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Reminiscing Nazrul

“I dance, as I desire, at own pleasure”

Published : Sunday, 21 May, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 233
Ahmed Tahsin Shams
COVER STORY
Writing on the Nazrul-like lifestyle, on the eve of our rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam's birth anniversary (May 25, 1899), is the toughest task I am assigned to till date. The Sad Lad (Dukhu Mia, Nazrul's nickname) of Bengal had a life of all styles---warrior, poetic, romantic, spiritual. And at the end of the day, I would say, he was born for it, and he nailed it!
Since childhood, the madrassa educated Nazrul was very much attracted to folk theatre, and found life into poetry, music and dance. Thus, Nazrul, while seeking life, left madrassa, and joined a travelling theatre group; and his inert talent of acting and music bloomed far, so far that we still live in it, and will always till Bengal is alive.
Later, Nazrul enhanced his canvas of knowledge by reading works of Bengali folklore as well as Sanskrit. By the age (10 years old), Nazrul composed a good number of folk plays for his theatre, when I, with my fellow-classmates, was learning 'present perfect tense' and 'how to calculate percentage' in my missionary school (Saint Joseph Higher Secondary School). 
Nazrul resumed his education at the age of 11. I, like few others, took a pause from 'stereotype' education after 20 years of 'education-illusion', but Nazrul did that earlier.  After Raniganj Searsole Raj School, at Mathrun High English School, capitalism (as usual) seized his academic life and he
turned out as a cook at the house of a railway guard.
He also used to sell tea at Asansol Station. There he met a police inspector Rafizullah (around 1914), who popped up as a blessing in disguise and admitted him at Darirampur School in Mymensingh. Such a police, may 'God' gift our nation today!
What could work on his mind then? I don't know why Nazrul did not appear for the matriculation pre-test examination. Such a rebellious attitude, I could never exhibit, but thought such often. While studying in the University of Dhaka, I also thought to quit in the middle, but couldn't stick to that thought for more than a semester. But, our Nazrul turned out as a warrior, enlisted himself in the British Indian Army in 1917 at the age of eighteen.
I said once, he was born to be NAZRUL. When he was posted to the cantonment in Karachi, Nazrul subscribed to some of the notable literary journals published from Kolkata like Prabasi, Bharatbarsa, Bharati, Manasi, Sahitya Patrika. He extensively read the works of Rabindranath and Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. He also learned to read Persian poetry from the regiment's moulvi, and practised music as well. It was at Karachi cantonment that Nazrul's literary works started to get noticed.
Before Nazrul inked 'Bidrohi' (Rebel) poem, he literally acted as rebel even in his love-life. Around 1921, Nazrul was engaged to Begum Nargis, the niece of one of his publisher Ali Akbar Khan. But on the day of the wedding, Nazrul walked away when he heard the term "Ghar Jamai" to be included in the marriage contract.
Later, during his Comilla visit, Nazrul met a young woman named Pramila Sengupta who belonged to the Brahmo Samaj. After a few years of their love affair, they got married on 25 April 1924. But this Rebel Poet was damned by the Muslim religious leaders for marrying a non-Muslim without converting her. He did what many of today's generation can't dare to dream even! 
Nazrul's lifestyle was like a mutinous language, as if a continuous non-cooperation movement, that made him the rebellious youth of Bengal.
After the First World War, Nazrul settled in Kolkata and began writing for the Bengali Muslim Literary Journal. His popularity alarmed the British authorities. As a result, he was arrested in the September of 1922 and was imprisoned till 1923. I, at times, dreamt of a literal jail-life, though never desired any criminal acts certainly.
To be specific, such silly dream was born from the passion to read and write. I thought, in jail, I could write and read at my own desire. But that only happens in Disney. In reality, I am not even close to Nazrul's spirit. During his time in jail, his true rebellious spirit made him pen the famous song 'The Iron Gates of Prison': Tear down those iron gates of prison; raze these blood-stained stony altars of slavery!"
I, when started reading Marx, never could write on it, whereas the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia influenced Nazrul as seen in his poems 'Samyabadi' and 'Sarbahara'.  He translated the 'Communist International' under the title 'Jago Anashana Bandi Utha Re Yata' (Wake up and rise all the prisoners of hunger).
Moreover, unlike many of his contemporaries, Nazrul believed in the equality of women, as seen in his poem 'Nari' (Woman). It took years for me to literally be a performer of gender equity, as I was also brought up in a patriarch environment. Later, poetry, mostly Nazrul's, helped me to get out of that imprisonment.
Nazrul, then, fought against colonialism, through his music and verses. In 1925, His Master's Voice (HMV) produced the first gramophone record containing two of Nazrul's songs.
Nazrul attended several political meetings of various parties calling upon his fellow countrymen to rise against foreign rule. Nazrul also composed the very first ghazals in Bengali, which till then were written mainly in Urdu, to bring Muslims closer to the Bengali Arts (Muslim orthodoxy considers various forms arts to be sinful). He also composed a number of notable bhajans and kirtans, combining Hindu devotional music. Such an instance of equity is still missing in the country.
Acharya Ray declared, "It is my belief, by reading the poems of Nazrul Islam that each of our future children will become a superman." And Subhas Chandra Bose said about Nazrul's works: "When we go to war, we shall sing Nazrul's war songs. When we go to prison, we shall still sing his songs."
Between 1928 and 1935, Nazul composed and released eight hundred songs of which more than six hundred were based on classical ragas and almost hundred were kirtans. Nazrul's music is more than academic, his verses strike more than arrows, and his lifestyle is ever versatile than any literary giant.
Poetry or music, to me, is more than a mere profession, or mere academic subject. Literature is a lifestyle. What I wear, what I eat, what I speak --- these all reflect my thoughts, my identity. Nazrul taught me, and all his ever-rising devotees --- how style reflects life, and how vast the canvas of literature and music is.
Happy Birthday the Valiant! Happy Birthday our Sensei of Freedom! 

Ahmed Tahsin Shams is Editorial Assistant,
The Daily Observer




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