{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/7w6736nh6z/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Hasan Ferdous Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2021-12-16 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHasan Ferdous is a journalist, writer, and a retired United Nations official. Originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Ferdous spent six years studying in Russia and has lived in the United States for 35 years. Ferdous provides an overview of the Bengali language movement in the mid-20th century, including the history of Ekushey February (February 21st) as Language Movement Day, and the nearly nine-month-long Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Ferdous recalls memories of his childhood in Dhaka during the 1950s and 1960s, his experience as a college student during the war, and his growing involvement in journalism and political discourse during college. Ferdous also discusses the growth of the boimela (Bengali book fair) in New York City from a half-day event in 1991 to a week-long summer event in Jackson Heights. Ferdous notes the significance of the New York City boimela in preserving Bengali language and culture for the Bangladeshi population in New York City.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eহাসান ফেরদৌস একজন সাংবাদিক, লেখক এবং জাতিসংঘের অবসরপ্রাপ্ত কর্মকর্তা। প্রকৃতপক্ষে তিনি ঢাকা, বাংলাদেশ থেকে আগত একজন বাংলাদেশী, ৬ বছর রাশিয়ায় পড়ালেখা করেছেন এবং গত ৩৫ বছর ধরে আমেরিকায় বসবাস করছেন। ফেরদৌস বিংশ শতাব্দীর মাঝামাঝি ঘটে যাওয়া বাংলা ভাষা আন্দোলনের একটি সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ দিয়েছেন, যেখানে উনি ভাষা আন্দোলন দিবস হিসেবে একুশে ফেব্রুয়ারি (২১শে ফেব্রুয়ারি) এবং ১৯৭১ সালের প্রায় নয় মাসব্যাপী বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধের ইতিহাসের কথা বলেছেন। ফেরদৌস ১৯৫০ এবং ১৯৬০ এর দশকে ঢাকায় তার শৈশবের স্মৃতি মনে করেন, যুদ্ধের সময় কলেজের ছাত্র হিসাবে তার অভিজ্ঞতা এবং কলেজ জীবনে সাংবাদিকতা এবং রাজনৈতিক আলোচনায় তার ক্রমবর্ধমান সম্পৃক্ততার কথা স্মরণ করেন। তাছাড়াও উনি নিউ ইয়র্ক সিটিতে বইমেলার ক্রমবিকাশ নিয়ে কথা বলেছেন, কিভাবে ১৯৯১ সালের অর্ধ-দিনের অনুষ্ঠান থেকে তা এখন জ্যাকসন হাইটস-এ সপ্তাহব্যাপী অনুষ্ঠান হয়ে উঠেছে। ফেরদৌস নিউইয়র্ক সিটিতে বসবাসরত বাংলাদেশি জনগোষ্ঠীর জন্য বাংলা ভাষা ও সংস্কৃতি সংরক্ষণে নিউইয়র্ক সিটিতে আয়োজিত বইমেলার তাৎপর্য উল্লেখ করেছেন।\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/42395"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Hasan Ferdous (Interviewee)","Trisha Mukherjee (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Interview recorded as part of the Queens Memory Podcast's 3rd Season: Our Major Minor Voices."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1947-2021 (temporal)","Jackson Heights, Queens, NY; New York, NY; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Russia; Ukraine (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eHasan Ferdous is a journalist, writer, and a retired United Nations official. Originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Ferdous spent six years studying in Russia and has lived in the United States for 35 years. Ferdous provides an overview of the Bengali language movement in the mid-20th century, including the history of Ekushey February (February 21st) as Language Movement Day, and the nearly nine-month-long Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Ferdous recalls memories of his childhood in Dhaka during the 1950s and 1960s, his experience as a college student during the war, and his growing involvement in journalism and political discourse during college. Ferdous also discusses the growth of the boimela (Bengali book fair) in New York City from a half-day event in 1991 to a week-long summer event in Jackson Heights. Ferdous notes the significance of the New York City boimela in preserving Bengali language and culture for the Bangladeshi population in New York City.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eহাসান ফেরদৌস একজন সাংবাদিক, লেখক এবং জাতিসংঘের অবসরপ্রাপ্ত কর্মকর্তা। প্রকৃতপক্ষে তিনি ঢাকা, বাংলাদেশ থেকে আগত একজন বাংলাদেশী, ৬ বছর রাশিয়ায় পড়ালেখা করেছেন এবং গত ৩৫ বছর ধরে আমেরিকায় বসবাস করছেন। ফেরদৌস বিংশ শতাব্দীর মাঝামাঝি ঘটে যাওয়া বাংলা ভাষা আন্দোলনের একটি সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ দিয়েছেন, যেখানে উনি ভাষা আন্দোলন দিবস হিসেবে একুশে ফেব্রুয়ারি (২১শে ফেব্রুয়ারি) এবং ১৯৭১ সালের প্রায় নয় মাসব্যাপী বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধের ইতিহাসের কথা বলেছেন। ফেরদৌস ১৯৫০ এবং ১৯৬০ এর দশকে ঢাকায় তার শৈশবের স্মৃতি মনে করেন, যুদ্ধের সময় কলেজের ছাত্র হিসাবে তার অভিজ্ঞতা এবং কলেজ জীবনে সাংবাদিকতা এবং রাজনৈতিক আলোচনায় তার ক্রমবর্ধমান সম্পৃক্ততার কথা স্মরণ করেন। তাছাড়াও উনি নিউ ইয়র্ক সিটিতে বইমেলার ক্রমবিকাশ নিয়ে কথা বলেছেন, কিভাবে ১৯৯১ সালের অর্ধ-দিনের অনুষ্ঠান থেকে তা এখন জ্যাকসন হাইটস-এ সপ্তাহব্যাপী অনুষ্ঠান হয়ে উঠেছে। ফেরদৌস নিউইয়র্ক সিটিতে বসবাসরত বাংলাদেশি জনগোষ্ঠীর জন্য বাংলা ভাষা ও সংস্কৃতি সংরক্ষণে নিউইয়র্ক সিটিতে আয়োজিত বইমেলার তাৎপর্য উল্লেখ করেছেন।\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/220/870/small/hasan_ferdous_aviary.jpg?1702656718","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - ferdous-hasan-2021-12-16-radioedit.mp3"]},"duration":3283.968,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/220/870/small/hasan_ferdous_aviary.jpg?1702656718","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/220/870/original/ferdous-hasan-2021-12-16-radioedit.mp3?1702656539","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":3283.968,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: Okay, so, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me. Very excited to speak to you on the podcast.