My Father

My Father Atul Bernard Rozario was born in an extended family that consisted of four sons and four daughters, at Choto Satanipara village, Kaliganj of Gazipur district. He is the seventh in order among the children of Polin Augustine Rozario, a farmer and well-known singer of Thakurer Geet (Ballad of St. Anthony).

Following footsteps of his father, he learned farming well, but also completed education upto matriculation. For a brief period in early 1980s, he was involved in clothes trade in capital Dhaka and married in late 1982. Then, he worked in Kuwait for about four years, but decided to return home forever after being seriously ill. He tried his luck in a number of jobs for years but quit for various reasons. After giving up on jobs, he devoted his attention on farming on a small amount of ancestral land he got from his late father. He randomly got into businesses of raw clothes (Than), and then into coconut, green banana, jackfruits etc. In 2001, he got a low-paid job as a caretaker of an NGO, which he continued for about seven years. In the long years between farming and NGO work, my father was cheated and denied well-deserved jobs in several places that saddened him forever. On personal and family front he was deprived of due support that could help him prosper in life.

Except for clothes trade in Dhaka and Kuwait job, my father didn't have a steady and good income. So, the family mostly struggled for survival amid poverty. He lost the first child, a daughter, within months of her birth. He fathered three sons, and for most part he couldn't afford their well-being including education due to poverty and low income. His inability to earn a better income, run the family well and negligence caused frustration, arrogance and inferiority complex in him for a long time. He ended up becoming an introvert and tried to hide pain within himself. Thus, his relationship with sons was a bit complex and formal.

Despite his shortcomings in prospering financially, my father is known for his legendary honesty, hardworking spirit and religiosity. He has always taken great pride in those virtues and dislikes dishonesty and cheating. He has been a great fan of classic movies and music, and once he had a large collection audio cassettes of Bengali and Hindi classical songs.

Today, my father is proud to see all three of his sons have become established in life after getting higher education. They became journalist, teacher and accountant in their professional arena. The family has bid farewell to poverty and life is relatively better and secure. He is happy that his lifelong struggle has paid off. May God grant him good health and mind to lead a happy life longer.

On Father's Day, I pray so that my father and all fathers in world be happy, proud and honored for their contributions in the family, the society,  the state and the world.

Happy Father's Day!