Talking to myself

গত শনিবার ১০ই মে মস্কোস্থ বাংলাদেশ দুতাবাসে পালন হলো রবীন্দ্র-নজরুল জন্মজয়ন্তী|  আমার তিরিশ বছরের মস্কো জীবনে এই প্রথম| এটা দুতাবাসের নিজের উদ্যোগেই হোক, আর সরকারী উদ্যোগেই হোক – নিঃসন্দেহে একটা সুন্দর প্রয়াস| জানি এ নিয়ে অনেকেই অনেক কথা বলবেন, দেশের বর্তমান বাস্তবতার কারণে সরকারের এসব প্রয়াসকে অনেকে হেয় করে দেখবেন, তবে আমার মনে হয় যেকোন ভাল উদ্যোগের  প্রতি সাধুবাদ জানানো দরকার| আসলে জীবন মানেই তো একপা এগুনো আর দুই পা পেছানো, বা দুই পা এগুনো একপা পেছানো| স্থিতিশীলতার জন্যই এটা দরকার| বিশ্ব চলে এই নিয়মে, সরল গতি আমাদের সামনে নেয় ঠিক ই, তবে ঘুর্ণন আমাদের পেছাতে বাধ্য করে| আর এটা আছে বলেই আমরা আছি| আজকাল আমাদের মধ্যে অন্যের ভাল কাজের স্বীকৃতি দেবার সাহস বড়ই কম| মনে হয় ভাল মন্দ ব্যাপার না, কে করছে এটাই আসল কথা| সারা পৃথিবী জুড়েই এই অবস্থা| যাকগে – এবার আসি রবীন্দ্র-নজরুল জন্মজয়ন্তীর কথায়| আমাদের ছোট বেলায় আমরা রবীন্দ্র-নজরুল-সুকান্ত জন্মজয়ন্তী পালন করতাম| সুকান্ত ছিলেন বিপ্লবের কবি| সমাজতন্ত্রের সাথে সাথে সুকান্তও বিদায় নিয়েছে| এদিক থেকে ভাগ্যবান চে – এখনো সাম্যের প্রতীক হয়ে বেচেঁ আছে অন

Talking to myself : 15 August : In our school days we used to take private coaching. That was not an exectional day and I was coming back home after taking English tutoria...

Talking to myself : Russia: 20 years after democratic revolution : It was a usual day – I was waiting for Shaheen.  And when she came, we decided to cook some food. At one stage came Reza and told, they ...

Talking to myself : Three days and many more: Meeting PM of Bangladesh... : Finally we met the PM of Bangladesh. After great expectation it took the shape. Last three days was just like a festival. The President Hot...

কিছু দিন শান্ত থাকার পর বাংলাদেশে হিন্দুদের উপর আক্রমণ আবার নতুন করে শুরু হয়েছে। আমার ছোট বেলায় এমনটা যে হত না তা নয়, তবে তখন এসব হত কোন ঘটনার যেমন ইন্ডিয়ায় মুসলিমদের উপর আক্রমণের প্রতিক্রিয়া হিসেবে। বর্তমান বাংলাদেশে উগ্রবাদীরা আর ইন্ডিয়ার জন্য অপেক্ষা করে না, হিন্দুরা ভোট দিল কি না, এসব বিবেচনায় নিয়ে হিন্দুদের উপর আক্রমণ চালায়। গণজাগরণ মঞ্চের পর থেকে এর সাথে এক নতুন মাত্র যোগ হযেছে। সেটা হলো ফেসবুক বা অন্য কোন সোশ্যাল মিডিয়ায় কোন লেখা তুলে তারপর আক্রমণ চালানো। তবে এ লেখা কে লিখল, এটা সত্য না মিথ্যে – সেটা যাচাই করার প্রয়োজন তারা বোধ করে না। ভাবখানা এই যে তারা আগে থেকেই জানে কে লিখেছে আর কি লিখেছে। তারপর গ্রামের লোকদের উস্কানি দিয়ে হিন্দুদের উপর হামলা চালানো হয়। সরকার, বিরোধীদল আর অন্য সবার একরকম নির্লিপ্ততার মধ্য দিয়ে এসব চলে দিনের পর দিন, বছরের পর বছর। এ ব্যাপারে কি আমার, আমাদের কিছুই বলার নেই? ছাত্র ইউনিয়নের প্রাক্তন কর্মী, প্রগতিশীল রাজনীতিতে বিশ্বাসী বলে আগে ভাবতাম কি দরকার এসব সাম্প্রদায়িক ব্যাপরে কথা বলে। বন্ধুরা তো আবার আমাকে সাম্প্রদায়িক ভেবে বসবে। তবে পরে বুঝলাম যে এই ধারণা