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=0.0,9.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: Thank you very much for inviting me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=9.0,12.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: Great. So could you just tell me your name and a short summary of how you'd like people to know you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=12.0,19.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: My name is Hasan Ferdous. I'm from Bangladesh. Have been living in the U.S. for the last 35 years. I'm a journalist by training and profession but I worked for the UN [United Nations] most of my life. I retired in 2014 as a communication specialist. I write books. I'm a writer. I have written more than 25 books. I've just done a fiction--my first full length fiction was out early this year. And it's about the two Bengals. And how the 1971 War of Independence brought the people of two Bengals together. The book is called Undivided. I'm very proud of my long fiction. I have two other short fictions. They too are also--they too are on the War of Independence 1971. So together they make a trilogy.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=19.0,76.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: What else? I've done some translations. I speak Russian. I studied in Russia for six years. So I speak Russian as, as my other language. I've traveled the world as part of my UN work. And I keep myself busy. In the community, I'm pretty much, I'm very active in the community. I do all kinds of things. I do an annual book fair, Bengali Book Fair. For the last 30 years it has been going on under the banner of a group called Muktadhara based in New York, but that's about it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=76.0,115.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: Yeah. That's wonderful. So I was hoping to just start at the very beginning. Tell me a little bit about your childhood in Bangladesh, maybe your favorite memories.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=115.0,134.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: My memories--I've lived outside of Bangladesh longer than I have lived in Bangladesh, but my memory is still there. I told you about my new book and my new book basically takes me back to my childhood. It's part fiction, part autobiography. Like every good fiction. I was part of a large family, seven children, loving parents. We lived in a city all my life I've lived--I've never lived outside of Dhaka. Except for 1971 when the War of Independence broke out, when we were rushed to the village for safety. Most loving memory is, right now as I, as I talk to you, the most loving memory comes to my mind is I'm four years old. I'm in the courtyard. Learning the numbers, and my mother sitting right there, telling me, if you can do this, you will get one, one penny, this one penny's for you if you can finish this amount of numbers to memorize.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=134.0,205.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: There is--I also remember, right now as I talk to you, doing outside cooking, and children do it. We call it your choribadi. Kids come together and pretend they're cooking. So we did that, I just now as I close my eyes or even with my eyes open, I can see myself cooking in the courtyard. And my, my mother, my older sisters, older sister, in fact, one sister watching over so that we don't start a fire.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=205.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: What else? As I grow slightly older--my school wasn't far from where I lived. So you'd walk every morning to the school and the curious, most curious memory that I have right now is one that I had done something mischievous, I don't remember exactly what. And my uncle had really beaten me seriously. I fell asleep after the beating. And when I woke up, I thought it was morning. It was actually evening. I thought it was morning. So I like every other day I without telling everybody, anybody, got my books or went to the school, went to school. But actually the school was closed because it was five, five thirty, six. About dusk time and it was, it was still not evening or day, light was fading. Looks like as if it's more than just, starting to have the morning hours.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=240.0,311.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: And then I saw people playing outside, in the field football. I said what is this? Nobody plays football at five o'clock in the morning. And then I realized that door was closed, the school door was closed and so I went returned home. And of course my parents or my mother especially were very worried, was very worried. Where did he go? Didn't have his, I didn't have my lunch because I was so upset because of the thrashing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=311.0,337.