The pains that come with reading
Nazma Yeasmeen Haque is critical about a compilation
In this enormous collection of his writings, Asafuddowlah emerges as a think-tank all by himself. Nothing escapes his discerning eyes, reflective mind and a highly analytical faculty of brain that the one reading perceives while going through the myriads of topics covered. The entries contain not only information that constitute knowledge but also carry some definite messages that are most thought-provoking, however brief some of those may be. The overriding message throughout the book is expressed in a normative style in his deliberations that manifest the author's heartfelt concern for all kinds of deviations one witnesses more and more with the passage of time since those veer away from a desirable standard and quality that is to be followed in human life. Asafuddowlah is genuinely in pain seeing all this as an eye-witness in various dealings encountered in his life. One may as well infer that in case such occurrences keep on going unabated, these are bound to cause panic and therein lies the other major concern of this book. The writer's voice throughout the book is loud and clear; his rhetoric is unequivocal, logical; expressions are bold and often tense. Assuredly this has been possible because most of these articles were published in The Bangladesh Today he himself once edited. However, through his utterances, Asafuddowlah emerges first and foremost as a moralist, albeit in a pedantic manner.
Of Pains and Panics not being a book in the conventional sense of the term appears massive in terms of its contents that range from personal memoirs to international issues. Meticulously arranged problems, issues and facts are presented in four extended parts, each containing myriads of topics. One may pick and choose from anywhere depending on one's interest and involvement. Since it is not continuous writing as is the case in a regular book, one can exercise one's freedom of choice in reading. But contrarily and strangely enough, Asafuddowlah writes in his prefatory words that he hopes that "readers will kindly not turn the pages without reading them." Has the writer been apprehensive of any such demeanour in view of the fact that he more often than not pronounces his feelings and convictions in a manner of pontification, from a rather high pedestal that tends to distinguish a person from many others? An undertone of condescension runs throughout the book with a little less exception in the articles on international issues in Part IV where he does his best in the role of a what might properly be termed a seasoned statesman.
Asafuddowlah's particular style of writing, instead of trying to right a wrong or reform it, mostly blows the act out of proportion which rightfully is not the job of a moralist; and exactly at this point the author may turn readers away. Ironically, this may as well create panic in the writer himself. Of course, the adjective 'kindly' may ameliorate the situation which, though, is not in keeping with the general tone of the author's language. In a scholastic endeavour, when personality gets the better of discourse, the latter loses much of its shine and exactly this has happened in this otherwise great book. The author has a tendency toward making sweeping comments like, "The teachers in English Department teach English language and literature in Bangla" while critically analyzing the decline of English in general in Bangladesh. Although very much justifiable, yet the author could have tempered his judgement by presenting his opinions in a little less hyper-critical manner.
The same disposition is expressed in a scathing attack made on some people who are often seen at public forums. One wonders if they are all good for nothing, as the author would want us to believe. Such utterances of his border on prejudice, all expressed in a most disparaging manner. The same hand that writes highly philosophical essays like 'Peace Odyssey' (delivered at a conference on the International Day of Peace), a lecture ethical and also blended in a practical outlook called "We Have Our Will, But 'They' Have Their Way" (delivered at a seminar in Kolkata) and an exquisitely beautiful and most soothing lyrical piece entitled, "When Song Is More Than A Song", writes a piece like 'Some Faces' in the chapter on society. He comes down hard on them, however lesser people they may be, in words like, "They speak of morality, when no maid servant can stay in their houses. They would visit other people's wives but would always go out alone," etc., etc., --- statements which raise questions about one's taste. One also wonders how such words appear in a newspaper and under what sections they do.
Asafuddowlah's logic for not running a second or third editorial in The Bangladesh Today, though well-taken, still raises questions in light of the age-old policies of journalism. For such an entry which purports to convey ethical teachings through projecting great lives imbued with saintliness and wisdom and also great places, perhaps there could have been some other special space for highlighting them. In his exuberant remembrance and profoundly paid tribute to Kazi Nazrul Islam, the writer adds two pieces on him in the same section, one under Music, the other under Art. In the latter, rather in indiscreet manner, the author contradicts himself when he says, "There had been no Shanti Niketan or Viswa Bharati to preserve and propagate his creations." On the other hand, he says, "His music, despite no institutional support, has hit our hearts and made its own home in the hearts of music lovers. He needs no Shanti Niketan elitism to survive." As if without Shanti Niketan Rabindra Sangeet would not have survived! Here the writer thinks in way that has a hint of the communal about it. There should not have been any wish to make an undesirable comparison like this.
The sarcastic approach of the author, as revealed in this book, creates much hilarity as is most palpable in the section 'Cut Off the Grills and the Frills' under the chapter Society and also in many others expressed in this tone. A large number of the pages of the book are victims of the printer's devil, such as in the use of the word 'its'. For example, a quote from a Rumi poem reads, 'If you have read a poem to dissect it's meaning, you mistook an equation for poetry.' A love for apostrophes in the wrong places is very much pronounced through most pages of the work.
Stuffed with a collection of write-ups that make the book monumental in volume, fortified with praises from a galaxy of eminent people, Of Pains and Panics could have been a most rewarding read but for the manifestation of views that tend to sound infallible all along.
Let me conclude on a happy note, however. This reviewer, for one, did not turn the pages without reading them.
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