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| Selina Hossain |
Selina
Hossain is an eminent Bangladeshi author. She was in Toronto to participate in
the Toronto Festival of Literature and the Arts 2013. I spoke to her during her visit. Excerpts
from an interview:
Why do you write?
I love observing. I remember observing
nature as a child, observing the relationship between a man and a woman,
between a mother and her children, the way people live their lives. When I went
to the university in the 1960s, I began to put into words all my gathered
experiences. Initially, I wrote poems but within two to three years I realized
that poems were not my form. I needed a larger canvas so switched to writing
short stories and novels.
You have written over 30 novels.
Yes, 32 novels. Most of my novels
explore human emotions, poverty, and the relationship between people and the
State, different conditions of women, how women are treated by the society. I write stories that explore our cultural
roots. For instance, my novel Purno
Chobir Mognota (2008) is about Rabindranath Tagore’s life, between 1899 and
1901 when he lived in what is now Bangladesh.
The characters in the novel are
characters from Tagore’s stories. I believe that had Rabindranath not come to
this part of Bengal, he wouldn’t have understood the connection to nature and
poverty.
Rabindranath came to Patisar on an invitation
in 1937. At the end of the novel I express my theme by making a contemporary
parallel saying that he dedicated his song ‘Amar
Sonar Bangla Ami Tomai Bhalobasi...’ to the people of the land. This song
was accepted as the national anthem of Bangladesh in 1971.
In my novel on Mirza Ghalib, Jomuna Nodir Mushayra (2011), I attempt
to relate the past and connect it with the present. Ghalib was the poet of the
subcontinent. My idea was to depict how a poet saw his times, to show how Galib
passed his days during Sepoy Mutinity. I tried to depict the time for the young
generation of the present. I sought their reaction. They told me that when they
were going through the description of Sepoy Mutinity in my novel, they thought they
were reliving the liberation war of Bangladesh.
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| Reading in Toronto |
But my novels aren’t just about the
past. I don’t believe in romanticising the past. I link the past with the
present. By writing about the past, I renew history.
Your writing is pronouncedly political.
All writings are political. You show me
any writing that is not political. Everyone has political thoughts in his/ her
live consciously or unconsciously. I love that my story may turn into a political
idea. I was in my early 20s when the 1971 war of liberation broke out. It made
a lasting impression on me.
It is the theme of my novel Hangor, Nodi, Grenade (The Shark, The River, The Grenade – 1976).
Satyajit Ray was keen to make a movie based on the novel, but abandoned the
idea when fundamentalists force took charge of the country after Sheikh Mujib
was assassinated.
So this is an example how politics destroys art. We can think of Tolstoy who was not awarded Noble
Prize for petty political reasons.
Would you agree that fundamentalist
forces have shaped South Asian geographies?
On the contrary, I would say that it is
secular forces that have shaped our societies. Bengali society on either side
of the border even today is defined by what Chandidas said five hundred years
ago Shobar upore manush shotto tahar upore nai (Humanity above all
else). The common people have imbued with secular thoughts. Often it is the
state that prevents common sense from prevailing. When I see Bengalis
living in enclaves near the borders of India and Bangladesh, I often wonder why
the leaders can’t solve this simple problem. It is because of the State. It is
because of the Border Security Forces (BSF). It is because of the Border Guards
Bangladesh (BGB). My novel Vumi-o-kusum
(2010) looks at this simple and yet complex situation.
Is the State is an important character
in most of your works?
The State is an important character in
everyone’s life. Whether you live in Toronto or in Dhaka, you can’t avoid or
ignore the State. A peasant, a fisherman, or a professional may harbour notions
that their thoughts are their own, but the undeniable reality of our life is
that those thoughts are influenced and controlled by the State not always
directly but indirectly by its policies, but its various apparatuses. My novels examine this relationship. But my approach is not polemical. I prefer the personal. I
am a committed writer and my fiction combines the personal and the political.
What are your impressions about
Bangladesh?
I am impatient with the slow pace of
change. We achieved liberation 42 years ago but the lives of people haven’t
changed. We have a tremendous social capital in Bangladesh. We must tear
asunder the status quo that hampers progress. Many say this is left-wing
thinking, I say this is thinking for the humanity.
Who are your favourite Bangladeshi
authors?
Syed Waliullah, Hasan Azizul Huq,
Shamsur Rahman, Shahid Qadree, Syed Shamsul Haque, Rizia Rahman, Akhteruzzaman
Elias.
And Bengali?
Mahasweta
Devi and Sunil Gangopadhyay.
Photo credit: Fathima Cadre
