Bringing the Rebel to the Cyberspace
In 1999 within a span of six months I had two major car accidents, which landed me in bed for some time and with medical restriction on driving for a few months, I was trying to find a meaningful distraction to keep me preoccupied. Quite by coincident, a close friend of mine helped me learn the basics of FrontPage to build websites. Soon, I found my distraction – actually, I got addicted.
While choosing a website project besides my personal one, I found a special one. Lying in bed, I was looking for some strength – inner strength. I thought I had plenty. But I realized I could use some more. Intellectual realization is one thing, living it is different. While casually turning pages of whatever I had of Nazrul, I came across a poem "Nittyo Probol Hou". It was so inspirational for me that it turned out to be among those poems that I ended up translating (if you can excuse my poor translation).
Inside and outside, equally -
always be stronger, ever!
The more bad times approach,
be firm and don't yield. Never!
The more you fear defeat,
just be that much more brave!
Let your sword-grip not loosen
at the thought of dark grave.
There is just so much invigorating energy in just these two stanzas. I searched on the net for more information about Nazrul, as I had very little on Nazrul in my personal collection. There were only scattered few pages of information buried under many Bangladeshi or Indian personal web pages. Some of them were so casual, portraying him as an extraordinary poet or person – but there are so many extraordinary people in this world. There was no site dedicated to this great human being. Thus was conceived the Kazi Nazrul Islam Page, dedicated to the life and works of the so-called Rebel Poet.
The Challenge
When I was approached by Alochona to write an article about Nazrul, I was gratified. However, writing a general article about someone like Nazrul is an extraordinary challenge. A 300-400 page book could not do justice to the life and works of such a life. Many have tried that already. In this case, Bangla Academy has now a bibliographical book of all works (books, articles, etc.) on Nazrul that in itself is 400+ pages.
However, there was a bigger challenge prior to this writing when I undertook the project of Nazrul Page. Nazrul was so versatile, and surrounding him is so much confusion. There are so many people who are eager to claim him as their own flag bearer and there are so many more who are equally ready to disclaim and disown him. The fact of the matter is that my knowledge was pretty much based on "impressions" I derived from Nazrul's book consisting his own selections, Shonchita, and from the popular, street-level Nazrul that we are familiar with through his hamd, naat, patriotic and romantic songs. Some Muslims whose tear start flowing at some of the hamd/naat of Nazrul face a rude awakening when they learn about Shayma Sangeet, hymns in Hindu tradition. The leftists and the rightists, the Indians and the Pakistanis claimed and disclaimed him conveniently. The same was the case with the secularists and the religionists. The tug of war never ended and probably never will.
I committed to myself that I would try to understand Nazrul as he would have liked us to, which should shed some light on why so many people have so much contradictory thought and perception surrounding Nazrul. First, I wanted to avoid being judgmental or partisan in regard to him so that I can learn and understand him, whether his thought or ideas were to my liking or not. Second, I wanted to learn and understand Nazrul comprehensively, not based on merely selective works to our liking or limiting ourselves to one or two popular works of Nazrul. I overcame this by obtaining and studying Nazrul Rochonaboli (4 voluminous volumes) published by Bangla Academy. Reading him comprehensively was a genuine eye-opener. Third, in formulating any thought about him and in communicating, I decided to depend on his own words. Fourth, I wanted to take into consideration the unfolding of his life as many or most of us go through many transitions, including dips and swings, in our lives.
Thus, my presentation on Nazrul here is based on what I have gathered under those premises, and I am definitely not an expert on him. Given the limitation of space, readers should treat this as a guide for further studying or learning about Nazrul.
Life of Nazrul
(a seriously abbreviated account based on two chronologies of his life you can read at the Nazrul site.)
Kazi Nazrul Islam was born on May 24, 1899 at the village of Churulia in the District of Burdwan, West Bengal, India. As an orphan at an early age, he had only limited formal education, a good part of which was in local maktab.
In 1911 he joined a 'leto' group (folk musical troupe) with the encouragement and help from his uncle, Kazi Bazle Karim, a singer-song-writer- composer, himself a 'Goda Kobi' (the leading poet) of his troupe. Nazrul succeeded him as the 'Goda'.
Nazrul continued his education up to the pre-test at Searsol Raj High School in Raniganj, Burdwan, where he met Satish Kanjilal, a teacher with some mastery in classical music, who actively encouraged Nazrul to continue to develop his musical talent.
