HUMAYUN AHMED is one of the most pioneer writers in Bangla literature. He is not only praiseworthy and respected but also hated and criticized for various reasons. Above all, he is the part of our literary history because he was able to make the people read the Bangladeshi books.
Humayun Ahmed is criticized and written every year but only few try to analyse his writings from literary perspective. As a result, the literary value of his writings is being lost day by day. We forget his first writing established the decadentism in Bangla Literature. What the most critics write on him now-a-days is based on his personal activities and life.
No doubt, he creates excitement in his writings. He never thinks to defamiliarize the society by using his popularity. If he did it, automatically the young generation would be united to reconstruct the society throwing away garbage from everywhere. Though he becomes much matured day by day and is able to read the mind of the young easily, he does not ask them to be changed to decorate their life and country. He should have pointed out where the problems are lying hidden in Bangladesh.
Anyway before 1990s, he wrote a series of satire in different weeklies and named them Elebele. Here some of them are discussed as they are successfully highlighted the social darkness and disorders. Very first story is taken from his personal experience. Once he accompanied with his children went to the Bengali New Year Fair in the Bangla Academy Yard and found cheap and fruitless love of people showing for country. Humayun Ahmed's second daughter bought a pair of Rabindranath and Nazrul at 10 taka. Because of overcrowded, she was stricken by someone and then Rabindranath was fallen down and broken into two pieces. Then a number of people gathered around them and lamented for broken Rabindranath. Here he satirizes the cheap and whimsical love for country. In the second story, he shows the indulgence of a grown-up-teenager girl who has just completed SSC and is to be admitted to a college. After passing, the girl's behaviour and way of speaking changes. She talks with nose and does not care anybody. When Humayun Ahmed notices it to her, she attempts to commit suicide drinking Detol (antiseptic liquid). After treatment, she becomes more brutal and everyone has to follow what she asks.
In the same story he shows another teenager girl's peculiar fashion. The girl wears three different ornaments in one ear. For three holes of an ear it looks like a net. Then he asks when the fashion would change, how would she block these holes? After that he introduces another college boy's madness who has goatee beard and he never takes care of it. He depicts the interesting scenery the following way: The last Wednesday, I went to my sister and while entering I saw a rakish sitting on sofa. 'Push Me' is written on his chest. He is smoking carelessly. The drawing room becomes dark for smoking. Later I am known he is the friend of my nephew . . . Few minutes later I hear some shouting, 'Mama, come. Please, come quickly. Please hurry up, mama. I have rushed there and seen eleven lice are on a white piece of paper. The rakish boy has combed his beard and got these. Among these, four are red. But I see both of them are enjoying it much!
Humayun Ahmed wrote it twenty five years age, but what we see now is more than that time. In the name of modernism, the children are indulged and are becoming desperate. Not only the children or the youth but also we are responsible for these. Then he suggests that if we want to minimize the problem, we must follow the religion.
In another story, we see a man enjoys a movie thirty one times and wishes to watch it more because he has been interrupted by a running train when the actress is about to put her dress off before bathing in the river. He believes that once the train must be late and he could see the naked body of the actress. Through the story Humayun Ahmed shows the dark desire of human being.
In another story, Humayun Ahmed satirizes the corrupted politicians and the foolish people who clap hearing the unproductive and untruthful speech of those politicians. He claims that there are some politicians and some professional people who are always eager to be the chief guest in any programme. They never think whether the programme can be benefited for the society. In order to make them lesson, he tells an excellent story. He says: In his locality there is a cultural club. The members of the club everyday play music and recite poems incorrectly hiring mike and everyone is being tired because of their activities. The other year flood affected the locality severely. Then the club members got an idea to collect money. They would arrange a cultural programme in the local school ground and would make a gorgeous stage where a naked man would be sitting (who had only a small piece of banana leaf covering the sensitive organ). Then one would request the chief guest and the other guests to come on the stage one by one to contribute to the affected people.
According their idea, they arranged the programme and a number of people gathered there. Behind the stage, one announced that the chief guest would be coming now to give his all. No sooner had the guest arrived on the stage than his clothes and other things like wallet, watch, and sun-glass were being put off. Simultaneously, people were heard that 'you see the man who is on the stage has nothing but you have a lot. So please, come to the stage and give all what you have now.'
What an interesting idea Humayun Ahmed uses to criticize the corrupted people!In another story, he scolds those TV presenters and film actors and actresses who are illiterate or half-literate but disguise like a wise and a man of letter. He even asks what the benefit is of knowing which colour is favourite of an actor or actresses, what they like to eat and wear, or where they like to go. Then he tells us the summary of an interview of an actress in a TV channel. When she asked whether she liked to read book, she replied without reading book she never thought to sleep. After that when she was asked who was the writer of Das Capital, she answered, "It is an interesting novel I have ever read but unfortunately I have forgotten the name of the author and the theme of the book as I read it long ago." Then Humayun Ahmed says what a liar she is! Then Humayun Ahmed shows us how the journalists can belittle us if they wish it. He informs a piece of surprising decision of the government that in movie or TV serials, a producer can criticize the mass people, teacher and even a Imam of a mosque. But they cannot show the fault of army and police or a judge. Why? He claims that they should be criticized most because they will ensure the law and order of society. If they are released, the mass people cannot live peacefully. ----------------------------------------------------Mohammad Jashim Uddin is a senior lecturer at the Department of English of Northern University Bangladesh
