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| Humayun Ahmed - Image source-dhakatribune.com |
If you have read a lot of his books, it’s safe to assume that these commonalities have stuck your mind also. But there is something, some kind of unique charm present in his writings that every known feature and setup provide us with fresh stories, new appearances, and raw experiences. Each of his lead heroines is equally beautiful i.e. the most exquisite one, still being unique in their own ways. Similarly, all the other features he liked to put in each of his novels commonly are different from each other as well in their own way, like every human being has the same facial features i.e. eyes, mouth, lips, nose, looks distinctly different from each other. Does this legendary man need any further introduction?
The most popular novelist in the post-liberation period of Bangladesh, a proverbial writer who has created countless fictions and fictional characters which are immensely popular among the readers across generations, Humayun Ahmed continues to be the biggest name and the biggest face of our literary premises for a long time now. Since his inception in writing novels with the release of his first-ever novel ‘Nondito Noroke’ in 1972, he has written more than 200 novels before his death in 2012. During that period of 40 years, his pen continued to write on like a magic wand making him a legendary magician to the book-lovers of Bangladesh, who have worshiped him drinking his imaginary magical potion called novels.
Before the 1970s, Bengali literature was extensively dominated by West-Bengal centric writers. We Bangladeshis too used to read West-Bengal literature as they were abundant in our book shops and libraries. However, Humayun Ahmed changed the scenario all alone. He somehow brought a balance to the Bengali literature between ‘Epar Bangla’ and ‘Opar Bangla’ and put our country on the front. He is no more among us but his legacy continues to run towards the path of success, his fictions and beloved fictional characters continue to enchant the newer generations one after another. He continuously became the best-seller writer of the Ekushe Book Fair from 1990 to 2012, the year of his demise.
Many critiques tend to call Humayun Ahmed one of our very first writer who partly explored the literary arena of magical realism. This is because of his unique ability to present an abnormal or surrealistic situation so realistically that the readers are compelled to take that as something tangible. Interactive characters are the lifeline of his writings carried by interesting short conversations. In those fictional conversations, most of the time meaningless or silly issue centric, his characters successfully grab the readers’ attention, thanks to the tremendous presentation of an ordinary situation. This sometimes makes the negative characters adorable as well to the readers.
One of the timeless fictional creation of Humayun Ahmed is Himu, a vagabond youth with no clear meaning of life strolls across the empty streets of night’s Dhaka, loves talking with all sorts of peoples and makes them smiling by any possible means, remains unpredictable all the way with a divine power to amaze people by his inborn charm, though his ramshackle appearance with almost always a yellow Panjabi is not much appreciable. This mysterious man also has a woman in his life who is sometimes even more mysterious, Rupa. Himu keeps fleeing from the inevitable, from his everlasting feelings for the girl, but Rupa keeps waiting patiently with small to no hope at all. Who knows how many young boys and girls have been influenced by this Himu and Rupa through 21 Humayun Ahmed Uponnash series; who knows how many boys idolized Himu, tried to emulate his characteristics by becoming indifferent and passionless being under a rugged yellow Panjabi; and who knows how many young girls have put on sky blue saree with a tip on the forehead to impress her Himu!
Many tend to believe, Himu is sometimes more influential than the creator Humayun himself. However, he has created 2 more influential characters- Misir Ali and Shuvro. Misir Ali featured on 20 of Humayun’s novels who is completely opposite of a character to Himu. He is a professor of psychology at Dhaka University who thinks and acts very rationally and can read people’s psychology amazingly well. Shuvro is another character, featured in six very popular novels, is the purest of all Humayun characters who can’t even tell a lie out of fear that it might hurt somebody. Needless to say, all of these characters are very much popular among the readers.
Humayun is perhaps the one last of his kind who has seen success in writing as well as on television. He has directed many TV serials and films where he has presented some of the most influential characters in Bengali television history. His immensely popular serial ‘Kothao Keu Nei’ featured Baker Bhai, a fictional character that still resides in ‘90s kids’ hearts, for whom people came out to streets with the procession to stop his execution in the serial’s fictional world!
Humayun Ahmed created a world of fiction so close to the reality and number of characters with larger than life charisma, it’s impossible to measure his influence on Bengali literature or fiction. He has written stories, sci-fi, prose and film scripts- all gaining huge popularity. He and his creations have become a legend, a fairytale, a mythical reality that will survive for ages with glory.
-Mohammad Saiful Islam
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