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: What else? I can remember, we had a little pond not far from where we are. And I never learned swimming because my brothers, my older brothers, all knew how to swim. They would swim and I would stand at the very edge of the pond and I had a little, little mug. I would wash myself with the mug without ever learning how to swim. We had a beautiful garden. I remember we had a, we have a tree that is called Krishna Churah, I don't know the English name for it or its [unclear] name. It's a very large tree and it becomes really flaming red in the month of, month of February, which is about the beginning of the Bengali calendar year. And interestingly February's also the month when the Bengali--in 1952 on 21st February, several young people, young students at Dhaka University were killed by the police for demanding Bengali to the, to be the national language. We had a whole political fracas at that time over this.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=337.0,404.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: And so every year on 21st February, we would wake up in the morning, steal flowers from wherever we could and then go to the graveyard to commemorate the event, 21st February. And so our Krishna Chura tree was a big help. We would climb up or whatever way we could, gather flowers, would gather flowers and, and barefoot, would walk straight down to the graveyard. Hundreds of people, it's a wonderful celebration. Still being done in Bangladesh every year. These days they do it at midnight, first hour. But in my days we would do it early in the morning, the earlier that the better. So you would gather all the kids in that neighborhood would gather and we'll have a competition among ourselves who can gather more flowers, who can steal more flowers from neighborhoods. And once we are ready we'd go together to the graveyard. I can go on and on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=404.0,463.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit more about as a kid what did you understand about Ekushe February?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=463.0,472.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: All we understood was that it is a festival in which you go and place flowers at the graveyard. It was a time for us, for kids, to celebrate, we had no clue about the language element of it, language came to us naturally. But, and the politics behind it was completely unknown to us. We got to that much later, maybe in the seventh or eighth grade, I would say, or maybe in the sixth, seventh grade. But when very young, the second, first, second, third grade, I would say, it was more like a, like a puja festival, like an Eid festival. And like any other festival, when we had a day off, when we are all or when all kids get together, gather flowers, walk, we get to walk all the way from my small township to the city center. That was freedom for us. We would sing together. That was also an interesting exercise, singing together with all kids in the neighborhood. And yeah, so it was celebration, it was freedom. It was celebration, it was music. And primarily it was a day off.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=472.0,546.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: And then, as you got older and started to understand the significance of it, can you just walk me through, you know, what was coming into your mind?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=546.0,558.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: I got into politics pretty early. By seventh, eighth grade, I was already converted. I had a older comrade, I would say, very famous young man, who was expelled from his college because of political activities. He came to school, to my school, to recruit students, you know, leading political party, not a communist party, but left-leaning student organization, the junior wing of the Communist Party at that time, and he would come and talk to us and I literally fell in love with it, because he was so smart and he was so articulate. And so by seventh, eighth grade, I was already politicized in a way I would say, and gradually understood what was going on, I understood that my country was divided, the East Wing and the West Wing. I also understood that the East Wing, at the time, we were a military government, I understood that Bengalis don't have enough rights, including right to speak their own language or to run their own government.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=558.0,618.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: And as a result, we become part of the agitation, the political agitation, agitation was originally be--the Ekushe February was for language nominally, but really, it was about your autonomy, which became your freedom or sovereignty. And yes, I became involved very early on in political activities. In my school, also, we had, we had several events. I was involved, I remember, in a skirmish, which caused the headmaster to call the police. And I--the moment, the picture that I have in mind is that I was giving a speech in the middle of the school yard, our school was on a strike. And it must have called the police and the police came and I was very small and very young. And the police saw me and said, no, he can't be a leader. So they didn't chase me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=618.0,673.