Cover Story
Where Enlightened Souls Congregate
Baatighar is adorned with items which resemble the interior of a ship and port. Photo: Prabir Das
Photo: Prabir Das
Five years ago, Shehnaz Alam, an ardent bookworm, left Bangladesh for higher studies. During her stay in New York she used to spend hours sitting in various book stores flipping through the ever-expanding stock of books. This year when she came back to Chittagong, she wanted to see what the present 'deshi' book market looked like. Her friend suggested she take a tour to a special book shop situated in the Chittagong Press Club. Expecting to see a cramped store with dim lights, she found herself standing in an enormous room resembling a ship that was filled with books. The readers had the freedom to explore all the nooks and crannies of the store while sipping on cups of tea and coffee, a scene quite unheard of any other bookstore of the country.
“I was surprised, and then the surprise turned into pleasure and pride thinking that we have a bookstore like this in our country,” says Shehnaz.
The friendly atmosphere, the maritime ambience and the extensive book collection turned her into a regular at Baatighar.
Baatighar, in the heart of Chittagong city, has become a home for thousands of book lovers like Shahnaz since the time it was converted into a bookstore.
When the Sailor Sailed Off
The people who have been to Baatighar have surely come across the young knowledgeable shop owner Dipankar Das. In fact Baatighar and Dipankar Das are synonymous with each other!
A former dedicated employee in Biswa Sahitya Kendra, Dipankar Das is from Chittagong. Dipankar does not belong to a business oriented background neither has he got an affluent family patronising him. All he ever had was a passion for reading and a dream to build a bookstore where people could browse around, sit, read and buy all the books they ever wanted!
Born in a village called Dhalghat, Patia, Chittagong, he was introduced to the Mustafizur Rahman Public Library in Patia during his college days. A devotee of knowledge, Dipankar used to spend a great deal of time with the books there. He along with his friends developed a readers' association for like-minded literature buffs. In the year of 1997, when Kendra opened its branch in Patia he became one of the organisers. After two years of arduous service in Patia, eminent educationist Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed entitled him with another responsibility of being a part of the Kendra's new project Biswa Sahitya Kendra Mobile Library. During his stay there, he was blessed with the opportunity of getting close to different publishers and readers.
Year 2001 can be marked as a significant year in Dipankar's life. 'Sayeed Sir', his mentor, authorised him with the responsibility of taking the initiative of a mobile library in Chittagong. He returned to Chittagong and discovered with utter surprise that in Dhaka he had to collect two thousand members over a year, whereas in Chittagong, he could enlist the same amount of members in only three months.
“I knew Chittagong had a lot of readers, but did not have a proper book store,” he says. “I started thinking of a place which would be culturally vibrant and at the same time would be able to meet the universal standards of a bookstore.” With the meagre savings he had and loans from his book lover friends and family along with his incorrigibly optimistic mind, he sailed his ship in the year 2005.
He started his long awaited bookstore Baatighar, in an area of around hundred square feet only. No matter how shabby looking and tiny it was, Baatighar added a fresh intellectual dimension in Momin Road by offering an unusually rich collection of books. Within a few days, Dipankar had been able to lure a huge number of readers from all walks of society. But he was not happy yet, his vision was to give readers more space to think and more freedom to choose. Once again, with his savings and with the help of bank loan, he decided to expand this store.
And now here it is: a whole new Baatighar on the ground floor of Chittagong Press Club.
Tale of the Experienced Logs
How could Chittagong be iconised as a city? By its hills or greenery? Or by the vast sea shore or its ever hectic port? This 1,642 square feet store attempts to incorporate all these elements efficiently while keeping in mind the store's basic utility - to provide books. “I used non-conventional materials, the materials which are mostly used in different parts of a ship and port while keeping some green vegetation outside the windows,” says Shahinur Rahman, the interior designer of Baatighar.
The book racks and the floors are not made of ordinary wood, Shahinur has used the processed wood of ships' decks collected from Bhatiari ship breaking yard. The reason behind using this wood is its suitability to the nautical theme of the shop's décor and the wood's longevity. There is another reason that Shahinur explains, “The way books provide unique experiences and make a connection with their readers, the logs used here also share the age-old experience of travelling from port to port. Some of them are fifty years old, while some might be hundred of years. Like the books, they too have some tales to tell!”
