Shiksha Ratan Award to Prof TB Chakraboty

Lt. Governor of Union Territory Pondichery Mr. Iqbal Singh bestowed upon Prof. (Dr.) T. B. Chakraborty former Chairman of Modern Indian Languages & Sr. Professor of Bangla Language and a well recognized teacher of Aligarh Muslim University ‘Shiksha Ratan Purashkar’ of India International Friendship Society, in a glittering function held in New Delhi.

Prof. (Dr.) T. B. Chakraborty is the senior teacher of Bangla in the department of Modern Indian Language of Aligarh Muslim University. He has authored 22 books and translated 23 books of Bangla. He has written first  book on Sir Syed biography in bangla. He is also editor of Aligarh Research Journal. His range of research is Indian folklore, their tradition and mass reorganization.

Full report here Northern Voices

Abdul Mannan Syed: His literary mystique

Abdul Mannan Syed's sudden and premature demise on September 5, 2010, at 67 appears to have occurred with the wattage and force that had stunningly accompanied his emergence on the Bangladesh literary scene about forty-six years ago.He was below-twenty at that time -- an age when average Bengalee writers just pussy-foot around the mainstream literature. But Mannan Syed was free of all kinds of awkwardness during his literary debut.

Self-confidence distinguished the poet from the very beginning.

The 'early bloomer' with his first creative piece, an experimental short story, set his foot on Dhaka literature with a flash, the dazzle that also lit his final exit.

Syed strode across the length and breadth of our literature with aplomb, mastering a unique style that eludes many. He had achieved all this for his being gifted with an enviable creative genius.A born writer as he was, he kept immersing himself in the fathomless joy of literature, producing a massive corpus that included poetry, short stories, essays (Probondho),fictions, verse plays, assorted prose and myriad of other creative works. Until his death, he has published over 160 books. He also loved to call himself a literary activist as he edited a few little magazines.

Full report here Daily Star 

Tribute to poet Abdul Mannan Syed

Veteran poet, essayist and literary critic Abdul Mannan Syed passed away on September 5 at his residence on Green Road, Dhaka. He was 67. He died of heart ailments.

Syed started writing poems in 1960. His first book of poetry was published in 1967. Throughout a career spanning over five decades, he had written numerous poems and published over 60 books.

His poems are conceptual and some deal with death, romance and at times the absurd. As an experimental poet, he frequently changed his style and content. He often used the imageries of the moon, sun, sky, clouds and water in his poetry.

He was recognised for his noteworthy research works on Jibanananda Das and Kazi Nazrul Islam. Syed had also done researches on Rabin-dranath Tagore, Manik Bandopadhyay, Syed Waliullah, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Ishwar Gupta and other iconic litterateurs.

Full report here Daily Star

Writing becomes my only passion

Anwara Syed Haq is a prominent writer in the realm of Bangla literature. She began writing short stories in her teens. This year she won the Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar for her outstanding contributions in the literary world. She was born in 1940 in Jessore, where she spent her adolescent years. She obtained her MBBS degree in 1965 and in 1973 went to the United Kingdom for higher education. She returned home in 1982. She has since then worked at a number of institutions, among which are Bangladesh Biman, Dhaka Medical College and BIRDEM. Even though she works professionally as a psychiatrist, her presence in the literary arena has always been very pronounced. So far she has written more than fifty books. She has been awarded the Annanya Shahitya Puroshkar, Agrani Bank Puroshkar, Michael Madhushudhon Puroshkar and Shishu Academy Puroshkar, besides a host of others.

Recently the writers' group Gantha, initiated by Prof Niaz Zaman, accorded a reception to the eminent writer. On the occasion, Jackie Kabir talked to her about her writing career.

Jackie Kabir: We know you have two very prominent identities - one a writer, the other a psychiatrist. Is there any conflict between the two?
Anwara Syed Haq: There is of course a delineation. They are totally two different terrains. But I deal with it very consciously. When I do my work as a person of science I am totally devoted to science; while I write I totally devote myself to my writing. A person has many different roles in life. We all perform these different roles by transforming ourselves at every necessary interval. We are in fact compartmentalized and we act according to those compartments and portray ourselves as such while dealing with different situations. I play the role of a writer, a mother, a wife and a physician. There are different domains for all of the roles. The patients I deal with are mentally unwell and the people living around me are mentally sound. But I always find a connection, a channel between the two. A mentally sound person may become unwell in no time and vice versa. So there is no conflict as far as I am concerned.

