Famous poet Humayun Ahmed

Humayun Ahmed - Shakespeare of Bangladesh

Professor Humayun Ahmed, who earned a P.H.D. in chemistry from North Dakota State University, and who was one-third scientist, one-third writer, and one-third filmmaker, died at 64 on Thursday night in the United States after a nearly year-long battle against colon cancer. Every Bengali heart has grown heavier and heavier since his death.

Picture of famous poet Humayun Ahmed in Bangladesh

Humayun was a custodian of the Bangladeshi literary culture whose contribution single-handedly shifted the capital of Bengali literature from Kolkata to Dhaka without any war or revolution.
One of the remarkable things about Humayun's long and distinguished literary career is his influence. His writing is so influential that people not only get psychological pleasure from reading his books, but usually end up becoming fans of his fictional characters, such as Himu, Misir Ali, and Baker Bhai. His creations generate the smells, sounds, and vibrations of feelings and moods, which are more powerful than all the unused hydrogen bombs in the United States. However, in death, Humayun's celebrity seems likely to exceed his popularity, even at the height of his fame. His funeral, which was held in Dhaka on Tuesday, became a Super Bowl-like event: millions of Bengali's from all walks of life flocked to the Central Shaheed Minar yesterday to say "Hasta la vista, Humayun Sir."

Humayun's death has proven that the tragic and completely unexpected passing of an icon familiar to millions can create an emotionally unifying experience for a nation. Bangladesh does not have oil, coal, or fossil fuel, but it's still more united than many countries, such as Pakistan, because it had Humayun Ahmed—whose influence was strong enough to unite all Bangladeshis with each other emotionally. What, then, is our assessment of Humayun's importance in world literature?

Humayun, who was known for his depiction of the tribulations of ordinary middle-class Bangladeshi life, reached the peak of his fame with the publication of Nondito Noroke (In Blissful Hell) in 1972, which remains one of his most famous works, winning admiration from literary critics, including Dr. Ahmed Sarif. He wrote over 200 fiction and non-fiction books—all of which were bestsellers in Bangladesh. This is something unheard of. I think he is the only writer in the history of the world whose every book became a bestseller. This achievement alone would probably entitle him to place his name next to Shakespeare.

Furthermore, Humayun made a huge contribution to the field of fine arts, especially in film. He is hailed as one of the most influential architects of television drama of all time, authoring landmark sitcoms, such as Ei Shob Din Ratri, Bohubrihi, Ayomoy, and Kothao Keu Nei, which featured a fictional character named Baker Bhai, who was wrongly convicted and executed. Baker Bhai became such a popular character that before the last episode was aired, thousands of people across the country urged Humayun to change the script just to save his life, the life of a fictional character. This made Humayun a household name, which allowed him a great deal of autonomy for his future projects, motion pictures. His films have covered many themes and genres—addressing such topics as the Bangladesh Liberation War, the middle class crisis, and socio-economic issues. His first film, Aguner Parashmoni, based on the history of the Bangladesh Liberation War, was a huge success—winning National Film Awards in eight categories, including Best Picture and Best Director. His film, Shyamal Chhaya, was submitted by Bangladesh as an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. As with Satyajit Ray, Zahir Raihan, or Tareque Masud, it is difficult to calculate the full effect Humayun had on Bangla film. But he was indisputably the most talented Bengali filmmaker, more so than his three famous predecessors. In fact, I cannot name any other Bengali filmmaker who better illustrated the history of the country's independence through film the way Humayun did; he was ahead of his time. Had Humayun done nothing else, the creation of such films alone would have entitled him to be one of the greatest Bengalis of all time.

In assessing Humayun's importance, one should take into account that had he not lived, his books and films would never have been created at all. For this reason, some people even contend that it is Humayun, rather than Tagore or Nazrul, who should really be considered as the greatest Bengali of all time. Carried to its logical conclusion, that argument would lead one to place Humayun higher than Tagore or Nazrul. However, I am a little skeptical about accepting such logic. It is true that Bengali literature would have remained piteously incomplete, and even imperfect, without the works of Humayun. However, it is also quite apparent that without the works of Tagore or Nazrul, Bengali literature would have broken up into mutually unintelligible dialects. Hence, it is fair to place Humayun after Tagore and Nazrul. However, Humayun never compared himself to Shakespeare, and not even to Tagore and Nazrul. He did not regard himself as a great writer.

