They have made you wonder, ponder, scratch your hair since they came to town. You have spent countless nights with them, stayed-up till dawn reading them and have never been late in collecting them — as soon as the next book hit the market. Himu, Shubro, Misir Ali are some of the immortal creations of Humayun Ahmed, which have and still keeps readers waiting anxiously.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin casts his spell with his music but for Humayun Ahmed, words do the jobs.
With over three hundred books covering fictions, science fictions, stories, dramas, travelogues, Humayun Ahmed in his life has added much to the treasure trove of the Bangla literature.
When he was a student of chemistry one night he put aside the text book of chemistry and started writing whatever came to his mind, and when it was dawn Nandito Noroke, his first literary work was there before his eyes.
This is how it all began. This is the story of Humayun Ahmed’s first venture into writing. From then on he has never had to look back. His simple and unique way of telling stories became extremely popular and within a very short period of time, Ahmed has made his mark in the Bangla literature scene.
With only one more day left of the Ekushey Book Fair, we bring to our readers an exclusive with Humayun Ahmed.
Your latest work Badshah Naamdar is a fiction which is based on life of the Mughal emperor Humayun. So will there be more such history based novels from you?
May be may be not. I wrote on the life of emperor Humayun because to me the life of the emperor appeared interesting. Like emperor Humayun I find the historical characters like emperor Bahadur Shah, emperor Akbar interesting as well. To write a fiction titled Nabijee on the life of our prophet is an earnest desire that I nurture in my heart. But I am hesitating on writing the book as it might be misunderstood. I do not know whether I will actually go for it.
Himu is still present in your writings. Is there any difference between the present Himu with the earlier one.
Yes, present day Himu has gone through many transformations. From my observation, he is more politically conscious. As the Himu is very popular among the readers, I try to speak of my beliefs and thoughts through him.
Do you think your writing style has also undergone a transformation with the evolution of Himu?
This is up to the critic to decide. Everything changes with the passage of time. I think the fictions that I have written during my youth were full of emotion. But, today emotions are less present in my writing.
The young generation in Himu-frenzy, what is your take into this?
There are even Himu-sections in Mukti psychotherapy clinic for the patients who think they are Himu. Once, I was asked to pay a visit to Mukti to speak with the self proclaiming Himus. The authorities of the clinic introduced the patients to me. But, they did not pay any attention towards me, they are more concerned with Himu and want to be like him. Then, I realised that Himu is perhaps just a cause. Even if they didn’t know Himu they would have still ended up there, being someone else.
Have you ever been satisfied with any writing of yours?
Whenever I am writing anything, it seems that I am doing my best work.
From your many characters, Shuvro is lot different. Is there any reason for this?
Shuvro is such a character who could be rarely found in our society. He is a perfect human being and I want to portray him as a role-model before the young generation.
We often find humour in your writing.
Humour is a common characteristic in all my siblings. As a nation, we also love humour a lot. But, there are many authors who consciously avoid humour as they think humour will make his work taken lightly. I do not agree with them. So the readers find the humour in my writing.
Do you love bringing out books from Anyaprokash only?
It is an all out wrong idea about me that I bring out books only from Anyaprokash. Though most of the books are published by Anyaprokash, my books are published by other houses as well. Other publications like Kakoli and Gyangriho Prokashoni have published three of my fictions in this year’s Ekushey Book Fair. But, I feel comfortable to work with Anyaprokash as I think they are the most passionate publishers of the industry.
From the fiction Devi, we have often observed ESP and supernatural presence in your writings. Is there any particular reason behind this?
From Devi to Magic Munshi, I have written several books on topics which are based on something beyond explanation and out of this world. There are two types of magic—one is tricks and another is the black magic. We do not like to believe in any world which we cannot see or explain but that world does exist. If you go to the realm of sub-atomic or dimensionless world, you will find wormholes and other interesting phenomena which are beyond explanation. I just want to narrate my thoughts and realisation of mystery through this type of writing.
Tell us something about your timeless TV characters, for example ‘Baker Bhai’.
It is too early for us to use the word timeless right now for Baker Bhai. If these characters are remembered even after fifty or sixty years, we can call them timeless. Back then, there was only one TV channel and good works were termed as great works. But today, there are lots of TV channels, and any good work doesn’t enjoy such a huge audience like the past.
You mentioned your science fictions are more humane than the others. Why?
There are two types of science fictions—one is hard-core and another one is soft-core. I think my science fictions are soft-core materials.
On the occasion of the Ekushey Book Fair the writers are pressured by the publishers to bring out more books. Do you think that this is a threat for the quality of literature?
The standard of my writing remains same whether I am pressured by the publishers or not. I can not say anything about others. I take the pressure of the publishers optimistically.
Who do you think are the critics of your writing?
I think it the intellectuals who are the critics of my writing. But, they do not criticise me directly.
Do you think the critics read your books?
No, I do not think so. I think most of the time they make a comment without actually going through my work.
Have you ever written any poem?
There is hardly any person who has not written poems before starting to write fictions or stories. All the poems of my fiction, Kabi are written by me.
We know that you are painting these days, can you tell us more on this?
I started painting as a hobby, nothing else. I have not received any training for painting from any institution. I have just tried to paint my favourite persons like my son Nishad, Rabindranath Tagore and others.
Do you still love the full-moon nights?
Now-a-days, I feel a little frustrated in the full-moon nights, as time is going by I wonder how many full moons are left for me
Courtesy of Daily Sun