   Just one year ago, this day we were all waiting for the long waited verdict on war crime. Not long ago we met PM in Moscow where she was in official visit. During the meeting we expressed our concern about the ongoing process and demanded the war criminal be punished. So when the time came, everyone was waiting for the highest penalty. I myself is always against death sentence, but given the fact that with any change in Government the criminal may be dully forgiven, I too felt that for the country, for its people the best solution is to hang the war criminal. So when the verdict came, I was a bit disappointed. My realization was that it was a win-win situation for AL.  Now they don’t have to burn too much wood explaining foreign countries, namely Arabians, Europeans and America their stand in case a death sentence was given. On the other hand they can direct their fingers to the judiciary for not giving the highest penalty. Moreover, in case they lass the 2014 election

           It is hard to suggest anything to the left force in BD regarding their duty in the current political situation in Bangladesh. For any model to put in place you need some ideal or at least predictable situation for this. But in Bangladesh the political situation is completely unpredictable hence it is hard to make any suggestion as well. But the common duty of any progressive force is always to fight for the right of common people, fight against fundamentalism. In Bangladesh it is more than the case. If we look back we see people in this part independent to their religion lived more or less in peace until early 20th century. In 1905 when Bengal was divided, the whole Bengal and India were flooded with protests and the British Govt. ultimately retreated. Those days it was told that “What Bengal thinks today, the rest of India does it tomorrow”. It was the time, when great social reforms took place. And taking British education, a school of Bengali Greats leaded

বিশু কাকু চলে গেলেন| চলে গেলেন না ফেরার দেশে| আমাদের পরিচয় তেমন বেশী দিনের নয়| যদিও নাম শুনেছি অনেক আগে, আর পরিচয় হয় হয় করেও অল্পের জন্য হয়ে ওঠেনি| আর ওই আলাপটা হবার কথা ছিলো দ্বিজেন কাকুর বাসায়| আসলে দ্বিজেন কাকুর সাথেও আলাপ আমার অনেক পরে, মানে ঘনিষ্টতা| যদিও প্রথম পরিচয় স্কুলজীবনে| ঠিক মনে নেই কোন ক্লাসে তখন পড়ি , তবে এইট বা নাইন হবে, যখন পড়ি কাকুর লেখা চার্লস ডারুইন এর  জীবনী| তখনই মনে মনে একটা সম্পর্ক গড়ে ওঠে তার সাথে| ১৯৮২ সালে আবু জাফর শামসুদ্দিন এর মস্কোর উপর লেখাটা পড়ে জানতে পারি উনি মস্কো থাকেন| তখন থেকেই আমার মস্কো আসার কথা চলছিলো, তাই ভাবলাম গেলেই দেখা করবো| তা আর হয়ে ওঠেনি| আমরা আসার কিছু দিন পরে শুভর মা এলেন কিউবা থেকে – অনেকেই গেল দেখা করতে, আমি যাই নি , পাছে ওনাকে দেখে দেশে মার কথা মনে পরে মন খারাপ হয়| দ্বিজেনদার সাথে দেখা হয় আমাদের বিভিন্ন অনুষ্ঠানে| তখন দাদা বলাটাই নিয়ম ছিলো, কমরেড ছিলাম কিনা| অনেক বার ই বলেছেন বেড়াতে যেতে, যাই নি| তাছাড়া যে কারণে যেতে পারতাম, মানে গল্পের বই আনতে, সেটা সুস্মি ই করতো| আর ও যখন চলে গেলো ১৯৯১ তে, তার পর থেকে ধীরে ধীরে যে

On September 04, 1983 I left Bangladesh for Moscow. It was for the first time I left the country alone. Though I was already 18+, my father always did everything so that somebody (relatives for friends) was always with me, even in collage life I went to Manikgonj with some of my classmates, took tea during the launch in their company. Only last few days in Bangladesh, when I was attending the BUET as a civil engineer student, I was allowed to go to Dhaka alone. Though I had a seat in Ahsanullah Hostel, almost every day I came back Tara, my native land and went to the BUET early in the morning. I knew that I have a good chance to go to Russia for higher study with CPB scholarship, I was not happy at all for that. We were supposed to fly on 22nd August, 1983, then on 29th, but for some reason unknown to me they were cancelled. And I was the only one of the 10, who were flying to Moscow with CPB scholarship became happy to stay one more week back home. And finally we flew fro

