NYMPHIA'S PAGE

The word Oshtorombha is in fact zero. It is Papri Rahman's third collection of stories and her fifth book. Papri Rahman carries the banner of a writer, an editor and a critic, quite comfortably. She doesn't write about the issues related to women which we commonly see in other contemporary writers, as she claims. Whenever she finds a story that is out of the ordinary, she tries to colour it in the canvass of story telling. This makes her somewhat different from other female writers that we come across. The book Oshtorombha has eight stories, six of which are in a rural setting; and the remaining two are narrated from an urban point of view. One of the stories, Shodh, depicts how a village woman takes revenge on her husband's second wife by urinating on her bed. It is a tempestuous night when the first wife is given shelter at their place. Everything is going on as usual, except that when she leaves the bed it is wet with a pungent smell. Both Hasna and Mohor Ali were asto...

Mircae Eliade's famous book La Nuit Bengali was translated into Bangla by Shoshodhor. The book was originally written by a famous Romanian author and philosopher Mircea Eliade in 1933. La Nuit Bengali meaning The Bengali Night by Mircea Eliade acted as the catalyst for Maitreyi Devi to write her version of the same story. Even though there was a deal between both the writers that Mircea's book would not be translated into English in either of their lifetimes, it was made into a movie in 1988. This made Maitreyi very upset and she even filed a lawsuit against the making of the film. She complained that it had misrepresented Indian culture and their religion. One cannot help but think that La Nuit Bengali is more like reading someone's personal diary. It gives the feeling of authentic real-life occurrences as all the characters share the names of the real-life people. The magical description of Calcutta in the 1930s and its surroundings makes the reader travel back in time a...

P erek , a nail that pricks. Minhazuddin feels the prick after coming across a one -legged person while his car waits at the signal. His younger brother Zahirul was one-legged. He died during the war of independence. His mother could never forget the fact that one of her sons was dead. She waited for him for as long as she lived. This is the title story of the book Perek, a collection of short stories. Jharna Rahman a contemporary female writer has earned her name in short stories. Most of her stories revolve around trivial everyday events, which are turned into powerful stories by Jharna's relentless playing with words. She defamiliarises the very intimate and insignificant events that take place in our lives. Perek is one of her most recent books. The writer has a very natural flow in her story telling which makes her narrative reader friendly. The visual effect of the writing is very strong. So strong that when we read the story Perek we can almost see the nail in Mi...

A whistle tore through my eardrum as I walked along, I could see a teenaged boy through the corner of my eye. He was standing beside the tea stall and making the noise with his hand in his mouth. I was returning home through the street with my grocery. apacket od salt which I ran out of last night, some flour and some candles in case we have powercut later the day. I didn’t need a rickshaw as the shop was just around the corner. The boy whistling must be someone from the neighbourhood. I didn’t turn to look at him. It didn’t really matter. After all what else can one expect where eve teasing is considered as a norm of the society! It’s not only pretty girls who get harassed everyday.But any woman with a vulnerable age (meaning less than 40) will be facing this kind of assault. Now it’d be different if it were a girl who wears the attitude “I mean business” with a tomboyish look then, perhaps, no one would bother her. After climbing four flights I let sigh out of relief as I put the ...

I read the book Nohonnote as a young girl and was pleased with myself as I had read one of the most well regarded books of any time. But little did I know that I would appreciate it much more when I read it as an adult. The book is about a forgotten love that shook the whole world of Amrita, a 16 year old girl. One has to metaphorically devour every page as you go through the book. The literary quality of the language is brilliant. The emotions come out alive as the writer describes the past that was, until then, suppressed inside her. It is also a document of a time when Bengali girls got little or no exposure. Yet Amrita managed to steal the heart of a young foreigner who later became a famous writer in his own country. The word Nohonnote is a Sanskrit word meaning - not of body; but of soul, of spirit. The novel is written by Maitreyi Devi, a disciple of Rabindranath Tagore. She was a famous writer in her own right. The story is set in 1972. It is Amrita’s birthday. She is an elder...

CRUTCHER Kornel, one might be intrigued by the title of the book.. It starts with a quotation from Ho Chi Minh: 'Remember, the storm is a good opportunity for the pine and the cypress to show their strength and their stability.' Even though the writer calls it a novel, it really depicts the life and fate of Colonel Taher, one of the sector commanders of the liberation war of Bangladesh. It is very informative and interesting as the narrator gives a vivid description of Taher's life, starting from his revolutionary days till his untimely death on the gallows. It is said that he walked on his wooden leg as he approached death. He is compared with Khudiram by some. The entire book is divided into short chapters with suitable headings. So it's very easily grasped by the reader. The historical facts are also portrayed in vivid detail, so much so that the visual effect is almost there. The leftist movement in Bangladesh, the formation of the Awami League and the formation of ...

The sorrows of lonely womenJackie Kabir is touched by some tales of sadnessDohon O Droher Golpo is a collection of thirteen stories about women, all of whom suffer in life and in death. As they suffer they also revolt against the norms of society, a society that is oppressive towards them. It humiliates them, tortures them and then stands up high with pride. As if the whole world is just created for men to rule over their counterparts. In the name of religion they both torture and squash them in their very own home. Society is against women who stand up to protest their malpractices. We all see it around us. It is these writers who paint it on their canvas, make it possible for everyone to understand it better. More than a dozen women are depicted who were really the victims of our modern day society. The male members of their family, even the very near and dear ones, do not spare women when it comes to finding faults with them.Writers like Anwara Syed Haq, Selina Hossain and Rizia Rah...