Full interview here Daily Star

Nazrul's death anniversary being marked

The death anniversary of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam is being observed throughout the country, in line with the Bengali calendar.

The revolutionary poet and renowned Bengali lyricist died on Vadra 12, 1383 (August 29, 1976) at the age of 77.

Various socio-cultural and political organisations have undertaken day-long programmes to mark the occasion on Friday.

Bangla Academy, Shilpakala Academy and Nazrul Institute have chalked out separate programmes. Bangladesh Television and Radio and private TV channels will broadcast programmes portraying the rebel poet's life and works.

The day started off with Nazrul's family paying floral tribute at his grave around 5am.

Full report here BDNews24

Bangla bizarre

Sukumar Ray’s fantasy world and deft use of language remain popular with today’s children.

If there is one thing that distinguishes the world of Bangla writing from the literature of the rest of the Subcontinent’s languages, it is the abundance of works written for children in modern times. There is not one reputed writer or poet of this language who has not written significantly for children. Soon after the arrival of modern printing technology in India, in the 19th century, magazines for children began to appear in Bangla. Today, Kolkata’s Pujobarshikis, the annuals published during Dassehra (as also perhaps for Id in Dhaka) for children, carry quality works by writers that are read and cherished by lakhs of Bengali children.

Today, there are several notable children’s magazines that have been running successfully for many decades. Sandesh, for instance, has acquired something of a heritage status, first published by the writer and composer Upendrakishore Raychowdhury in 1913. After his death in 1915, his eldest son, Sukumar Ray, took over as the editor of the magazine. Of Upendrakishore’s many works for children, Goopie gayeen bagha bayeen (Singer Goopie, Drummer Bagha) was made into a film by Sukumar’s son, Satyajit. This was the first of several films for children that Satyajit Ray made. Though lesser-known outside Bengal than his son Satyajit, it was Sukumar who transformed children’s writing in Bangla by creating a world of witty nonsense prose and fiction.

In a world of uneasy choices

Born in Dhaka, Mahmud Rahman came of age during the creation of Bangladesh...

During the 1971 war, he was a refugee in Calcutta. In his adult life, he has lived in several US cities. His fiction and non-fiction have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, Britain, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. He also translates Bangla fiction. In this interview, he speaks about his new collection of short stories, Killing The Water (Penguin). Excerpts from an interview:

When did you begin writing?

I wrote all along, ever since my schooldays. But I took up narrative prose only in the mid 90s. 

How did major upheavals in your life affect you as a writer?
In the earlier years, there was great upheaval around and inside me. In my 20s, after the war and subsequent disappointment with the way things turned out in independent Bangladesh, I was an angry young man. I revisited some of those times while writing my stories through both the filter of time and what I’d like to believe is a greater thoughtfulness. I strive to reflect complexity. Fiction can’t provide answers, but it can convey a sense of people living in worlds of uneasy choices.

Where do you find inspiration?
First, in fragments from memory. The title story ‘Killing the Water’ plays with myth-making from events in my childhood. Second, I enjoy drawing out people to share stories. ‘City Shoes in the Village’ came from an anecdote my father told me. While living in Calcutta in the 30s, he had built a motorboat and navigated it to his home in Chandpur. I tried to imagine what might have happened when someone like him without close links with either his village home or his relatives returned home — in order to get a sense of his alienation. This story also drew in emotions and reactions I myself felt when I first returned home to Dhaka after 10 years in the US. Third, I tend to take mental snapshots and retain striking images. The story ‘Yuralda’ emerged from an image of a woman I saw once on a dance floor, swaying by herself, dismissing all who approached her.

What have been your best and worst experiences as a writer?
It’s wonderful when a reader “gets” the story you meant to tell; when reading the story surprises and awes. I also feel delighted when a story comes together. Worst experiences? A work that refused to come together, one that defeated me.

Full interview here Deccan Herald

Are we an English-obsessed Nation?

The two largest English speaking countries in the world are India (350 million) and the United States (300 million).  In the next decade more than half of the English speaking population on Earth will be Indians. We will determine how the language will be spoken. Feels good, but I have a question – will Mamata Banerjee’s spoken words qualify as English too?  She could be speaking in Hindi, Bangla or English – to me it comes across as a strange, uniform version of Esperanto.

