Salt March. Later she helped to start 28 more branches of this organization throughout Sylhet. During WWII, a women’s organization called ‘Mohila Attorokka Samiti’ was established in which Jobeda Khatun played a huge part. This organization taught women how to develop self-confidence and think independently. After partition, she participated in the Bangla Language Movement – she and a few other women signed a petition, which stated that Bangla should be declared as the state language, and sent it to the government.  It was mainly through her efforts that Sylhet Mohila College (women’s college) was able to re-establish itself after partition.

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Credits: the first print used as cover is titled ‘Four Women’ by Abdus Satter; mixed media.

Sources:

1. Shoto Bochorer Bangladesher Nari (100 years of Bangladesh’s Women), published by Narigrantha Prabartana, 2003.

2. Hajar Bochorer Bangali Sanskriti (1000 years of Bengali Culture) by Ghulam Murshid, Abosar Publishers, 2006.

3. The Ballads of Bengal by Dinesh Chandra Sen, Mittal Publications, 1923.

4. The Bengalees: glimpses of history and culture by Samaren Roy, Allied Publishers Ltd, 1999.

5. The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier (1204-1760) by Richard Eaton, University of California Press, 1993.

6. Women and Gender in Islam by Leila Ahmed, Yale University Press, 1992.

7. The Brahmo Samaj and shaping of the modern Indian mind by David Kopf, Princeton University Press, 1979.

8. A People’s History of the United States (1492-Present) by Howard Zinn, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2001.

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