Sankar: The agony and ecstasy of writing
On October 20, the noted Bengali novelist Mani Sankar Mukherji, better known simply as Sankar, spent the day on the new campus of Independent University, Bangladesh. In the morning he met IUB students and a few teachers of the Department of English and Department of Modern Languages, IUB. After a brief introduction of the author (because he did not require a longer one) by Professor Razia Sultana Khan, Head, Department of English and Department of Modern Languages, Sankar talked about creative writing. Through memorable anecdotes and humorous and touching descriptions of his childhood, Sankar narrated how he emerged as a writer. Forced to shoulder family responsibilities after his father's sudden demise, Sankar tried a number of jobs, including being a type writer cleaner, a typist, a clerk, a steno and once even a petty salesman hawking wastepaper baskets an episode he describes with his mixture of humour and feeling in Chowringhee. Finally he met a British barrister, Noel Barwell, who employed him as his babu or clerk and introduced him to literature. Three hours passed swiftly as Sankar regaled his audience. "But I have to leave something for this evening," he said and stopped. That same evening, to a large audience, Sankar spoke on "The Making of Chowringhee a not-so-well-known story." The writer was introduced, more formally this time, by Professor Razia Sultana Khan, who noted that "Sankar is a household name in Bengal." She was echoed by Professor Omar Rahman, Pro-Vice Chancellor of IUB, who described how, as a young boy, he had been introduced to Sankar through Chowringhee. "When I read Chowringhee as a young boy and several times since then, I have remained enthralled and drawn into the subtle and nuanced descriptions of a city and a society on the cusp of change from a polyglot cosmopolitanism to a more strident parochial Indian identity a veritable fin de siècle." Professor Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of IUB, narrated the importance to him as a student of sociology of Sankar's Koto Ajanare. Professor Chowdhury then presented the IUB sash to Sankar. Finally, the moment the audience had been waiting for came. Sankar began by saying, "Lucky is that land where authors are born and doubly lucky are the people who recognize their authors in their lifetime." He noted how, after he had written his first book, many said he would be just a one-book author. To prove his critics wrong, he wrote his second book, and his third, and he has not stopped yet. In his humorous and open talk, Sankar allowed his audience a peep into not only his own life, but into the lives of writers and publishers as well. And he explained how and why he had allowed the book to be translated into English. For a long time he had been satisfied with being a household name in Bengal, but the translation of Chowringhee into English gave him a worldwide audience and he appreciated that. With the floor open for questions, Sankar immediately established a light note. While he graciously answered many questions, he pointed out there were three ways of answering a question: 1) I know
2) I don't know
3) I know but I decline to answer The next morning, Sankar visited the Department of English and Department of Modern Languages, IUB, and spent an informal couple of hours chatting with students and faculty who asked him the questions that they had been unable to ask the previous day. Sankar's visit to IUB was coordinated by Dr. Akimun Rahman, Associate Professor, Department of Modern Languages.
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