In fact, I am sure that if anyone conducted a survey to list the five greatest writers of Bengali literature, Humayun would be third, if not first or second. Furthermore, one should consider what other great people have said about Humayun. Several years ago, I asked Muhammad Yunus how he assessed Humayun's overall impact, and he replied, "Humayun's works are the most profound and most fruitful that literature has experienced since the time of Tagore and Nazrul." Al Mahmud, the poet laureate of Bangladesh, told me something similar: "One golden age of Bengali literature ended with Tagore and Nazrul and another began with Humayun." Fiction writer Imdadul Haq Milon considered him to be the almighty lord of his Bengali literature, controlling all their actions and thoughts. If so, he is a generous lord, who is great because he created immortal characters, such as Misir Ali and Himu, and they, on entering our memory, become more alive than the living. Misir Ali is basically a rational psychologist committed to unraveling the mysteries around him through logic. On the other hand, Himu, who works with anti-logic, appears to possess strong intuitive power, though he dismisses his intuitions that come true as mere coincidence. Misir Ali forces us to realize that logic is above emotion, and Himu forces us to understand within ourselves that the better side of our nature should always struggle for dominance with our subtle dark side.

Famous poet Humayun Ahmed and his family.

Although Humayun created literary fever through his works, which spread all around Bangladesh, unfortunately he still remained one of the great unsung heroes of human progress to those who live outside of the Indian subcontinent. With that said, literature, of course, is not all about recognition. Still, the fact that Stockholm did not ultimately embrace Humayun Ahmed—a Nobel Prize, why not?—is unfortunate, as it probably would have meant a lot to him. In a time when hardly any of the roles (including Hasina, who is playing the role of Prime Minister) are being played correctly in Bangladesh, Humayun played the role that was assigned to him well: writer and filmmaker. As a result, his name has become synonymous with the greatness of Bengali literature. Hence, to a Bangladeshi, his loss is manifold. He made young people—especially students who had been bred to political passion—understand that there was something that is more important than politics: reading books, and appreciating the fine arts.

Humayun may be regarded as one of the world's most important writers, but despite his innumerable professional successes,he found it difficult to maintain a harmonious love life with his first wife, much like Albert Einstein. In fact, so pragmatic was Humayun's approach to love, that when he found that his 32-year marriage to Gultekin was floundering, he filed for divorce in 2005. He married Meher Afroz Shaon shortly after. Many people have tried to understand Humayun's cruel behavior through the poems of Nazrul: "I am disorderly and lawless, I trample under my feet all rules and discipline! I dance at my own pleasure; I am the unfettered joy of life." Did Nazrul's poem justify Humayun's ruthless behavior? The answer can be found in the poetry of Persian poet Rumi, who claimed that no one is a saint by saying"If you are a saint, you do not belong to the human race" Rumi also wrote:

"Stretch your arms; And take hold the cloth of your cloths;
With both hands; The cure for pain is in the pain;
Good and bad are mixed. If you do not have both
You do not belong with us"

People are not going to hate Humayun because he was not a saint. In fact, the opposite is true: people love him so much because he was so human. People love the prickly faced human Humayun and his childlike search for the magic-story in the forest of Nuhash Palli—now the place of his eternal rest. This is why, without Humayun, all Bangladeshis' lives would be paler and poorer. The fact that Humayun wrote the books, and made the sitcoms and films that were the background melody for millions of Bangladeshis' growing-up experiences, gives us the basis to love our motherland. This is why it is impossible for 170 million Bangladeshis to hold back their tears, or not to wonder what might have been if he had been able to beat colon cancer. A poem—similar to Percy Bysshe Shelley's elegy on the death of John Keats — might be applied even more appropriately to Humayun:

Why do you weep for Humayun—thou think he is dead?

Oh, no—he lives as long as the moon lights

Why do you mourn for the Shakespeare of Bangladesh—thou think he is perished?

Oh, no—he never died

He wakes; he walks—and still writes for us

Oh weep not, Oh mourn not

'This death is dead, not Humayun

He lives as long as the sun shines.