Mourning a sibling, celebrating a maestro

Syed Badrul Ahsan

Kali O Kolom has, much to its readers' relief, held on to quality. In a literary world where quality often happens to be a fleeting affair, even a tentative one, Kali O Kolom is certainly nourishing for the intellect. Its emphasis on the varied strands of Bengali literary, indeed social, heritage has once more come through this new package of thoughts. The reflections on Protibha Basu by Abdul Mannan Syed are not merely a rather good reminder of the genre of thought Basu represented through her career in writing, but in a very significant way, they are also a pointer to the aesthetics that can be brought into celebrations of the individual. And while you read Syed's tribute to Basu, prepare yourselves, naturally, to be enlightened anew about Buddhadev Basu as well. The man remains a Bengali icon.

Among the moving pieces in this offering of the journal is 'Shohodora Suraiya'r Smriti', Dilara Hashem's remembrances of her sibling Suraiya Khanam. Those who knew Suraiya Khanam (this reviewer was her student in the mid 1970s) can certainly relate to the images Hashem draws of a woman whose beauty and intelligence came in equal, full measure with her impatient (often misconstrued as irascible) attitude to life and people around her. Khanam was a poet not to be dismissed lightly; and then again, she was the creator of the work Nacher Shobdo. These and other facets of her personality, her unpredictability as it were, are synthesized remarkably well in this eulogy by a foremost writer of Bengali fiction. And yet there is the sense of hurt in Dilara Hashem, wounds inflicted on her by the one now dead. Hashem's pain takes on a vicarious quality, which is why you will read the piece through to the end.

One of the gems in the current issue of Kali O Kolom is Debjeet Bandhopadhyaya's tribute to Sachin Deb Burman on the centenary of the maestro's birth. You hardly need to remind yourself of the overwhelming presence of Burman in Bengali and overall Indian music. The old songs, the tenor of music he employed, the pastoral that he sought to forge beside the many elements of the urban are ideas that go through a revival in this admirably written essay. It promises to be a point of reference in the times ahead, especially for those who spot the timeless in Burman's songs. Mention is made here of the unsurpassable Jhilmil Jhilmil Jheeler Joley Dhayu Kheliya Jai Re. That (as also the reader's own recollections of Banshi Shune Aar Kaaj Nai, et al) gives a familiar lilt to the heart.

Dr. Anisuzzaman's observations in 'Shwadhinota O Shonskriti' are focused, and will deepen your understanding of the cultural underpinnings of the War of Liberation. That Bangladesh is home to people other than Bengalis--the writer refers here to Chakmas and other indigenous societies--is a necessary point raised in the essay. The approach is appreciably dispassionate and so serves up fresh food for thought.

Ferdous Nahar's 'Toronto Theke: Ketaki'r Shonge Ek Din' is another aesthetically charming write-up you cannot ignore. Men and women who have grown to adulthood hearing about Ketaki Kushari Dyson cannot but read and digest the sentiments expressed here, to their intense satisfaction.

And that sense of satisfaction is elsewhere in the journal too. The poetry, the short stories, theatre --- all of these rainbow slivers of culture come packed in this issue. Read them, read about them, even as winter descends through the early arriving evening.

Syed Badrul Ahsan

Kali O Kolom, Editor: Abul Hasnat, December 2006 Taka 25/-

Kali O Kolom has, much to its readers' relief, held on to quality. In a literary world where quality often happens to be a fleeting affair, even a tentative one, Kali O Kolom is certainly nourishing for the intellect. Its emphasis on the varied strands of Bengali literary, indeed social, heritage has once more come through this new package of thoughts. The reflections on Protibha Basu by Abdul Mannan Syed are not merely a rather good reminder of the genre of thought Basu represented through her career in writing, but in a very significant way, they are also a pointer to the aesthetics that can be brought into celebrations of the individual. And while you read Syed's tribute to Basu, prepare yourselves, naturally, to be enlightened anew about Buddhadev Basu as well. The man remains a Bengali icon.

Among the moving pieces in this offering of the journal is 'Shohodora Suraiya'r Smriti', Dilara Hashem's remembrances of her sibling Suraiya Khanam. Those who knew Suraiya Khanam (this reviewer was her student in the mid 1970s) can certainly relate to the images Hashem draws of a woman whose beauty and intelligence came in equal, full measure with her impatient (often misconstrued as irascible) attitude to life and people around her. Khanam was a poet not to be dismissed lightly; and then again, she was the creator of the work Nacher Shobdo. These and other facets of her personality, her unpredictability as it were, are synthesized remarkably well in this eulogy by a foremost writer of Bengali fiction. And yet there is the sense of hurt in Dilara Hashem, wounds inflicted on her by the one now dead. Hashem's pain takes on a vicarious quality, which is why you will read the piece through to the end.

One of the gems in the current issue of Kali O Kolom is Debjeet Bandhopadhyaya's tribute to Sachin Deb Burman on the centenary of the maestro's birth. You hardly need to remind yourself of the overwhelming presence of Burman in Bengali and overall Indian music. The old songs, the tenor of music he employed, the pastoral that he sought to forge beside the many elements of the urban are ideas that go through a revival in this admirably written essay. It promises to be a point of reference in the times ahead, especially for those who spot the timeless in Burman's songs. Mention is made here of the unsurpassable Jhilmil Jhilmil Jheeler Joley Dhayu Kheliya Jai Re. That (as also the reader's own recollections of Banshi Shune Aar Kaaj Nai, et al) gives a familiar lilt to the heart.

Dr. Anisuzzaman's observations in 'Shwadhinota O Shonskriti' are focused, and will deepen your understanding of the cultural underpinnings of the War of Liberation. That Bangladesh is home to people other than Bengalis--the writer refers here to Chakmas and other indigenous societies--is a necessary point raised in the essay. The approach is appreciably dispassionate and so serves up fresh food for thought.

Ferdous Nahar's 'Toronto Theke: Ketaki'r Shonge Ek Din' is another aesthetically charming write-up you cannot ignore. Men and women who have grown to adulthood hearing about Ketaki Kushari Dyson cannot but read and digest the sentiments expressed here, to their intense satisfaction.

And that sense of satisfaction is elsewhere in the journal too. The poetry, the short stories, theatre --- all of these rainbow slivers of culture come packed in this issue. Read them, read about them, even as winter descends through the early arriving evening.

Syed Badrul Ahsan is executive editor, The Dhaka Courier.