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: But the headmaster insisted, no, he's the one. But anyway, the police didn't touch me, but he somehow took to his, to his office, and made me sit ups, you know, up and down. 10 times in front of everybody. I was the class--I was the best boy in school. I was the first boy in my class. And he had, he made a humiliating experience for me. But I felt liberated, you know, in a way I felt liberated. I felt that my professor, my headmaster felt threatened by me. Even though I did nothing that could change anything, and yet he felt threatened. And he had the urge to insult me in front of everybody. But that told me that yes, I have power even over my headmaster, which emboldened me and made me even more political.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=673.0,729.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: And then what did you continue doing after that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=729.0,732.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So I became, you say a member of the political organization, I--by the time the country arrived in 69, the country was embroiled in a political movement. 1969 was the year when the political movement was at its height. The military government failed, one government failed, another government came in its place, Ayub Khan, the present military leader failed at the time and a new military takeover took place. And the movement intensified. Movement instead of becoming weak, become stronger. And I became part of a larger movement. I would say also in 1969, I finished my school, my high school, and went to college. College opened all doors to me. At college, I met people older than me, smarter than me, more politically involved than me. And, and as a result, I would say my indoctrination was complete. At that time I was fully engaged in, I could speak in the language of politics, in language of Marx, you know, if I could, I could talk about capitalism and socialism and all of that. But I also became involved culturally.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=732.0,818.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: In school, in my 10th grade, 10th grade year, where a school system in 10th grade plus two, took two years in college. So in school, I remember, in 10th grade, I brought up my first annual journal. Before that, I had a wallpaper, handwritten wallpaper. My handwriting was bad, so I would not do the handwriting. I had friends who would do it but I did most of the writing. I remember that it was wallpaper called [Bengali phrase] means sparks, which is the Bengali for Iskra. Iskra, that is the newspaper that Lenin had created in his school. So we borrowed that name from Lenin, Iskra became sparks, sparks became [Bengali phrase] that became our, our wallpaper, almost for two years. I was in either 10th grade, we had it. Occasionally, maybe every three months or six months, I don't remember exactly. But I'm in my 10th grade, I brought up my first, first little magazine. And that was to commemorate 21st February.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=818.0,884.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: There was provision at that time to publish all kinds of little things to commemorate 21st February, and my first publication, won the first prize in national competition. And the next year, too, I won twice in a row. So people got to know me, who is this guy, who is this kid? And in college, it was different in college, I was already part of a bigger literary movement, I knew that it will be my calling, writing will be my call. I already knew that this is where I would end up--journalist, writer, whatever. And the magazine that we published at that time, was called whatever I don't remember, but I was not editor, there was a whole little group for that. But I published stories for that, one story I remember, for that magazine in my first year. But then came the war, 1971, when I was in my second year in college.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=884.0,950.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: And that changed everything because my father was a government official, small time. And we felt unsafe to live in Dhaka, we lived in central Dhaka. And there was a military camp right next to our house. So we felt--and had three, two young sisters, three sisters, in fact, and we felt unsafe to live in that house with the military camp next door. And we had heard all kinds of stories about military forcing into people's houses and taking our girls and--or arresting young people. And so we went to a village to live for a couple of months. And that was my first and only time I came to know village life. River was next to our village. There was nothing to do of course, I mean, there's no school, no studies, no books. All free time. And but that, that those six, eight weeks or 10 weeks or whatever we spent there left a deep impression on my mind that there is more things to be done even when you're young.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=950.0,1034.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: I was not particularly young--I was already 17, 18 years old, and people of my age were already going to war to fight the Pakistanis. I didn't, I was small and my parents wouldn't let me and I thought maybe I can do other things while living here. So what we did, after I came back to Dhaka from those eight weeks, we were part of a small group that served as couriers, we'd carry money, we'd carry letters, and give it to whoever was decided it was meant to be. Police wouldn't bother me, we felt, because we were too young at that time, but we served that particular purpose without going to war, we were in a war and I feel even now that that was an important role that we played. And those nine months, the war, nine months war, was very important for all of us for a number of reasons. A, it told us what people can achieve when they're together, what people can do when they're together. And it also told me that there is nothing a people can do to achieve their common goal, in our case, freedom, yes, there is a price to be paid. But then there is a price to be paid for everything precious.