Tangents
Memories of a <i>Visionary </i>
Mr. A. S. Mahmud. Photo: Ihtisham Kabir
The world was a very different place during the early 1980s. There was no World Wide Web, a phone call abroad cost a small fortune, and when you went on an international trip, friends and family gathered at the airport to see you off. I had just finished my engineering studies in the US and had started work there, but I was struggling with a vexing question. Should I return to Bangladesh instead? During my Dhaka vacation, I was discussing this issue with my family one day when my maternal uncle Mejo Mama (Mr. A. S. Mahmud) dropped by our house. His surprising assessment: “You see, it does not matter where you choose to live and work because the world is about to become a much, much smaller place.†He added, “You will succeed anywhere if you put your heart into your work.†That was pure Mejo Mama: a clear vision for the future laced with a contagious optimism. A few days later, he told me, “I have a message for all you techies – why don't you try to make it easier for everyone to use technology? Why are computers so difficult to use?†His words proved prophetic because the Apple Macintosh computer arrived within months. It was the first easy-to-use computer - with a mouse and a graphical user-interface - and it took the world by storm. A. S. Mahmud was born in Sylhet in 1933 and started his career working at the Shell Oil Company in Rangpur. My earliest memory of him is of a trip he made to our home in Sylhet. I was eight or nine and his style, humour and world-view enchanted me. But it is from my vacation trips to Dhaka that I remember him most. He took a keen interest in my photography, telling me, “You have a talent – be sure to nurture and grow it.†That same trip, he bought me a copy of Noazesh Ahmed's Portrait of Bangladesh, a photo-book that I still cherish. Encouraged by Mejo Mama, I had my first exhibition here during the following trip. During another vacation, I happily learned that Dhaka's business community had honoured his pre-eminence as a businessman by electing him the president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce. It was during these trips that he told me about his new ventures in media, the great love of his professional life. He was the visionary and driving force behind the Daily Star and, later, Ekushey TV, the first private TV channel in Bangladesh where many of Dhaka's top television professionals cut their teeth. This brilliant man who had inspired and influenced so many passed away on January 22nd, 2004 in London under tragic circumstances. He was heartbroken after his beloved Ekushey had been shut down. Very often I wonder what Mejo Mama would have thought about today's Bangladesh which has moved forward while boasting a vibrant and omnipresent media. I suppose I will never know. But I do know that the legacy of Mr. A. S. Mahmud lives on.
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