Beside its huge collection, readers acclaim Baatighar for being so wide and commodious. “I always wished for a huge book store in Bangladesh where readers would not only go in order to buy books but also they would get a chance to walk around freely while flipping through a book and reading a couple of pages, Baatighar fits into that!”, says Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, noted academician and popular author of our country.
Baatighar arranges poetry reading sessions attended by many intellectuals of the country. Photo: Prabir Das
While most of our bookshops are crammed with books all around and hardly leave any place for the readers to stand, Baatighar offers space and freedom to the readers to go through its wide collection. When Shahinur first visited the site which is the ground floor of Chittagong Press Club, he found that the place was divided into 10-15 smaller chambers. He decided to declutter the space by breaking those walls so that the readers could get enough space.
This is not all. Baatighar is adorned with many other items which resemble the ships and port. Instead of conventional windows, Baatighar has portholes, hanging ropes, a wooden wheel, a shelf shaped like a light house with rocks around it, warm fresnel lights (the oblique lights used in a lighthouse) and a cargo container used as a counter table. The container carries the message of book arrival on its body and also a note saying “Book, food, brain.” “A message which implies books are the food for the brain,” laughs Shahinur.
A User-friendly Store
Readers get a chance to sit and flip through the books in the Baatighar. Photo: Prabir Das
The new Baatighar is yet to celebrate its first birthday, but has already gathered a large number of book readers, buyers and followers. “I was always determined to keep only the original books. Baatighar does not house any pirated books”, he acclaims.
Dipankar aims to develop a bridge between the readers and Baatighar. Hence he maintains a directory of the regular readers and buyers who come over and give them regular updates on what's new in the shop. Also the buyers can place their order of any book that they want, and Baatighar tries to import them from the publishers.
The shop accommodates the book in a convenient and organised way. Professor Salimullah Khan says it is user friendly. He says, “Starting from local books to international books everything is organised in such a way that the readers can get access to them easily.”
The shop has space allocated for all the renowned publishers of our country as well as subject wise categories. Baatighar also offers books from different languages and has a separate segment called the English Corner. In this corner readers get a chance to learn about language and dictionary, fiction, non-fiction, classics, fashion, anthropology and mythology, film, drama, art and architecture etc. Baatighar's collection of must-read classics has received admiration from many noteworthy individuals. Vice-chancellor of Premier University Prof Dr Anupam Sen is one of them. “One of the aspects of this store which I appreciate is its diversity in books and journals selection.”
The shop owner Dipankar Das and Baatighar are synonymous with each other!
Baatighar's large array of books makes it a readers' haven, but there is another feature which makes it unique. “We attempt to organise a poetry reading session or a book publishing event once a month,” says Dipankar. “Thus Baatighar has been fortunate to get in touch with many renowned personalities of our country.” So far poet Syed Shamsul Haque, essayist-poet Professor Hayat Mamud, poet Nirmolendu Goon, writer Nasreen Jahan, Abdullah Abu Sayeed, Dr. Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Prof Salimullah Khan, Prof Dr. Anupom Sen, poet Helal Hafez, journalist Abul Momen, artist Qayyum Chowdhury, former adviser to caretaker government Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, and many more important personalities have visited the place once or even more. Baatighar also hosts Indian literary personalities like Subodh Sarkar, Vikram Seth and Gautam Bhadra.
Baatighar welcomed Poet Helal Hafez in its first poetry session. “I read poetry for two long hours in front of a group of intellectual audience" says Hafez. "I was amazed to see their thirst for poetry in the question answer session afterwards,” he continues, “there are very few places like Baatighar where I have gained this much joy while reading.”
Baatighar's hospitality is not done yet, let's not forget the coffee and tea it has to offer for the readers!
From the Reader's Diary
William Wolf. Currently working as Senior English Language Fellow in Chittagong Independent University. Baatighar is one of those first places he visited on his arrival in Bangladesh from the USA back in 2012. It used to meet his thirst for good books on a regular basis, hence it became a part of his daily routine to visit the place.
