Perek, a collection of short stories

Quamrul Hasan was intrigued by haiku when he was in his first year at university doing his honours in English literature. A course was being taught at the time. It was the renowned haiku as practiced by famous writers. As a student Quamrul wanted to be able to compose a few of these three lined, non rhyming poems. Finally he did write a few. A year or so later there was a haiku competition in The New Age Literature Page. As he had already composed some haiku, he sent them to the literary editor, Prof Niaz Zaman. To his utter surprise, his haiku was selected among the ten best haiku and was published in the literature page along with some of his teachers' works. That inspired the young writer and he continued with his endeavours. He was invited to the Japanese ambassador's residence along with the other published writers. Quamrul Hasan didn't have to look back since then. Hasan was published in Asahi Haiku Network, a joint venture of Asahi Shimbun and the International Herald Tribune in Japan in 2007 and 2008. The newspaper Mainichi Daily News also published his haiku. With his teacher Kaiser Haq's inspiration he published the first ever English haiku collection in Bangladesh in 2010. The traditional haiku are in the Japanese language and with 5-7-5 syllables of unrhymed three lined poems with seasonal references. Modern haiku deviate from the traditional form and use shorter syllables and leave out the seasonal context. Spring Moon is a collection of 43 haiku, most of which provide a very vivid picture, almost with visual effect: Her lipstick On the baby's cheek Half moon One can see the half moon on the baby's check. It says in the outer jacket of the slim book, if we can call it that, that it seems more like an invitation card, a series of such cards at that, of the world of pained words: “The haiku is a form of Japanese poetry. The most common form for haiku is three short lines. The first one usually contains five syllables, the second line seven syllables, and the third line contains five syllables. Haiku doesn't rhyme. A haiku must “paint” one mental image in the reader's mind. This is the challenge of haiku --- to put the poem's meaning and imagery in the reader's mind in only 17 syllables over just three lines of poetry! However, modern haiku do not always conform to this 5-7- 5 syllable rule.” For instance, here is a haiku by Julie Warther of Dover, Ohio: family dinner siblings feed the elephant in the room which doesn't follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule. This haiku by Quamrul Hasan unravels the mind of the present generation or any other generation of students. It's a very contemporary as well as an age-old perception: Exam hall Invigilator's cell screams We don't need no education Or taking class notes writing her name again and again The passion of a footballer is expressed in the next poem: Closing my eyes The last kick of Tiebreaker Hasan has tried to touch upon all aspects of human life in his 43 haiku. Even growing old with one's beloved has not escaped his keen observance: full moon even her grey hair shining The collection has been made much more attractive by the colourful paintings done by Rudaba Mohsin. Each haiku has a snippet or sometimes a breathtaking painting. The most important thing about haiku is to 'get the image of a single moment', as the poet puts in. Well, Quamrul Hasan has been successful in capturing many moments, like the snapshots of a photographer in his collection. I am sure he will be able to capture many more of them in future too. Jackie Kabir is a writer, teacher and critic.