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When I was a teenager

In Conversation with Mustafa Nurul Islam

by A Maher
***‘We were taught to fend for ourselves and not rely on the servants for everything. Servants were there but I washed my own clothes and did my own cleaning, tidied my room and even helped with the shopping” recalls Nurul Islam.***
by A Maher
THE intellectual arena of Bangladesh has no doubt given birth to many names that have charmed and took people by surprise. Some of these names have been a bit In the shadows in person, so to speak, while their works have spread across the country in diversified media. Mustafa Nurul Islam is a Professor of Bengali. Outside of the classroom he ranks as a national Intellectual, a thinker who analyses the social Issues a little differently from the rest. His focus has many a time fallen on the Bengali language, It’s roots and branches to the dialect of the various districts that have transformed it. Mustafa Nurul Islam gained acclamation through the publishing of “Sundaram” a magazine of poems, writeups and literary delicacies. Much later on, and to the present, he has hosted a popular talk-show on the intricate Issues of Bengali culture. Still going about with a thousand things to do for his age, he is a man pursuing his work with zealous dedication. After a little hunt he gave an insight Into the memoirs of his earlier life which shaped much of his future.
Mustafa Nurul Islam was born into the family of a government officer. He was the eldest among 7 brothers and 4 sisters. He says that his was a typical nqiddle-class family.Travelling was a routine thing, courtesy of his father. So. before he could settle down to unpack they had changed homes: this exposed him to rural Bangladesh, or British-ruled Bangladesh to be precise. so he terms his teenage life as one away from the city and having all the essence of the typical village scenario. But that did not mean unrestricted freedom and the luxury to lounge about the village greenery all day. The head of the family had sweeping powers and tough laws were clamped down the younger members; it was always a very disciplined way of life In and out of the house. One characteristic that trickled down from this strictness was an attitude to shun the cloak of aristocracy, or more natively “babugirr.
“We were taught to fend for ourselves and not rely on the servants for everything. Servants were there but I washed my own clothes and did my own cleaning, tidied my room and even helped with the shopping" recalls Nurul Islam.
In the afternoon there would be football matches in the locality and young Islam was an ardent player, but when matches crept into the evening there would be apprehension. Past that deadline no dinner would be served at home! Regular welts of the ancestral cane would announce Infringements on the traditional parental ethics as well.
Young Islam found interest in literature from the environment at his home. His was a household full of books the elder Islam had collected. Indeed it was because of his father that Nurul Islam found the family library so amazing. His father also made him recite well-known verses standing on a stool in the living room and made him read all the classics and pieces that he himself had been handed down over the generations. But the luckiest part of the younger Islam’s literary ed-ucation was exposure to his father’s social circles. Those friends of his fathers’ were emerging national figures of the country then, many of them household names in the present day Bangladesh. And these people used to come over and have a noisy gathering with the head of' the house whilst our budding intellectual would peer at them and start a conversation of his own with one ot them sometime.
“My father made me read Dale Carnegie’s book - 'How to Make Friends'. This had a significant impact on me and changed my outlook on many things. But I could never compete with my father on books; one thing that amazed me at that age and time was how he had memorised the classic 'Paradise Lost’".
Mustafa Nurul Islam insists that the most significant years of his teenage life were spent in the district of Dlnajpur. This was also where student politics played a role In his young life. Earlier he was introduced to politics during schooling in class ten. In Dlnajpur he enrolled in the G.C. Dev college and took part In organising meetings, rallies and demonstrations.
“Getting into politics those days were a transitive stage in our lives: the na-tlonal and social atmosphere was volatile and revolutions were taking place everywhere. Since I was a completely new activist in the political arena my ideologies and loyalties were spread and confused. For example. I took part actively in the peasant movement in the rural areas at that time. But then again 1 was a participant in the anti-imperialist movement as well. So there was a bit of a conflict. Then I didn't realise it".
Their politics of course was a different story altogether from the 'student politics' of today. But.
“The youth are not to be blamed. They have been sucked into something we have, in fact, given to them as a society. They are a hopeful lot. today’s teenagers. And how contrasting they are from our times! They have a lot of queries; lot of questions swirling in their heads about how to go about life. And because of this attitude a teenager today would not take everything for granted like we used to do. We led a simpler life but now the situation asks for the parents to wake up to the needs of their wards. The young seriously need the support of their family from the home, and teachers from the aca- . demic life".