A recent survey has officially established the Queen’s language as India’s lingua franca. That comes as no surprise. We as a nation still suffer from a massive colonial hangover. In school we are essentially taught British. Mushrooming BPO s promote the Yankee version. Our children end up speaking a bastardized version. Texting has made it worse.  Address is now addy, afternoon afty, vacation vacays...kids are playing around with the language, which may not be such a bad thing.  Why waste time on silly things such as spellings and sentences?  It’s so not cool.

Full report here Desicritics

War stories

The 1971 war plays a major part in shaping Bangladeshi literature, Mahmud Rahman tells Premankur Biswas

The ghost of the 1971 war looms large over Bangladeshi literature, concedes Dhaka-born writer Mahmud Rahman. In fact, most of the stories of his short story compilation, Killing the Water, launched in Kolkata on Friday, March 6, refer to the war in some way or the other.

“One of my stories talks about a General of the war who retires and settles down in America. Another one is about a second-generation refugee in America. We cannot help but talk about the consequences of the war. It is the single-most important event in our history and has shaped the way we are,” says Rahman who is in Kolkata for the launch.

When Rahman was born, Bangladesh was still East Pakistan. It was during his formative years, in the late 1960s, when the nation was in turmoil.

Full report here Indian Express

Pride without prejudice

The Final Question (Ravi Dayal and Penguin, Rs 350) by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay is a translation of the Bengali classic, Shesh Prashna (1931), by members of the department of English, Jadavpur University.

Set in a middle-class Bengali milieu in Agra in the early decades of the 20th century, this late novel reinforces Saratchandra’s enduring relevance. The story revolves around Kamal, the love-child of an English tea planter and a Bengali widow. Like Rabindranath Tagore’s Gora, Kamal embodies the spirit of contrariness.

Driven by reason rather than idle romanticism, she hits out at the comfortable numbness of Bengali domesticity, upsetting closely held beliefs and biases. She is perceived as brazen by women, and adored by men, secretly or otherwise. From a writer who led a nomadic existence, got to know a bizarre assembly of characters, and admired Herbert Spencer, Charles Dickens, Balzac and Bernard Shaw, this is a tale that shimmers with ideas but never fails to entertain. The full complexity of Kamal’s life and times comes alive in the brilliant introduction by Supriya Chaudhuri. Arup Rudra and Sukanta Chaudhuri provide valuable editorial notes, while Amitava Das adds a useful preface.

Full report here Telegraph

The literateur and the man

Syed Abu Rushd Matinuddin, who used to abbreviate his name as SAR Matinuddin, and preferred Abu Rushd as pen name, died on 23 February 2010. He was born in December 23, 1919 in Calcuta in a characteristic family of Muslim community. The year 1919 is important for Indians under British raj as in that year the Montague-Chelmsford Reform was introduced in the country as an aftermath of World War 1 and also on the face of popular resentment against misrule.

The new-born Abu Rushd was growing up in the biggest Indian metropolis in an environment where anti-colonial movement was vibrant and an effort for intellectual and cultural refinement was at its peak. As he grew up he was consciously and also obliviously adopting the positive things around him. He has deftly narrated the situation then and his personal development in his book Jiban Kromosha or as life develops - a copy of which he gave me in mid 80s of the last century with a strong recommendation to read it and to feed him back.

That was the first book of his literary realm he gave me just to begin with and since then after a gap of four to six weeks he would give me another of his books with an intense query whether I had finished the earlier one. I generally had read his books but at times due to laziness I delayed finishing them. But that had not to be admited for good reasons, of course. About Jiban Kromosha, the maiden book of the reading process, I had informed him that I had read and enjoyed the book and also made some positive observations, which pleased him. He instantly took me as a connoisseur of his literature and laid the foundation of a relationship which had been cemented gradually in later days and years to come.

Full report here New Nation

Book on India role in Bangla war

A book, Sonali Egal O Udbastu Samay, by leading Bangladeshi writer Haroon Habib was launched by Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar at the Agartala Press Club in the city last night.

The book, based on Habib’s personal reminiscences as an actual liberation fighter and journalist during the 1971 Bangladesh War, was released at a gala function during the ongoing Agartala book fair. The author, Habib, was the guest of honour at the function.