At an young age of 19, Nazrul became exposed to an underground revolutionary organization committed to go as far as armed struggle against the British colonial government. Attracted by the thought of utilizing the training later for the freedom movement, Nazrul decided to join the army in 49th Bangali Paltan.
In 1919 came out his first publication,
Bounduler Atma-kahini (Life Story of a Vagabond), a short story, in Saogat
magazine. His first published article was during the same year "Turki
Mahilar Ghomta Khola" (The Unveiled Face of a Turkish Woman), also in Saogat.
First published poem was Mukti (freedom), in the Bangiyo Mussalman Sahitya
Patrika (Bengal Muslim Literary Magazine).
His political involvement started at an early age, when in 1920 when he
returned to Calcutta, staying in a rented apartment with Comrade Muzaffar
Ahmad. Nazrul affinity with him grew much stronger through the Labour Swaraj
Party of the Indian National Congress" and its Party magazine Langal
(plough), which contained Nazrul's set of poems on equality (Shammyobadi).
In May 1920 with the financial sponsorship of Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq,
a evening daily "Nobojug" (New Age) started publishing under joint
editorship of Nazrul and Muzaffar Ahmad. He severed his relationship with
that publication toward the end of the year.
In the autumn of 1921 he wrote his most
famous "Bidrohi" (Rebel) poem. After the publication of "Bidrohi" and "Kamal
Pasha" in Moslem Bharat in 1922 (Kartik 1328), his fame exploded instantly.
He was crowned as the Rebel Poet forever.
Nazrul faced tremendous financial hardship, especially due to non- payment
for his writings by several publishers; faced health crisis as well as
growing threats and harassment by both the British government and the Hindu
and Muslim conservative members of the society; even was subjected to
physical attacks.
In 1928 his own selections, Sanchita, was published. Due to both financial
and health considerations, Nazrul's friends and well- wishers associated
with Saogat helped the family to move to Calcutta. The same year Nazrul
attended the conference of the Nikhil Bharat Krishak 0 Sramik Dal (All India
Farmers and Workers Party); sang the inaugural song. Also, in December,
Nazrul sang the inaugural song at the meeting of the All India Socialist
Youth Congress at Calcutta, presided by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
In 1929 a grand National Civic Reception for Nazrul was held at Albert Hall,
Calcutta, organized by the Saogat Sahitya Majlis (Saogat Literary Society)
with Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray, an eminent Bengali scientist, presiding;
and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the celebrated political leader and freedom
fighter, the chief guest.
For a period lasting several years in the 30s, Nazrul's career flourished
with a variety of roles, including as a recording artist with gramophone
companies, a composer, music director, singer, song and story writer, actor,
etc. in films, plays, and radio programmes. Nazrul's association with
gramophone companies brought him a few years of financial success. It was
difficult for Nazrul to get a recording contract because of the British
authority would not allow the recording of his songs on political grounds.
Even the admirers of Nazrul were subject to scrutiny. Harendra Dutta sang
and recorded a song of Nazrul but kept Nazrul's name out of the label
fearing that the British authority of the recording company (His Master's
Voice) would not permit the recording. But the recording companies finally
gave in to the immense popularity of Nazrul and, sensing profit in it,
started offering him contracts.
The chief trainer of His Masters Voice was Ustad Jamiruddin Khan, a reputed
master of Hindustani classical and semi-classical music. Nazrul trained
under him, and upon Ustad Jamiruddin Khan's death in 1932, succeeded him as
the chief trainer, in addition to his current position as the chief
composer. Nazrul also associated himself closely with many other eminent
musicians, including Ustads Kader Bux, Manju Saheb, Dabir Khan, Mastan Gama,
Pandits Jnanendraprasad Goswami and Suresh Chakravarty.
In the 30s his interaction with the people of East Bengal grew further as he
was recognized at various Bengali Muslim literary and youth conferences and
receptions, for examples, in Chittagong (1929), Sirajganj (1932), and
Faridpur (1936). In 1938 he presided over the Bangiyo Mussalman Sahitya
Sammelan (Bengali Muslim Literary Conference) in Calcutta.
In 1930 his book "Proloyshikha" were banned and confiscated under the
accusation of sedition. He was sent to prison for six months. Persuading him
to break his hunger strike and the public outcry against the British
government from luminaries such as Tagore, Gandhi and many others expedited
his freedom.
In the 30s he withdrew from the literary circle and devoted more to music as well as Islamic mysticism. In 1938 when his wife, Pramila, was afflicted with paralysis of the lower half of her body, his financial crisis re-emerged and he made a tragic, but desperate choice of mortgaging the royalties of his gramophone records and literary works for a mere sum of 4000 rupees.