Finally came back to Moscow after 23 days of continuous travel. From Moscow we started on July 23 and travelled to Odessa by train. 25 hours journey was pleasing enough. We halted there for a few hours, went to the port, remembered about my last trip in 1988, when we went there to attend All Soviet Conference. Then we moved to Vilkovo by bus. It took some 4 hours. Vilkovo is known as the Venice of Ukraine.  It is a small, beautiful city on the Danube. On the other side of the river is Romania. Here the Danube diverts into 11 parts and falls into the Black Sea. We reached there around 5 p.m., rented a room, put the luggage and went for a boat trip to Danube. Next morning we went to the Delta Danube to see birds. Swans and pelicans were swimming there. After 5 hours boat trip we came back and went to the nearby beach Primorsk – some 15 km from Vilkovo. In the afternoon we had a walk on the bank of the Danube. Next day we went for a one day trip to Belgorod Prednestore and K

I have started this not a long ago. By this time the situation back home changed a lot. So time and again I have to go back and comment on other things as well. It is no longer an essay on a particular issue, but a sum of comments, thoughts on different issues. Hardly one can find any solution here; there are some possible ways to react on this or that issue;or some notes on the current situations back home in the eye of someone who lives far away, but still feel the heart beat of his beloved country, walks in his dream by the river side or in mustard and paddy fields as he did it in his childhood.   So let us begin to tell the tale….   Just about three months ago we met PM in Moscow. I remember the bright light in the eyes of many young people, who were and believe still are, ready to sacrifice their life for the sake of AL. They were talking about their commitments towards their leader; they were demanding severe punishment of Rajakars. It was in the mid January.

On February 08, finally people in Moscow gathered to express their solidarity with Shahbag. We were really waiting for that, but somebody had to take the initiative. Finally it was done. I am trying my best to follow this latest development in Bangladesh. When the judgment was uttered I it with disbelief. As almost everyone was expecting capital punishment. So I asked myself, why it should go this way, who might be the gainer? In first view it might be the AL? Why? In this case they don’t have to hang anybody, hence don’t have to come under pressure of Western countries. On the other hand they can say it is the judges who are to blame. Their duty was to prosecute the criminals and they did it. Now they can put the guy in jail and in case other party takes the charge next time, they will have to decide, whether to put him in jail and free him, as according to them it was politically motivated.  So there will be other party who will be to blame. As if it is always win-win

Finally we met the PM of Bangladesh. After great expectation it took the shape. Last three days was just like a festival. The President Hotel was always full of Bangladeshis, mainly from Awami League, Chatra League and Bangbandhu Porishad, but there were a few people like us who too came and stayed there to meet old friends either coming from Bangladesh or living in Moscow but hardly can be seen due to business.  So in some sense it was a meeting place. As for me the President Hotel (previously known as Hotel October) is a nostalgic place. It is the place where most of the CPB first ranked leaders stayed during the Soviet Union. We used to go there to meet them, learn the latest news of Bangladesh Politics, drink coffee at the Bar Aurora or buy chocolates from there, especially during the last years of Soviet Union when shops were almost empty. It is the place where Comrade Farhad died. After the fall of the USSR every time when I moved near this Hotel, it attracted me. S

Today India and the whole world is celebrating 150 years birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.  As far as I remember, in our family, I think in most Indian families, he is regarded as a disciple of Ram Krisna Parama Hongsha. He was regarded as a preacher of Hindu Faith and especially famous for his speech in Chicago. If Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra Bidya Sagar and many others known as social reformer, Vivekananda did not enjoy that title. I am talking about only my knowledge, what I could know living in a Bangladeshi village. When I came to Dubna in 1994, I found that his name is well known here as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t read much about him or his writings. Only recently downloaded some volume of his work and planning to read it soon. But two things I remember forever. I read them in our school text books Where are you looking for God when He is everywhere? Those, who loves His creation serves Him. (Bohurupe shomukhe chari kotha khujicho Iswar? Jeebe p

It was 1974. I was a pupil of class V of Tara Primary School. Our school was quite small, so we studied in two shifts, class I and II from 10 to 12 and other three classes from 12.30 to 16.30 (most probably). We didn’t have any play ground, so we usually spend our leisure in the nearby market, sitting on the trunk of a banyan tree (to be perfect, Koroi gach) with ice creams, biscuits etc. That time the Kaliganga Bridge was under construction. A lot of people from our village worked there with the Americans. It was a good chance to fill the low ground in front of the school and convert it into a normal play ground. So we few boys of class five (Montu, Ranjit and myself, 2nd, 3rd and 1st boy of the class, respectively) were asked to collect signatures from the villagers and hand over a petition on their behalf to the Vanel Company (who constructed the bridge) for technical help. WE did it in a few days and one morning three or four dozers came and in no time converted the l