A delegation of young British-Bangladeshi professionals toured Bangladesh recently in order to remove misconceptions about them. It is commonly believed Bangladeshis living in the UK mostly work in restaurants and do menial jobs. This young vibrant group of young Britons came to have dialogues with the young generation of this country and change the existing impressions about Bangladeshi Diaspora in UK. Among them were entrepreneurs who owned super store chains, teachers, member of the national sports council and a TV presenter. JACKIE KABIR spoke to Tasmin Lucia Khan - a well-known news presenter for BBC Three in London. Tasmin began her career by working for Z TV network. Later she worked as a correspondent of PTV, covering UK's biggest stories to world wide Asian Audience. Before joining BBC she also worked for Channel Five producing and presenting a sports programme. What is the purpose of this visit? Ans:We are visiting Bangladesh to have dialogues with young Bengalis to chang...

Afghanistan, the name brings images of war-inflicted, Bin Laden’s hiding heaven, America’s war on terror-labeled BBC or CNN documentary or news dispatches. Unless of course one reads Khaled Husseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. The book puts colour to the black and gray picture of the war-demolished country drawn by the world media. He dedicates the book to Haris and Farah and to the women of Afghanistan. Even though the country has been in war for almost three decades and around eight million refugees spread all over the world have been away from their motherland, Husseini draws the picture of new beginning for the country. The novel begins with Nana calling her daughter harami, a word the daughter was not familiar with. It was only years later she could relate the word with her husband’s co-wife who had an illegitimate child. Marium was in her late 30s when her around-50 husband married a young girl of fifteen who was the only survivor of the neighboring family. As Laila’s house, alon...

Syed Shamsul Haq is unquestionably a pre-eminent intellectual personality in Bangladesh. He is a writer, playwright, poet and critic all rolled into one. He has won numerous awards for his writing at home and abroad, including the Bangla Academy Award and Ekushe Padak, two of the most prestigious accolades in Bangladesh. His writing career has earned him the honorific “ambidextrous writer”, meaning someone who can work with both his hands. Haq has been one of the most prolific writers of recent times in the field of literature for more than fifty years now. A number of his plays and novels have been translated in many different languages.The Blue Sting is a novella by Syed Shamsul Haq and translated by Kabir Chowdhury, a scholar of repute and translator. The slim book has a heavy message to convey. It is about a man named Kazi Nazrul Islam, a name that gets the Pakistani army into believing that the owner of the name is the famous Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The whole novella is a...

Selina Hossain has been awarded the 'Ekushe Padak' this year. She has been writing for more than four decades. One of the leading female writers in Bangladesh, Hossain was born on June 14, 1947 in Rajshahi. She started writing in the 60s and her first book, a collection of short stories, came out in 1969. She has written more than 60 books so far. Japito Jibon, one of her books, is taught at Rabindra Biswa Bharati University and another book named Nirontor Ghontadhoni is being taught at Jadhovpur University. Many of her works have been translated into different languages. JACKIE KABIR talks to her about her life and works. Q.How long have you been writing? Ans:I have been writing from 1964. So it has been forty years. Q.Did you start writing fiction from the beginning? Ans:I wrote poems first. When we were young, we used to live in Rajshahi because of my father's job. I used to fill the dairies up with poems. Some of which were published in different magazines in Dhaka. But...

Mon kerechhe “Monpura” said someone in the elevator as I was going down with my family after watching the movie. The statement sounded acceptable as I was also thinking on the same lines. Monpura can be described as a wholesome and thoroughly enjoyable Bangla film. The director Giasuddin Selim is a member of the new generation of moviemakers in Bangladesh who has revolted against the vulgarity and poor quality of mainstream Bangla commercial film. In 2003, the film industry was virtually paralysed with actors and producers blaming each other for introducing vulgarity to movies. It was only in January 2006 when an anti-obscenity law was passed in the parliament which brought back many of Bangladeshi film makers as well as movie goers back to the local cinema theatres. Filmmakers like Tanvir Mokkammel, Taukir Ahmed and Tareq and Catherine Masud have made films which have earned international fame. In 2003 Bangladesh officially submitted a film for nomination for Academy Award for Best Fo...

Her name is Shirin Banu Mitil but she was called Mitil Khondaker during the war of independence. Mitil was born in a family where being active in politics was quite normal. Her mother Selina Banu was an active member of the Communist Party since 1938 and her father got involved with the same party in 1940. Selina Banu won in the election with a NAP (National Awami Party) ticket from a mud hut. Mitil's maternal grandparents' house where she grew up was a centre of communist activities. So, none of her family members was surprised when she decided to fight in the war along with her two male cousins. She disguised herself as a boy wearing her cousin's clothes and sneakers. Mitil was the president of Chhatra Union in Pabna district. At that time, she was also a student of Victoria College. Her cousin Jahid Hasan Jindan was Chhatro Union's General Secretary. They joined the freedom fighters in Pabna. The independence war of Bangladesh left a lot of scars in many of its citiz...

The day wasn't like any other in the sense that the media, the announcement over loud hailer declared that this was the day, December 29 2008. After seven long years Bangladeshis would be casting their votes in order to elect parliamentarians representing them at the ninth parliament. So even though it felt like a holiday with no hurried visit to the washroom and choosing what clothes to put on, I felt a kind of hurry because we needed to cast our vote as early possible. We wanted to avoid the long queue. Moreover, I couldn't wait to see the inside of the polling centre. There was a festive mood all around. The people standing in the queue didn't seem to mind; all they wanted was to cast their votes.Without finding any rickshaw, we decided to walk to the polling station. When we were crossing the road near our residence, as I looked up, all I could see was the posters hanging from the strings all over - the trees, the electric poles and from one string to another. It looked...