He breathed his last at New York’s Bellevue hospital last Thursday.
The sad
news sent shockwave across the nation and the country is still mourning his
death heavily. The kind of coverage he drew from local media over a week can
well be something anyone on earth can be envious of.
Tens of
thousands from all walks of society, young people surpassing all others lined
up on the streets to pay final respects to Ahmed as his dead body arrived home
early Monday.
They
were sad because they won’t line up at Bangla Academy premises during largest
Ekushey Book Fair to see their favorite writer and taking an autograph at most.
They
cried as if their very dear one has passed away and placed Ahmed’s favorite
local flower called ‘Kadam’ that blooms aplenty during monsoon.
The sad
scenario that has prevailed in the country over the week is simply incredible
but not surprising at all.
Ahmed
was not only the bestselling author of around 200 fictions he wrote, but he
reaped overwhelming and unmatched success and popularity he dealt with in lifetime.
It was
just by chance he became a writer. He was student of science and became a
professor of chemistry at Dhaka University.
In 1972
when he penned his first novel Nondito
Noroke (In Blissful Hell), it brought him immediate success and popularity,
and it changed his life forever. He left teaching to become a fulltime writer.
He wrote
novels, short stories, TV drama, composed music, directed award-winning films
on his writings. Some his characters became larger than life.
He won
many national and international awards for his contribution to literature,
drama and cinema.However, few people knew he was also a good magician and owned the largest herbal and medicinal garden in the country.
He was
indeed a ‘magician of words’ who knew so well to communicate his thoughts and
imagination to ordinary people.
He was the
first to realize that the language of literature should be simple and shouldn’t
be treated as property of highly educated people.
He wrote
in colloquial language flavored with deadpan humor, intelligence and knowledge-
a rare quality for a writer in Bengali literature- for people irrespective of
age, class, gender and religion.
Before
him Bangladesh used to be full with writings on India-born Bengali writers, but
Ahmed single-handedly broke the deadlock and helped breathe country’s
publishing industry from the stranglehold.
After
his death Sunil Ganguly, a top Indian Bengali author called Ahmed “the most
popular Bengali writer of the century.” He
is the only Bangladeshi writer to get such acclaim.
In 1999
I first read one of Humayun Ahmed’s children fictions called ‘Botol Bhut’ (The Bottle Ghost). It was
so interesting that I started believing that if the bottle ghost was real and
began reading a number of books he already wrote.
As I
studied English literature in college I felt Ahmed’s literature was by far ‘low
quality’, as traditional critics used to say. But later realized that he has
already created a unique style of writing and deep mourning of his death proves
how popular he was.
For
sometime after graduation I didn’t have a job and tried to survive with little
pay from private tuitions. I stayed with some other bachelor friends like me
and we used to be frustrated with life at the end of the day.
Every
night we used to watch some films and drama, and those directed or written by
Ahmed was our premium choice. They were not only educative but also humorous;
they used to help us forget all pains and sufferings of life, at least for some
time. Again, I started reading his writings.
Bangladesh
and Bengali people across the globe will miss him forever, but he will live with
them through his creative arts.
I too
miss him and also pray for his departed soul and his bereaved family.
An abridged version of this post was published at UCAN Blogs on July 25, 2012
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