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1034.0,1121.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: For us, 3 million people died. 3 million people died in that war. In there my family members, we lost in that war. Nobody from my family, though, but uncles, distant relatives, every family, no family was untouched by that war. And when the war ended, I finished school and went to college. And college was another place where, from small village to a city, it became a universe. Because not only that it is larger, not only that, you had more people in that space, you had many more ideas, you have many more opportunities. And I remember at that time, my senior comrades started a magazine called [Bengali phrase], people's literature. It was a monthly magazine that was supposed to be the--how should I put it--mouthpiece for a new political movement, emerging political reality would be reflected in that magazine. And I became part of that. My job was--it was not a job really, I was a volunteer. And I would be, would be carrying proofs from place to place, run errands, you know, go and look for--go and knock on doors to get articles to be published in the magazine, that kind of thing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1121.0,1216.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: But it was a factory for me, an apprenticeship for me in two ways. A, I learned the trade, and B, I got to know people who was much older, much smarter, and also who told me how things should be done. So the hierarchy of, hierarchy of writing, in a way of literary provision, I got to know about that, from the experience that I went to, went for overseas studies, I went to Russia for studies. I spent six years, that was a whole different experience. Another interesting time that I spent, six years, and as I look back, as I talk to you about those six years, that connected me to the rest of the world. While in East Pakistan and in Bangladesh, I was still pretty much inside my country. And I had very little knowledge, even though theoretically I knew what the world is like. But I did not know how we are all connected socially, politically and culturally how our world, our universe, is really joined together in the hips, our common interest are all. So the sense of internationalism, that sense of internationalism, I basically learned from my 6 years in Russia.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1216.0,1299.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: I traveled, I traveled inside Russia, I traveled outside Russia. And yes, I would say, those are my formative years, but also it cemented my political views. I also became a political dissident in Russia. In very strange ways. I would carry books that nobody would carry out, I would bring books from home or outside, that were not normally available in Russia. For example, I remember in my first year out carrying with me a book by Bertrand Russell, Theory and Practice of Bolshevism. Russell, who was himself a, an idealist, traveled to Russia, I think in 1919 or 1920, and came back and wrote that book, Theory and Practice of Bolshevism. It was a scathing criticism of Soviet practice. It has some positive aspects, a few good things about Russia, but mostly it was a serious critique of the Russian political system. And I remember I was carrying that book and I stood up and asked my teacher a question from that book. And I was summoned to the dean's office. How come I had this book, and why I was discussing this the class? This is a proscribed book and why I was carrying? That kind of thing.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1299.0,1378.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: And I later learned that, very interestingly, that you know, we were in hostel, three kids in the same room and two Bengalis and one Russian. The Russian kid told me before I finished my studies, almost six years later, that he was sent to keep an eye on me. What do I listen to, what books I read, who comes to visit me? So that was--but that was at the very end of my studies in Russia. But nonetheless, that kid, good friend of mine, he confessed at the very end of our school year in Russia. In fact I was in Kyiv, in Ukraine, today's Ukraine. Had a beautiful school, named after a Ukrainian poet called Shevchenko. Just to let you know how things happened in those years, even though outwardly Russia seemed all so quiet, you know, we didn't feel the turmoil. But deep inside, we got to know that things are not as poetic as it seems from outside.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1378.0,1450.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: On a certain day of the year, I don't remember exactly when, I think fourth of April, but I may be wrong. It's called--it's the birthday of poet Shevchenko. Shevchenko is Ukraine's national poet. And our university is named after, was named after Shevchenko. And Shevchenko had died in St. Petersburg, today's, at that time, it was called Leningrad. And his body was transferred to Ukraine because he is the father of nationalism, Ukrainian nationalism, so his body was transferred. And fourth of April, is the day where the body was, was, was transferred to Ukraine, and that's a national day for Ukraine, Ukraine nationalism.