Tapan Kumar Bose
Dear readers of Dukalom, I never had the luxury going through much of the works of the rebellious poet Kazi Nazrul Islam but my latent interest quietly sprouted during the past few weeks of compulsive worklessness.
Kazi Nazrul Islam or ‘Dukhumia’ as he was known, was born on 24th May, 1899 at Churulia village in Asansol.
In 1908, his father breathed his last. Suddenly, the young Nazrul found himself amidst a huge familial burden. The impact of shoe string finances, fell on his schooling among others. Poor Nazrul, thus, had to abandon his education for some time. His young shoulders had to undertake all the responsibilities of his family and bear the expenses too. During this time, he started reading the Holy Koran and other Islamic teachings.
Before long, he joined Letor Dal, a theatrical group involved in the propagation of loko silpo. There he wrote several songs and practiced acting.
After a couple of months, he joined the Army. It was during this period that he came across the literary works of Rabindranath Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rumi, etc.
After leaving the army at 32, he came back to College Street, Kolkata. This is where he was introduced to several important people like Kumud Mullick, etc.
Then in 1921, he went to meet Rabindra Nath Tagore at Shantiniketan. After meeting Tagore, he sensed the richness of Bengali literature and started writing books and poems.
Nazrul’s songs became an inspiration to the younger generations.
He also met Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, a prominent figure in Bengali literature.
Later, he joined the Non-cooperation movement.
In the year 1971 war for freedom of Bangladesh broke out, under the leadership of Mujib-ur-Rehman. This patriotic poet always a supportive man to the Banga Bandhu
Nazrul was a regular feature in print media those days.
He got his nationality for Bangladesh in the year 1976 and in the same year he fell sick and passed away on 29th August.
Tapan Kumar Bose