Thinking across regions

SOUTH Asia is my region, South Asia is my soul, my expanse for living. I aspire to build my cultural-economical bonds of friendship with every bit of South Asia. There cannot be a greater dream for a writer than this. A writer is obligated to its society and people, People are the artistry of a writer.
The creed of every artiste-litterateur-cultural activist is to transcend the barriers of a region, The heart's desire is quenched only by engaging in the ardent quest of knowledge. I yearn to be acquainted with the regions of Africa, Latin America, Caribbean Islands, and the Pacific. I am keen to learn about the livelihood of people living within certain geographic confines, blending with diversities of life contained by nature. Ahead of aspiring to know its people, it is of utmost importance to grasp the total essence, inclusive of art, literature and cultural-awakening.
The novel Chander Amaboshya (Eclipsed Moon) was written by a Bangladeshi novelist Syed Waliullah: while he was in D'Uriage, a village in the French Alps. The plot of the novel is a village in Bangladesh.
A novel written in a French village, even though the plot of the novel is a village in the homeland of the author, has its characters cross the boundaries of the land. The central character of the novel could be  French; the village is not isolated by geographical peripheries, the characters of this novel could be from any country - could be poor or from the lower middle class. The village could be in a remote corner of Europe, America, Africa or Asia, The novel is written in the stream of consciousness mould.
There are instances in literature where regions are traversed. Pablo Neruda and Che Guevara occupy space in my stories. I feel that I've transported diverse regions before my native Bengali readers. I have wished to express my soul's harmony with these individuals, articulated by the artistic echelon of literature. The stories have trapped the attention of young writers. Readers beyond regions, in artistic passion, much curiosity has been stirred in their imaginations.
I have written a novel characterizing the Urdu poet of the Indian sub-continent --- Mirza Ghalib. The life of a poet from another language and country, of the same region that I belong to, is a befitting theme of my story. I reasoned that I want my people to know about the poet's life, his time. An extraordinary revolution in the sub-continent, The Sepoy Mutiny, forms the central role of my novel.
Translation is a vital tool for literature to reach beyond regional borders. Without translations, literature cannot cross the limits. As a writer, I do not wish to be kept prisoner in any one language. Although I write in Bangla, and Bangla is my mother tongue, I would like my writings to travel to other people who may not read my language. And as a writer, I enjoy being read by all kinds of people in diverse cultures.
Therefore being translated is as important to me as being read. In both cases I establish rapport with my readers whom I cannot ever ignore. Translation enables my writings to grow wings, to enter the thoughts of men and women whom I may never know but who may know and love my writings. Translation, especially into English, is a way that becomes very important for writers who write in their mother tongue.
With the reach and expansion of the English language, more and more people are now keenly watching the writers of South Asia whose realities, whose attitudes, whose world views and energies now generate interest and enthusiasm worldwide, As a writer who belongs to the subcontinent, I feel privileged and extremely honoured to enter into a dialogue not only with readers who may read my work in English but with other writers who would never have read me if my work had not been translated. Therefore, being translated is another way of being alive --- in the hearts and minds of people.
I would like to give my listeners an example to illustrate what I say in my novel. The Shark, the River, The Grenade was first translated in 1987 into English and the translation was a part of the curriculum in Oakton Community College in Chicago, USA in 2005. This novel, set in the liberation war of Bangladesh, has found a new audience, a young audience, who read the book with keen interest, eager to explore a culture and a world that was new to them.
My work has been published from Lahore in the Urdu language; translated into Malayalam; has been published in the state of Kerala of South India. In the state of Orissa in India, an Anthology of Short Stories edition in the Oriya language, is awaiting publication. Printing work will be finished this year. My dream is to reach beyond the frontiers of languages.
My dreams incite me to perceive my literature going beyond regions, when I witness the poets of our language, like Shamsur Rahman, Shahid Quadri, Nirmalendu Goon and others, going beyond borders, riding on the crest of our literature, I am able to identify my literature abreast with literatures of other languages of the world. Patronisation is required for literatures to reach the bigger masses of readers. In the way Chinua Achebe reaches out to innumerable readers across the earth. He talks about the roots of Africa to millions across the world. I am unable to hold my emotions, when my university-going daughter hands over to me the novel Things Fall Apart. When I get lost in the pages of the book, I realise that it is essential to make my presence known among the peoples of the world.
I learn much about Martinique in the Caribbean when I read the Notebook of A Return to My Native Land, written by Poet Aime Cesaire. I have read the English translations. The Caribbean was sheltered in my heart.
In 2007 I visited Colombo to attend Sri Lanka's 'South Asian Peoples' Assembly' convention. The motto of the convention was, “Towards a Union of South Asia”. I am a writer from Bangladesh. I have South Asia in my mind. I visualize South Asia in the blue skies, mountains, oceans, the snow-capped white Himalayas, green forests leaning against the horizon, vast stretches of crop fields, and in the optimistic dreams of innumerable common people. The theme of my literature is humans who are at the grassroots level. History, the history of ordinary people, is my field of literature. In the combined, peaceful life of men and women, sudden venomous snaps come from imperialism, nuclear power, despotic democracy, discrimination, religious fanaticism, and class struggle.
I have a dream to write a novel against the backdrop of South Asia. As a writer my efforts will be not only to depict the happiness and sorrow, pleasure and pain of this part of the land as a story of life but also to convey the touch of the human heart expanding across the horizon. History delivers the elements of information, but does not care about the inner aspirations of people. Literature mingles the sadness and smiles of men and women, the presence at the people's assembly touches and moves the writer.
In this manner I wish to go beyond the limits of regions. It is an immense honour for me to be able to join in the Festival of South Asian Literature and Arts. Meeting and knowing the authors from Canada, South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, I understand why imaginations should go beyond regions; why a bonding of  souls among people is essential.
Rabindranath Tagore, a poet of Bengali language, received the Nobel Pirze in 1913. People, the love for his fellow beings occupied his mind and self as the truth of his life. Today he has reached people of across the world. UNESCO has celebrated his 150th birth anniversary. I find myself intensely appreciating his knowledge and wisdom at these celebrations with a profound sense of reverence.
To be able to recognize the in-depth meaning of the theme “Thinking Across Regions”, at this celebration, is a splendid reward in my life. Being invited to this festival is a great honour for me.

This write-up is the English translation of a speech delivered by Selina Hossain, Bangladesh's pre-eminent writer, at the South Asian Literary Festival held in Toronto, Canada, in May last year. The translation has been done by Rana Thakur.