The list is quite long of what he really likes about Baatighar. He likes its rich collection of English language books, the classics, contemporary literature section. “I've read probably five Amitav Ghosh novels during my time here, and also things by Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Satyajit Ray and Sunil Gangopadhyay , both in Bengali and in English translation,”
Renowned Indian author and poet Vikram Seth, while visiting Baatighar.
And like many other Baatighar lovers, he too did not forget to mention about its extensive space. William continues, “I like the way that Baatighar serves as a place for people to wait and to meet. People wander in, buy a coffee, browse some books, and wait for friends to arrive.”
William attended a few book reading session hosted by Baatighar as well. He believes that Baatighar definitely acts as an important part of an active cultural life in a city like Chittagong.
Poet Syed Shamsul Haque.
“How many books have I bought there in the past year?,” he asks to himself. “It's hard to say. Perhaps a hundred, but I'm not sure. Some of these are for kids, like Gangopadhyay's Kaka Babu and many others are academic works on history, art, politics, and economics of Bangladesh. Baatighar has been a central part of my intellectual education in Bangladesh, and I'm thankful for it,” William ends.
Another bookworm and a regular purchaser in Baatighar is Dr ZN Karim. “There are five books I always wanted to read in my lifetime, Dr. Karim continues, “Five books, I could not procure when I was abroad because of various reasons. One of those five books is Edmund Wilson's landmark 'To the Finland Station'. One day when I was talking to Dipankar about my urge of getting them, he brought them from London and New York in less than a fortnight. If Baatighar were not there, I wonder if I could ever get that service from any other book store here.”
Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed (L), Poet Nirmolendu Goon and Eminent cosmologist Jamal Nazrul Islam (Late) in the opening ceremony of Baatighar. Photos Courtesy: Baatighar
Dipankar adds, “Dr Karim told me that his life would remain incomplete if he could not get access of those books.”
“He made me pay for the courier charge though,” Dr Karim laughs out loud!
“Read, Think and Grow”
A city where children have hardly any place to call their own, Baatighar does not forget to offer a separate corner for them. A corner which is as rich and colourful that not only the children, but also people of any age would readily get lost in it. A corner standing on an elevated platform than the rest of the store is the children's sector.
Children's corner is namely for children, but it also houses children's parents and the people who want to revisit their childhood in the pages of classics and fables.
I often bring my son Dhonno here. There is no particular category of book that he clings to. His interest leaps from science to myths, Dhonno's mother Zeenat Islam smilingly says while her son possessively clutches a few number of books to himself.
On a regular school day, the readers in Baatighar can surely notice school girls in green and white uniforms reading in a corner or going through books of different interests. They are the students from Dr. Khastagir Government Girls' High School which stands pretty close to Baatighar.
Photo: Prabir Das
Towards a Bigger Dream
One day Dipankar the dreamer dreamt of creating the biggest hub of book lovers in Chittagong; dream fulfilled!
The way a light house guides the sea travellers, the way the beacon symbolises hope by spreading its beam, Diponkar wants his Baatighar to be the same way. “I want to establish Baatighar in the divisional cities. I dream of developing a nationwide readers' society where readers can get access to any book they like,” Dipankar exclaims.
This is not only Dipankar's dream, it's a dream shared by many important personalities who have been there. Poet Nirmolendu Goon expresses his concern of not having an ample number of book stores in Dhaka. “Bangla Bazar in Old Dhaka hosts a huge book market for the readers, however, in the other part of Dhaka a good book store has become a rare object to find. He believes that all the significant super malls in Dhaka should accommodate book stores which are spacious in size and rich in collection. Baatighar could be a model to follow,” says poet Goon.
Poet Syed Shamsul Haque, too believes it's not Dipankar's sole responsibility to start this reading riot throughout the country, rather he welcomes all the book traders and publishers to start similar kind of book shops where readers can breathe in freely and can explore different sections of knowledge.
“I would like to start something similar in Dhaka in the near future,” Dipankar elaborates, “This can be a joint venture or a franchise with anyone or any organisation with similar interest. I also gladly look forward to helping any book lover who wants to start something similar like Baatighar through offering logistical support or sharing whatever experience we have earned in our journey.”
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