I am a devotee too, but what's this???

"Yes, its a public holiday."
"What are you saying?"
"Yes, its marked red on the calendar.... for the children."

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, its true, we have a public holiday on 17th March 2010. I mention the year cause I am not sure whether the pendulum of power will keep the same party in office next tenure. Bongobondhu's birthday will be celebrated nationwide.

Don't read me wrong, by birth I inherited devotion for our great leader. Both my mother's side and my father's side of the family are full of Mujib devotees. So inevitably I grew up with a strong attachment to Bongobondhu. Though I have no memory of him as I was only 8 months old when he was assassinated, I carry great respect for this charismatic man.

Couple of months ago I attended the Zainul Uthshob at Charukola (Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka). I have been familiar with this festival since the mid 90s. For some years I have been criticising some of the aggressive corporate sponsorship that goes on at these events. But this year I was impressed by the small logos. One had to look very close to find who paid for decorating the stage at the Bokultola.

Anyway... a friend came up to me that day behind the Bokultola "Zaid bhai can I take a portrait of you please?". This fellow photojournalist was on assignment by DrikNews to photograph people from different walks of life and ask them what they want to see accomplished in 2010. "Dui hajar dosh e apni ki chan?". Zainul Uthshob is observed on 29th December, with the new year approaching my fellow photographer picked this event as a good hunting ground. I thought why me, yet I agreed. I said "Sure, but will your editor publish what I have to say?". He didn't want to think too much, seemed like he just wanted to get it over with. Later that evening I got a phone call from DrikNews asking me what my statement was about, what it meant. "Zaid we are trying to understand this statement our photographer got from you today, can you please help?". So I explained what I meant by "BONGOBONDHUDESH CHAI!"

Obviously the editor didn't put up my portrait because of this strange, erratic, eccentric, treasonous statement I made. My frustration expressed with sarcasm was a bit too radical I guess for a news agency to publish. In 2010 I wanted to see the name of the country changed... from Bangladesh to Bongobondhudesh. Maybe some of the cellphone images below will explain why.

I hope this post will not be misunderstood, for which I get booked.

Bongobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Novo Theatre
Bijoy Sarani, Tejgaon, Dhaka 1215
(Formerly known as Bhashani Novo Theatre)


I recently did a wedding assignment at this venue which was
"Formerly Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre".
I wonder whether the bridegroom had to reprint the invites.


Anyone heard of "Bongobondhu Boimela" before?
Organised by the "Bongobondhu Boimela Porishod".
(photographed at the SAARC fountain traffic lights)


I found this posted by "Bongobondhu Dental Porishod"
on a tree next to the Robindroshorobor amphitheatre
next to Dhanmondi Lake, observing "Shodesh Prottaborton Dibosh".

Finally... I found this at the "formerly Unilever Patch".
Some hundreds of trees were fell a few years ago at PanthoKunjo
to create this beautification triangle between Pan Pacific Hotel,
Hotel Sundarban, and the SAARC fountain.
It seemed Unilever used to own it, until the commencement
of 12th South Asian Games 2010. That's when the mascots took over.
Checking out the floodlit triangle with Bongobondhu's massive portrait
looking over it, I was curious whether the games were first started
during Bongobondhu's era. My research found that the games had started
in 1983, eight years after his assassination. Then what's the connection?

But of course! All one had to do was turn the corner to see
another youthful portrait from 1940 of Sheikh Mujib,
with Bangla text saying "Football was his favourite game".

There is a story how Mujib got this legendary title. In 1969 he triumphantly returned home from prison after a mass uprising by the people against the Ayub regime. On this day 23rd Feb 1969, he was titled Bongobondhu at a mass reception organised by Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad (All Parties Students Action Committee) at Racecourse Maidan, now the Suhrawardy Uddyan. This historical spot is not far from the Bokultola under which I made that painful statement.

We have to stop trivializing this title, bestowed upon him with great emotion.