In ??? Rabindranath dedicated his "Boshonto"
opera to Nazrul, stating that "Nazrul has ushered in Boshonto (Spring) in
the life of the nation" and recognizing him as "Poet", which many of his
contemporary poets were attempting to deny.
In August 1941, Tagore died in Calcutta and Nazrul read his poem, "Rabihara"
(Loss of Rabi) on All India Radio, Calcutta, soon afterwards.
On July 10 1942, while participating in a children's program on All India
Radio, Calcutta, Nazrul was struck by the loss of his power of speech.
Gradually, it worsened into a more debilitating rare disease permanently
affecting his mental capacities. From treatments in a sanatorium in Ranchi
to clinics in London and Vienna, there was no improvement.
In 1972 Nazrul was brought to Bangladesh
under a state arrangement, accompanied by Uma Kazi, the wife of his son Kazi
Sabyasachi. In 1975 Dhaka University conferred an honorary D. Lit on Nazrul
and in 1976 Bangladesh citizenship was conferred on him.
On August 29, Sunday, 10 am Nazrul died in P G Hospital in Dhaka. As a
fulfillment of one of his ghazals, Masjideri pashe amar kobor diyo bhai, he
was buried in the yard of the University of Dhaka mosque. [Read the
lyric of that ghazal].
Toward understanding Nazrul
Nazrul was recognized as the national poet of Bangladesh. However, he clearly proclaimed: "Even though I was born in this country (Bengal), in this society, I belong to the world." While many people have a tendency to straightjacket him into their favorite labels, I believe most such labels are inappropriate for him. My personal study of the life and works of Nazrul have led to me to conclude the following, which appears in the introduction of Kazi Nazrul Islam Page.
He deserves to be known to the world as:
an extraordinary and
most versatile poet, lyricist, and writer (He holds a world record in terms
of number of songs written and composed. Although his primary contributions
are in the areas of poetry and music, including classical music, he also
wrote a good number of novels as well as prose.);
a mass-oriented,
revolutionary literary figure;
a voice against
bigotry, injustice, oppression and inequality of all kind; [Read, for
example, "Fanaticism
is not religion" and listen to "Jater
name bojjati"]
a personality full of
love - romantic and humanistic - who could also express his feelings in the
most beautiful way; [Read, for examples,
Let's Meet
Hereafter and
Young Lover]
a fearless and
undaunted activist always feared by the establishment; [Read,
Be Ever
Stronger! and listen to
Karar oi louho kopat]
a passionate advocate
of religious/ideological harmony as reflected particularly in his
contribution toward better Hindu-Muslim relationship (even Rabindranath
Thakur did not write a Hamd/Naat, but Nazrul wrote Shayma songs); [Read
Hindu-Muslim: A Tale
of Tails]
an uncommon voice of
Islam proclaiming universal values, peace, freedom, justice, harmony and
cooperation, while repudiating any bigotry, extremism, fanaticism,
narrow-mindedness, judgmentalism, exploitation in the name of any religion
or ideology including Islam; [Read
Forgive Us O
Prophet!, Azan,
and My League-Congress].
a symbol of ever fresh
youth, valor, creativity, freedom and indomitable human spirit; [Read
Rebel,
Struggle,
Don't Be Afraid,
O Human Soul!]
and, most importantly,
as a wonderful, warm-hearted, loving human being.
Concluding thought
Since 1999, the Rebel poet has a cyber home. Kazi Nazrul Islam Page would not have been possible without generous input and cooperation from so many people of both Bangladeshi and Indian background. Nazrul was a messenger of liberating the human spirit, of universal brotherhood, of courage and dignity, of peace and harmony, of unity and cooperation, of what is right and just, of what is true and beautiful, of love and compassion, of non-dogmatism and non-fanaticism. My summarized introduction of Nazrul above represents my understanding of Nazrul.
I would like to have candid - absolutely candid - feedback on this both for my own correction and enlightenment and for a better, more complete and truthful presentation of Nazrul. However, please be specific; vague generalization, such as the following does not help: "I was so excited to find this page but as always, I only found a very incomplete picture of Nazrul. His is much larger than the picture painted here." Even my follow up contact with that person did not produce any specific information as to how my presentation of Nazrul was not complete and what would the person suggest to make it more complete and inclusive.
[Dr. Farooq is an associate professor of economics and finance at Upper Iowa University. Personal homepage: http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm]