The Frame of Mirror (Aynar
frem)
[About Ayna, the book written by Abul Mansur Ahmad]
Translated by: Mohammad Omar Farooq [2/17/2000]
An ordinary mirror only reflects the outer self of the person looking at it. But the mirror my friend, artist Abul Mansur Ahmad, has built reflects the inner self. There are many a masked person at large in our society, roaming with the ease of disguise; the mirror made by Abul Mansur exposes their true, vicious faces. It seems that I have spotted these chameleon-like, masked, uncivilized humans quite often--in temples, masjids, speaker's platforms, dens of politics, or literary gatherings.
Satirical works may receive much recognition in literature available in some other language. Unfortunately, satire is not viewed similarly in our literature. The high status of Jerome and Bernard Shaw in English literature showcases the savvy English readership. Not just in English literature, in all other literature satirical works have been offered similar high status. All Euporean literature is enriched with lampoon and satire, and their authors have earned high recognition.
The reason satirical literature has not flourished much in Bangla is because satire requires considerable talent and creativity. It'd be like "twisting the ears" (kaan mole) of a Sitar to extract a tune - the tune will ring out, but the strings would remain unstrummed. Once I watched a master play a Shorod (a musical instrument) with a stick (latthi). I was astonished by the skilled hand of that master. And today I am equally astonished by Abul Mansur's skilled writing. Abul Mansur's ability in sculpting aesthetic pieces by "twisting the ears" of his language is nonpareil. It's reminiscent of the master's hand.
A special feature of Abul Mansur's works is that when his satire (byango) makes others laugh, it behaves like a frog (byang). However, it bites like a serpent. And, whoever gets bitten, his face transforms to resemble the pitiable face of a frog in the mouth of the serpent.
Yet, those who could sense the tears behind those laughs would equally sense the compassion soothing those bites; only those would be able to truly savor Abul Mansur's satire. The aesthetic strike (roshaghat) of my friend is as severe and pungent as the lash of a whip (koshaghat). Thus one can easily hope that the purpose of this aesthetic strike would be well served.
That is my frame for my friend's mirror.
[Nazrul Rochonaboli, Vol. 4, pp. 40-41, 1996]