Perhaps after the mass movement of the 90s, poetry readings of poets at the Bangla Academy book fair in the 1990s have gathered in the upper floor of the academy. As in Bangladesh after the autocracy, there is a sense of celebration in everything with new enthusiasm and initiative. Bangla Academy also felt this wave The smile of victory on the poets-artists-writers’ faces. Confident grace. Poets are reciting great poems. The attention of thousands of eager people. Each famous poet is reciting poetry and the enthusiastic audience is clapping and cheering all around.
I forgot to say that poet Muhammad Nurul Huda himself is conducting the poetry reading session. Once poet Asad Chowdhury’s name was called for poetry reading. Needless to say, as soon as Asad Chowdhury’s name was announced, the audience burst into applause and screams. Then the poet came and stood in front of the mic. Smit smiled and looked around and asked in a sweet voice – everyone is good?
Kartalimukhar everyone said in one sentence, we are all good! Then the poet recited the poem-
‘the man’
They don’t have a watch
There is no time
Surya is the clock
For a few chatak rice
For pulses
Vegetables-grains, salt-tyana, medicines-poisons
to collect, to do, to do
to do, to do…..
The sound of ‘Karte’ ‘Karte’ slowly echoed and faded away. In this, the poet’s dramatic expression makes people burst with joy. Everyone is clapping.
You read it right. Even with the cheers of the clapping, everything became loud. I looked and saw the mischievous illusory twinkle in the poet’s eyes. The softness of a smile. Several moments have already passed. The buzz of positivity keeps coming. This wave of joy also delighted the poet Afuran. Again, with the shyness and hesitation of the beauty on his face, he gently asked everyone present – will you read the dream?
Thousands of people began to shout and say in echoes – dream, dream, dream. Then the poet brought his face in front of the mic and looked at everyone. In a few seconds everything went silent. Asad Chowdhury pronounced very affectionately – the dream was good,
Why did you break the mesh?
It will be happy, it will be sad
How do you know!
This poem was created for the sake of being read in the voice of Asad Chowdhury. In my mind, I had a silent expression of one thought – Oh, what I heard!
Two.
Personal opinion, the most fertile period of literature in our region, i.e. Dhaka, was during the sixties. The poets Habibur Rahman, Alauddin Al Azad, Shamsur Rahman, Mortuza Bashir, etc., who planned the literary compilation sitting on the grass in a school field in Armanithola in one afternoon in 1948, are the best examples of the creativity of the heroes of the fifties. Shamsur Rahman, Abdul Ghaffar Chowdhury, Syed Shamsul Haque, Shaheed Qadri, Al Mahmud. In the meantime, Bayannar language movement took place. Our brothers are martyrs. The demands of literature also began to change.
Nevertheless, our poets-artists-literateurs have been subjected to various experiments by combining the demands of art to poetry, the demands of people to art, etc. However, even in real life and political upheaval, they started to move in parallel with their own creations. Various groups or groupings of art literature were also created. One such group or group is ‘voice’.
Grouping of voices moderated by Professor Abdullah Abu Saeed. After 50, those associated with the voice are the heroes of the poetry of Bangladesh. That is, after fifty, Rafiq Azad, Asad Chowdhury, Mohammad Rafiq, Akhtaruzzaman Ilyas, Abdul Mannan Syed, Sikder Aminul Haque and others are stars of literature. Asad Chowdhury, one of those stars, came to Toronto, Canada to visit his children.
Three.
Not in words – came and conquered. Asad Chowdhury won in ‘Cover’. Asad Chowdhury came to Toronto and gradually became the cultural guardian and ornament of this city. His presence in various cultural events made him a proverbial personality among the culture workers of this city. His presence infused with love and affection created a strong positive wave in the cultural atmosphere of this city. We saw up close how a man knows how to draw people with magnetic force. You can weave a garland named ‘Manush’ with the thread of equality.
There is no greed. No pride. Even sitting on the top, he taught himself sitting on a bed of earth, not a ladder, but a bus of real height near the ground. Oh, there is no one else in the world like that!
Four.
He was our great support. A national or proverbial personality of our language literature would call Toronto whenever he felt the urge for any event on his arrival or departure. He instructed that it should be done. How many arrangements have to be made! Renowned artist Syed Jahangir passed away. He urged for all possible cooperation with the artist’s daughter to hold a program in his memory. Poet and architect Rabiul Hussain has passed away and asked poet Iqbal Hasan to arrange a memorial service for us as soon as possible. He is everywhere our Kandari!
I knew that he was slowly preparing for the journey to eternity. I would like him not to suffer. Asad Chowdhury has lived a life where love is expressed in every step he takes, every journey he takes, every sentence he utters. And in return he received the heart-warming love and respect of all. He has lived such a full life, people’s hearts and minds are filled with respect and love as soon as the name Asad Chowdhury is uttered. How many people out of millions of people got that? he got And just as his suffering was increasing during his journey to infinity, he succeeded early on the morning of October 5. Leaving behind all the sufferings, all illusions, he has gone far and has embraced everyone more and more. We know, his magical hand on the shoulders of all of us!
Toronto, Canada
