Readings
Nakshi Kanthar Math
It was the celebration of The Reading Circle's 5th anniversary and it was the month of the International Mother Language Day. What could have been more appropriate than the reading of the poet Jasimuddin's epic folk Nakshi Kanthar Math that is known to people of both East and West Bengal. The stage of the auditorium decorated with yellow Gandha and green leaves resembled the colours of Falgun. The sound of flute on record gave an image of the Bangladesh rural beauty that is prominent in "Pollikobi" Jasimuddin's poems.
Prof. Niaz Zaman gave her welcome speech of the event by thanking H.E. Rajeet Mitter, High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, and Ankan Banerjee, Director of Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC), for their constant support to The Reading Circle (TRC). She also thanked Asfa Hussain for maintaining the liaison between the TRC and IGCC. With a brief introduction of the poet's life, Prof. Zaman mentioned that he had together with Rai Bahadur Dinesh Chandra Sen of the University of Calcutta collected the folk literature of Bengal. She emphasized the importance of promoting the translation of this literary piece again to the whole world. The word "Nakshikantha" that we use now has become popular after he coined this term for the first time in this poem.
Farida Shaikh, the next speaker of the inaugural session, talked about how TRC works. This group started off on 20 February 2006 with just three members meeting at Words 'n Pages. Over the years, the number of members has increased. Till now, the TRC members have read 60 books. It does not mean that all of them have read all the books, but when a book is discussed in the circle every month, they decide to read more of that writer to see his/her other works. At present, TRC has 30 members.
The daughter of the, poet Asma Chowdhury, and her husband Dr Taufique-e- Elahi Chowdhury, Bir Bikram, were present on the occasion to share their memories with the audience. Elahi shared some amusing stories with all. Once, the poet had gone to the market by rickshaw as his car had broken down. After sometime when he returned home without any shopping bags, his family members asked the reason. He said that he had seen a lad on the way and had offered him a ride. The boy picked his pocket while getting down from the rickshaw, and he could not do any shopping. Elahi added that the poet was a very loving and active person.
In the second session members of TRC read Bangla excerpts from Nakshi Kanthar Math and its English translation, The Field of the Embroidered Quilt (translated by E.M. Milford. Syed Badrul Ahsan, Salma Karim, Jackie Kabir, Farida Shaikh, Shahrukh Rahman and Prof. Niaz Zaman recited selections from the epic.
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