10th
issue I September1, 2000
Sultana's
Dream
Second
Part
By
this time we reached sister Safra's house. It was situated
in a beautiful. It was situated in a beautiful heart-shaped
garden. It was a bungalow with a corrugated iron roof. It was
cooler and necerr than any of our rich buildings. I cannot
describe how neat and how nicely furnished and how tastefully
decorated it was.
We
sat side by side. She brought our of the parlor a pieced of embroidery
work and began putting on a fresh design.
"Do
you Know knitting and needle work?"
more....
9th
issue I August 16, 2000
Sultana's
Dream
First
Part
One evening I was lounging in an easy chair in my bed
room and thinking lazily of the condition of
Indian womanhood. I am not sure whether I dozed off or not.
But, as far as I remember, I was wide awake. I saw the moonlit
sky sparkling with thousands of diamond like stars, very
distinctly.
All on a sudden a lady stood before me, how she came in, I
do not Know. I took her her for my friend, Sister
Sara.
"Good morning" said Sister Sara. I smiled
inwardly as I knew it was not morning, but starry night.
However, I replied to her , saying, " How do you do?"
more....
God
Gives, Man Robs
8th
Issue I August 1, 2000
There is a saying, Man proposes, god disposes, But my
better experience shows that God gives Man Robs. That is , Allah
has made no distinction in the general life of male and female
both are equally bound to seek food, drink, sleep, etc. necessary
for animal life. Islam also teaches that male and female
are equally bound to say their daily prayers five times,
and so on.
more....
7th
Issue | July 16, 2000
Final
Part
Manjhan’s
‘Madhumalati’ (15th century) influenced the Bengali
poets : (1) Muhammad Kabir (1588), (2) Syed Hamja (18th
century), (3) Shaker (18th century), (4) Gopinath Das (19th
century) and (5) Chuhar (19th century). The Bengali versions of ‘Madhumalati’ are
free adaptations with more emphasis on the narration of fables.
In doing so, the Bengali poets did not put emphasis on
Maniar’s symbolic luster. Of them Syed Hamza
was a distinguished poet. Muhammad Kabir in his Madhumalati
categorically said that he has translated the verse from
Persian, 'Achehila Farsi chhanda sachila panchlali'
more....
6th issue I July 16,2000
Third
Part
In
Bengal, during the medieval period, both Persian and Hindi were
studied. Dvija Pashupati is Chandravat, while
referring to the early educational qualification of the hero, mentioned that
“Kumar or prince was a scholar of Persian and Hindi (Farsi
Nagripadi hoilo bisharad). There is no doubt about the fact that ‘Sufi’ literature of
both Persia and India had great influence on medieval Bengali
philosophical thought and poetry. On the other hand, Persian or
Hindi epic verses had great
appeal to common masses, who loved to hear heroic stories of
love and passion.
more....
Second part
The story of Yusuf and Jalekha was also popular theme in
Persian literature. A number of Persian poets compose
‘masnavis’ or poems depicting love between Yusuf and Julekha.
The easliest available version was of Firdousi’s, but of this
love the tale was most interesting version composed by Mallah
Jami. The story of ‘Yusuf Julekha’ also earned tremendous
popularity among the readers of medieval Bengal, literature,
where we find at least three versions were composed by Shah Muhammed Sagir (16th century) Abdul Hakim (17th century) and
Garibullah (1753), Even in the 19th century, there were two
different versions of Zulekha one composed by Abdul Halim (1874)
and one by Majibullah (1882).
more....
4th
Issue |
June 16, 2000
First
Part
Bengali
literature has a great heritage of about a thousand years old.
The earliest literary specimen in the New Indo-Aryan Vernacular,
Bengali, just evolving out of Proto-Bengali style of Apobhramsa,
was Charyapadas. Charyapadas on the Buddhist mystic songs of the
Bajrajan cult flourished between the 8th and the 10th centuries
in the Eastern region of India, comprised of the areas now known
as Bihar, Qrissa, Assam, West Bengal and Bangladesh. According
to some scholars, these songs can
be accepted as the earliest form of both Bengali and
Hindu.
more....
Final
Part
It
is natural for a man, being more than fifty, to look for more
mature thoughts.
In
depiction of woman Al-Mahmud considers all the roles played by a
woman. Like an adroit artist he draws every image of a woman ¾
at once as being the beloved and mother. Not only does he
represent the woman as beloved but also regards her as mother. We
are exposed to her concrete motherly image in his poems. Even he
does not forget the motherly image of the woman who gave birth to
him once.
more....
Second
part
Through
his vast use of analogies, metaphors and similes Al-Mahmud
represents love for and sincere appeal to woman. In his use of
analogies we find him emulating othres and some critics are also
keen on finding Yeatsian images in Al-Mahmud.2 This
heart cheering appeal is expressed in its comparison with the
waves of river. The desire of man and woman assumes a form of
frenzied hungry river.
more....
First
Part
Woman
is central to my poetry. What is more beautiful than woman? Once I
asked myself. Nothing I have explored almost all the analogies in
the literature of all the nations, but they all are found to
describe the beauty of woman. They made thorough search in the
process of finding the likeness of the physique of their beloved
women. One cannot find such river, mountains or landscape as are
not compared with the breasts, thighs, hair and buttocks of their
beloved. (5) 1
more....