Babu Bangladesh by Numair Atif Choudhury radiates with the author’s intelligence.
The novel traces the journey from birth till disappearance of Babu Abdul Majumdar from Tangail near Dhaka, a political luminary with a mysterious image. Babu’s birth and his travails run parallel to that of Bangladesh both having come into existence around the same time, the protagonist being the son of idealist educator parents who had participated in the Liberation War from West Pakistan.
The novel is divided into 5 phases namely Building, Tree, Snake, Island and Bird wherein each phase represents a certain aspect of the country’s journey through Babu’s life.
The “Building”, The Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban (The National Parliament of Bangladesh) represents the founding ideals of the country. Despite all the troubles, the Bengalis wished to have a Grand National monument for their newly independent country. Thus was built the Sangsad Bhaban with sweat, blood and tears. During his stay at his paternal uncle’s place at Dhaka he becomes fascinated by it and puts in considerable efforts to learn about its rich history and the various influences, Louis I. Kahn, its American architect imbibed to create this symbol of Bangladesh. The gates were thrown open for ordinary citizens to sit in its lawns and marvel at its grandeur with a sense of national pride. But things didn’t remain that way. As the country gradually drifted away from its ideals due to human greed, so did the Bhaban. For example, all kinds of shady deals involving kickbacks negotiated and signed within its precincts.
The “Tree” symbolises the Bengali resistance against West Pakistani atrocities and military aggression. The protection of the Banyan tree within the sprawling campus of the Dhaka University (bore the brunt of the Pakistani ire) by the students, including Babu’s parents, lit the fire of resistance. Students stood up to Pakistani bullets for their beloved “tree”. Like the tree, man wants to stand tall and upright against calamities and odds and how human history is intertwined with trees. Hence, indulgence in dendrolatry by numerous ancient civilizations and venerated in several religions. A new banyan sapling was planted to grow anew with the country. The national emblem includes the water lily.
In the “Snake” phase, the author, through Babu’s political struggles, gives an account of the corruption that pervades every aspect of the country – politicians, bureaucrats, NGOs, party men, businessmen, media, military causing massive loss of biodiversity, forest cover, flora, fauna and exploitation of the indigenous tribal people with the loss of their traditional lands. The author’s lament, as the dream of a golden Bangladesh (Sonar Bangla) is lost somewhere, is poignant.
The “Island” phase is about the submersion of a landmass known as Samadhi Island. The submersion of the island in a way represents the downfall of society because of its inability to accept difference and its failure to look at the “other” with compassion and as equals. While Babu’s fight against corrupt trade practices and efforts at making authorities accountable endeared him to the people who got the raw end of the stick, it also earned him enmity from certain powerful quarters. The good days don’t last forever and they didn’t. The author yearns for a country that embraces diversity that lay within its fold.
The “Bird” phase signifies freedom and disappearance, freedom from human attachments and disappearance of anger and hatred. It begins with a quote from Rabindranath Tagore,
“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.”
Disappearance of Babu conveys the disappearance of the space for secular credentials, erosion of intellectual and social activism whether it is fighting for the oppressed or against exploitation of natural resources and wildlife. But all is not lost for there is hope of societal reformation and of a better tomorrow through humanity’s ability to self-introspect and collective resolve.
The author’s language felt a bit dry to begin with but gradually grows on the reader by the time one gets to the middle of the first phase. The use of subtle sarcasm is hard to miss. Moreover, there is a marked improvement in the narration in the second phase and is even better in the third one as he manages to create quite a bit of suspense in this phase. Myth and reality are interwoven with wider imagination as the narration moves forward and the author’s skill comes to the fore.
One can see a greater emphasis on a handful of characters around the protagonist but not much in terms of plots and subplots, except for when the students of Dhaka University hatched plans in secrecy to protect their beloved banyan tree from Pakistani fire. Despite being a fictional character, one does get the impression that some of the convictions of Babu are a reflection of the author’s own.
Numair Atif Choudhury has deftly used his academic background in anthropological magical realism by drawing parallels between ancient civilizations and their modern counterparts throughout his narration. This novel is not only his debut work but also his swansong for this very talented Bangladeshi writer sadly passed away in a freak accident in Japan.
This novel is hard to pin down to a particular genre. Although the author starts off by calling it a biographical work of Babu but there are very clear elements of magical realism such as the author’s interactions with a bird (mynah) in the course of his research on the protagonist or when the author mentions the protagonist's possible disappearance in the form of a large winged bird. There are also elements of literary fiction given the emphasis on select characters.
A recommended read to understand the diversity, politics, religion, history and society of Bangladesh through a fictional narrative.
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