Published from Dhaka, the 318-page Bengali novel was described by critics here as the first major literary work that depicted the 1971 liberation war in its true perspective.

The speakers at the function said for the first time in literature, the novel presented an undaunted recognition to India’s unequivocal support to Bangladesh’s independence struggle.Sarkar described the novel as an unbiased portrayal of history and praised Habib as a committed humanitarian author, a creative personality and journalist.

Full report here Telegraph

Bangla PM inaugurates Mother Language Institute

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the International Mother Language Institute in the capital Dhaka on Sunday, which aims eventually to help preserve all languages around the world."Not only Bangla, but all languages of the world will be studied in this institute," Hasina said, as she unveiled a plaque of the building on Amar Ekushey, or Feb 21, as a special tribute to Bangladesh's Language Movement martyrs.

Feb 21 is now observed round the world as International Mother Language Day in memory of the students who gave their lives on the day in 1952 for the right to keep their mother tongue, Bangla, as a state language as authorities tried to impose Urdu on the nation.

One of the new institute's goals will be to preserve languages in danger of being wiped out. The exact role of the institute is yet to be set, though a draft law has been formulated for its work.

Among the tasks that have been proposed are spread of Bangla language and literature at home and abroad, making Bangla an official language of the United Nations, circulation of language movement history among member countries of UNESCO, conferring fellowships for language research, and creating a language archive for preserving languages of micro-nations.

Full report here BDnews 24

Preserving languages vital to world

More than 10 years ago, I first wrote a viewpoint in The StarPhoenix about the importance of mother languages and the dangers and consequence of losing them. The article also was on how one language became instrumental in securing a linguistic, cultural, economic and political sovereignty in the world. That language is known as Bengali to the western world and as Bangla in Bangladesh and West Bengal.

I am not a linguist, but the importance of language and the sacrifice of the Bangla speaking people quietly stirs my blood as Sunday fast approaches. On that day, Feb. 21, 1952, several young people sacrificed their lives on the streets of Bangladesh to protect their language (Bangla).

In 1999, UNESCO proclaimed this day as the International Mother Language Day.

The UN agency recognizes that nearly 90 per cent of 7,000 living languages in the world are likely to vanish by the end of the century, resulting in a loss of a wealth of culture and wisdom. For many reasons, including the current tensions in various parts of the world, UNESCO's recent attempts to promote the importance of multilingualism, learning of world literature through translations as a way to promote peace and dialogue among cultures are clearly important.

Full report here Star Phoenix

21st February in our life

21 February stands as a unique example across the globe. Our poverty and natural calamity have made us known throughout the globe which made scope to incur some negative titles. Against this, our Language Movement, our woman prime minister, our woman leader of the opposition, the innovative power and skills of our expatriate engineers and other professionals come up. Even, many developed countries have yet to experience women emancipation in practical sense of the term and in the highest level of administration of the state. But we have set the examples which have been proved rare in the whole world.

In the midst of all these rare events our sacrificing blood for the mother tongue is the rarest one. Many people sometime show their pessimistic idea that our mother tongue is not evaluated. The world community has given due recognition to our mother tongue through the declaration of 21st February as International Mother Language Day. It is going to be the language of the United Nations. However, we still have many things to do and points to ponder both in the individual and state levels. The rate of literacy in our country has not yet reached up to a satisfactory level. Those who know the alphabet many do not know how to read books. The vast majority of the population has been denied for ages the right to use Bengali. Keeping a huge number of populations out of literacy range we don't afford to swell our breast in the global arena. In spite of giving utmost priority by the government , 87 percent students have entered the primary levels though fifty percent of them drop out and the rest thirteen percent means twenty three lakhs still remain outside the boundary of schools. Thirteen percent still don enter into primary level which means twenty three lakh still don't have any access to education. The drop out rates and those who remain beyond access must be brought into class. Government efforts, ensuring NGOs participation more effective in this campaign and individual particularly the educated segment of population's active and fruitful participation may get the state rid of illiteracy. Otherwise, our rare and unique examples will pale into significance. Without analyzing much it can be demonstrated that the objective of the language movement can be achieved only in a society which is free from exploitation and discrimination. Of course, we are heading towards exploitation free society with a slow pace but it should be given momentum. Poverty stands as the principal obstacle in this regard. Everybody's concern here is imperative,

Full report here New Nation

Sahitya Akademi approves 23 books for translation prize

Sahitya Akademi approved selection of 23 books in as many as languages for the translation prize for the year 2009. The books were selected in various Indian languages like Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu, and English.

