Aide-Memoire 1943-1954: Boyhood in British India and Pakistan
Aide-Memoire is a vivid description of boyhood memories covering the period from 1943 to 1954 when the author had scattered experiences of living under British colonial rule and in independent Pakistan. Though of tender age, his sensitive mind faithfully registered events that he witnessed or were affected by in the course of living at different places. Some of the events he describes are historic and often painful reminders of human cruelty and folly, such as communal riots and partition of India. The author describes his experiences chronologically, making it appear as a historical account of the period. Relations between the Hindus and the Muslims in pre-partition Bengal, politics of Muslim League and Congress that led to the partition, language movement in 1952 that paved the way to the emergence of Bangladesh, the good and dark sides of colonial rule, old customs, traditional culture, changing lifestyle and other aspects of daily life have been touched, some in details, some in passing. Aide-Memoire is at its cheerful best when the author narrates the account of his travels across India and in former West Pakistan as a boy scout visiting places like Karachi, Mohenjo Daro, Peshawar, Khyber Pass, Lahore, Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. The author has aided his memory of the past with reading of relevant books and oral history heard from elders, which makes this more than a memoir.
হাসনাত আবদুল হাই, জন্ম ১৯৩৯। অর্থনীতিতে উচ্চ শিক্ষা ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, ওয়াশিংটন বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় এবং লন্ডন স্কুল অফ ইকোনোমিক্স ও কেম্ব্রিজ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে। এক বছরের জন্য ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় অর্থনীতি বিভাগে শিক্ষকতা। ১৯৬৫ সালে সিভিল সার্ভিস অব পাকিস্তানে যোগদান। ১৯৯৯ সালে বাংলাদেশ সরকারের সচিব পদ থেকে অবসর গ্রহণ। ছাত্রজীবন থেকেই সাহিত্য-চর্চা শুরু। প্রথম ছোটগল্প প্রকাশিত হয় ১৯৫৮ সালে। ছোটগল্প, উপন্যাস, ভ্রমণ এবং প্রবন্ধ এই সব বিভিন্ন শাখায় লিখিত ষাটটির অধিক বই প্রকাশ। ছোটগল্পের জন্য ১৯৭৮ সালে বাংলা একাডেমি পুরস্কার লাভ। সাহিত্যে অবদানের জন্য ১৯৯৪-৯৫ সালে একুশে পদক লাভ। studied Economics at Dhaka University, the University of Washington and London School of Economics and Development Studies at Cambridge University. After teaching Economics at Dhaka University he joined civil service and served in various capacities including that of Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh. He was a Research Fellow at Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford (1989) and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for South Asian Studies, Kyoto University (1994-1995). Hasnat Abdul Hye is a leading writer of fiction and travel books in Bangladesh. He was awarded Bangla Academy Prize for short story. He received the national award ?Ekushey Padak? for his contribution to literature. His novel ?Sultan? was nominated for the Irish ?Impac Award? in 1997 Hasnat Abdul Hye was born in Calcutta in 1939. His ancestral home is in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh.