& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Readings Reviews from Syed Badrul Ahsan

Digging deeper roots

Syed Badrul Ahsan
FOR scholars in Bangladesh, Ali Anwar's was a voice of erudition in the enumeration of the Bengali cultural heritage. This work is a pointer to the high intellectualism Anwar brought into his assessment of the issues, as he saw them, that needed to be deliberated on. And he deliberated, for years, in a manner that was as purposeful as it was unobtrusive. There was something of the refreshingly old-fashioned about his approach to the study of history and cultural tradition. He was not content to read about history and culture in a pedestrian manner. What fascinated him, for which he remains a recipient of collective gratitude, is a digging into the roots of things.
It is the results of that digging which we spot in Shahitya Shongskriti Nana Bhabna. The sheer scale of thought Ali Anwar brings into his assessment of aesthetics is a powerful argument why this collection of essays needs to be gone through. Think of the essay, Bangali Shongskritir Bhitor O Bahir, where the writer delineates two aspects to the Bengali personality . In the first, he places the individual Bengali's thoughts, beliefs, values and aestheticism. In the second, he dwells on the social structure and collective aspects of Bengali life, its relation to architecture, technology, ceremonies and the like. That is a hint you have of what you could be encountering in the other essays put together in this com-
A particular attraction in reading Ali Anwar is the surefooted manner in which he juxtaposes the traditional with the contemporary. He may give you Rabindranath, but he takes care not to fall behind the present. Which is when you find him busy inquiring into the relevance of Pablo Neruda's poetry in such well-informed write-ups as Proshongo Neruda and Pablo Neruda: Kobi Hoye Otha. That literature and politics may quite be removed from each other and
yet may be inextricably linked is a thought he brings out well in Shahitya O Rajniti. In his own times, indeed in ours as a whole, he finds in Waheedul Haque the embodiment of modern Bengali aesthetics. His tribute to the polymath is moving.
Themes other than literature people the book, a sign of the idea that in Ali Anwar modernity was an all-encompassing thought. Note the article Hpodruto Manush O Oshohaye Manobotabad. Or Shirin Ebadi'r Utopia Bibhrom O Bastobota. There is too Bigyan Shikkha, Bigyanmonoshkota O Bigyane Srishtishilota.
Ali Anwar's fundamental idea is one of reminding people not only of their indigenous cultural tradition but also bringing them in touch with heritage as it has shaped up around the globe over millennia. And with that comes his interest in the world around him, the quotidian world that often comes in the way of our reflections on the idealism we need to sustain ourselves. An observation of the subjects covered in the work, as already alluded to, remains testimony to Anwar's conributions to the growth of the Bengali cultural consciousness. It is just too bad that our interest in the man has never been of the kind that would make him a household name.
By bringing this work out into the public domain, Bengal Publications has certainly done a splendid job of unlocking the door to thoughts we had by and large neglected to delve into. The sheer depth of thought in Anwar is revealing of the measure of the man. That he was a scholar, that a thinker lay behind the writing is what Bengal has most powerfully brought to the fore. And we are left somewhat richer in our estimation of our fast depleting scholar class than we were before.
This compilation is a powerful articulation of an aesthete's thoughts. It is especially students and people interested in the cultural background of Bangladesh,indeed its history, who will find it a source of much needed information. It needs to be read in the calm which descends with a longish spell of Baishakh rains.