"The books were selected on the basis of recommendations made by the Selection Committees of three members each in the languages concerned in accordance with the rules and procedure laid down for the purpose," the Akademi said in a release.

The prize carries an amount of Rs 50,000 and an engraved copper plaque which will be presented to the translators of each book at a function to be held later this year.

Full report here PTI

Sahitya Akademi translation award to J K Bargohain

Veteran journalist and author Jatindra Kumar Bargohain has been chosen for the Sahitya Akademi award for translation for the year 2009 – for his Lokayata Darshan – a translation from the original work in Bengali by Devi Prasad Chattopaddhay. The book was published by Publication Board, Assam.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Bargohain termed the honour as a recognition of his efforts. “I have been engaged in literary pursuits, including translation, for a long time…I am happy with the recognition by Sahitya Akademi,” he said.

On the book Lokayata Darshan, he said that it was a difficult work on the Lokayata philosophy – a study in ancient Indian materialism — and a lot of effort had gone into the translation. “I worked on it for about a year. I have also compared my translation with the available English translation,” he said.

Full report here  Assam Tribune

Feluda for the young

“Our aim is to introduce the new generation to the genius of Satyajit Ray by bringing his stories of Feluda, the professional detective with a super-sharp brain, in comic book form,” said Subhadra Sengupta at the launch of Murder by the Sea at Eureka Book Store in DLF Mall, Saket, the other day. The comic book is targeted at children in the age group of nine years and above and is the third in the series that has been launched by Penguin in the last few months, with two more in the pipeline.

The launch was attended by a group of enthusiastic children with their parents in tow, out for a fun-filled Sunday afternoon. To make the occasion interesting, an interactive session was introduced where children were given a series of illustrations with blank boxes. They were asked to interpret the dialogues and “make their own comic".

Their work was evaluated by Tapas Guha, who has done artwork for the comic book. Said Guha, “Ray had already illustrated the character of Feluda and other prominent characters in the series, like his cousin Topshe and friend Lalmohan Ganguli; I kept these illustrations in mind while giving it final shape.”
Full report here Hindu

Samarendra Sen Gupta: A touch of surrealism

Samarendra Sen Gupta is one of the leading contemporary poets in India. He is a prolific poet and his poems are intellectually of outstanding quality. Most of his poems have a great touch of modernity. Recently he visited Dhaka on the occasion of the National Poetry Festival where he shared his views with this correspondent.

Gupta was born in Dhaka in 1935 and spent the first 16 years of his life in Dhaka before moving to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1951. He was a student of Pirenonath High School (now Nawabpur High School). He passed his matriculation in 1951 from the same institute and migrated to Calcutta the same year. After settling in Calcutta, he became involved with the left leaning party.

Gupta remembers Dacca's (now Dhaka) life. “During the time, Dhaka 's life was very vivid and colourful. The city was expanded focusing on Old Dhaka. The population of Dacca was not large. We lived in a big house in Purana Paltan. The house had a touch of aristocracy. The rose garden in our house was famous in the city at that time. Lots of scholarly persons used to come to our house, especially for the garden. My father was the registrar of Dhaka University. We had quite a few eminent neighbours like Jasimuddin, Mohitlal Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra Mazumdar and more. Most of the people who lived in our area were Hindus. Most of them occupied with Dhaka University.

Full report here  Daily Star

Exile like a 'slow death': Taslima

Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen, who fled her country 16 years ago because of threats from Muslim extremists, said  that her life in exile was like a "slow death". Nasreen, who lives in the United States, was on a brief trip to Delhi to renew her Indian residential permit. "I am not keeping well," the 47-year-old told AFP.

"Sometimes it seems I am facing a slow death, standing at a bus stop to shuttle between Paris and New York, London and Washington," she said.Nasreen was forced to flee Bangladesh in 1994 after radical Muslims accused her of blasphemy over her novel Lajja (Shame), in which a Hindu family is persecuted by Muslims.She spent the next 10 years in western Europe and the United States before India granted her a temporary residential permit in 2004. She moved to Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, adjoining Bangladesh.

But seething resentment by Muslim hardliners at her presence in the city exploded into full-blown riots in November 2007, which resulted in the army being called out.

Full report here  AFP