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1450.0,1497.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: And everybody was told in advance, do not place flowers at the memorial of Shevchenko. But a senior kid in my class, he was I think, it was my class captain, if I--if I remember correctly, had done so. He had, had gone out of his way and placed flower. And the next day, he was gone, he was missing. He was sent to Odessa. So we wondered, what happened to him? And then much later, I got to learn that he was sent away, he was was forced to go to Odessa to be a day laborer, his school was over. And he was forced to Odessa. So that was a very important lesson for me how states machinery can be used against individuals, how powerless individuals can be when the state machinery is used to disarm you, to silence you. But then, but then, as we learned much later, that when people rise up, when people's voices are heard in unison, it can drown out even the most powerful voice, even the military, even the state machinery.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1497.0,1580.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: Wow, that is amazing and insane that he was just taken away for that. I wanted to ask you, you mentioned the idea of 1971 being a war for the Bengali language in a lot of ways that symbolize the broader concept of autonomy. And I was wondering if you could speak a little bit about that, about how in our history we see autonomy through the lens of language.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1580.0,1609.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: Yeah, good question. I did not say that 1971 was the war for language. Language was kind of the catalyst. Language, perhaps an agent. And it started a long time before. East Pakistan, perhaps you know the history, Pakistan was created in 1947. The same day that India was created, it was divided into two parts, Pakistan and India. And Pakistan had two parts, East Wing and West Wing, and between them there was more than 1000 miles. And the two parts were completely different. We spoke Bengali, they spoke different languages. You know, Sindhis, Punjabis, Pashto, Urdu. And we look different. We are different. We--dresses, everyone's different culturally, politically, socially. In every sense, we are different. And yet the common bond that we had was like, was religion. The only thing that tied us together was Islam. Muslims. Oh, that's an interesting spin. How I came out of Islam, but that's a different story.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1609.0,1675.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So by 1948 we understood that even though we are the majority, the Bengalis were the majority, the country was run by non Bengalis from West Wing from West Pakistan. They were the minority, and most of them were, were exiled from India, immigrated from India to Pakistan. And they took over, because they were the leader in the political movement against the British. And it kept on being the rulers. And in 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the so called Father of the Nation, visited Dhaka in East Pakistan. And he proclaimed that Urdu would be the national language of Pakistan. We had the majority, less than five or 7% of people in Pakistan speak Urdu. And he declared that Urdu would be the national language of both wings of Pakistan. And in Dhaka, young students said no. They protested. That was the beginning of a movement. That led to 1952, when the police opened fire against Bengali students and five young kids died.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1675.0,1742.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So the spark, the Iskra, as I said, was language. The demand for--we said, no, Bengali must be one of the languages; we're the majority, and you can't deny us our right to speak our own language. But behind that demand for language was the greater demand. By that time, we had realized that we are two different peoples. Until and unless we gained enough political power to decide our fate by ourselves, we won't be free. The other reason why it was important, the moment Urdu became the national language of Pakistan, we Bengalis were at a disadvantage because we did not speak the language. West Pakistanis did. And so in all competitive exams, in all senior [unclear] office jobs, Pakistan had an advantage. They spoke that language, we did not. So we would not win important jobs. So even though outwardly it was cultural, but really, it was an economic question. It was the question of our means of livelihood. If Urdu was the language that we had to learn from scratch, we would never gain senior positions in the government. Overnight, almost overnight, from equality, equal citizenship, we become second class. And that spread.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1742.0,1828.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: Had it been only about language, people in the villages, people in, in small townships wouldn't really join the movement. Languages is a matter for the elites to consider. