Tribute
A man of faith
Remembering Prof. Jahangir Tareque
Prof. Jahangir Tareque with his family
Professor Jahangir Tareque-- linguist, lexicographer and man of letters-- died on June 29 at the age of 66. He was a professor at the Modern Language Institute, Dhaka University, until his retirement in 2008. But his retirement did not slow him down: he continued to do things he liked to do, in the same pace and intensity as before, such as read, write and research on aspects of language. He lived a full family life, giving time to his wife, who is a teacher at South Breeze School, and his three children--a son and two daughters. His two older children have successfully finished education, while the youngest one is expected to join a university in Hong Kong for undergraduate studies. A dedicated, loving and caring husband and father, Prof. Jahangir Tareque was an idol to his family. Professor Tareque was a quiet, soft-spoken person who mostly kept to himself. A dedicated teacher, he would gladly respond to any request for assistance from students and colleagues but maintained a studied distance from faculty politics or groupings of any kind. Never a person to be drawn into an argument, he was nevertheless a forceful speaker and a skilful debater. He did his Master of Arts in three languages Bangla, English and French the latter two from reputed Universities in France and possessed a wealth of knowledge in both contemporary and ancient literatures in these languages. His doctoral dissertation that he wrote in Sorbonne-Nouvelle was a comparative study of certain ideas on prose, poetry and poetic prose in English and French. He later went to the University of Munich as an Alexander Von Humboldt Research Fellow where, in addition to doing his designated research and studies, he picked up German language. Professor Tareque was conversant in as many as 12 languages, apart from his mother tongue, Bangla. He spent a considerable amount of his free time translating, mostly from Bangla to French. His translation of Nazrul's poems in French has proved to be a valuable addition to the corpus of Nazrul translation in different European languages. Professor Tareque was my next door neighbor for many years. Our flats were on the top floor of a five-storey building. I often met him at the stairs, going down or coming up. He always handled the arduous climb with a smile, as if climbing stairs was among the most pleasant things in life. Indeed, the equanimity and grace with which he faced life prepared him to tackle the most daunting challenges with ease. I never saw him lose his cool even when he was called upon to conduct time consuming everyday chores like doing the rounds in kutcha bazaar, which most of us find annoying or driving children to school which, in Dhaka, is a nerve racking experience. Professor Tareque was a man of faith and developed a Sufi disposition in the last few years of his life. He read deeply in devotional literature and came to believe that Sufi ideals are a source of joy and purity in life. Whenever I talked to him, I found him patient and cooperative, but more importantly, at peace with himself. Professor Tareque wrote on different aspects of science and technology in Bangla, and gave years of labour compiling a comprehensive set of Bangla-English and English-Bangla dictionaries published by Bangla Academy in 1993 and 1994. I myself was briefly associated with the project, but left when I found the work too demanding. But not Professor Tareque. He had a steely determination that belied his rather soft and kind looks. This dual aspect of his character --strength and resilience on the one hand, and kindness and grace on the other-- made him truly incomparable. Professor Tareque will be missed by his students and colleagues and everyone who knew him, above all by his family. With his death, the country has lost a distinguished linguist and a man of learning, but I personally have lost someone who was always kind and helpful to me like an elder brother. I am sure, wherever he has gone, he will find peace and grace that he always sought in life.
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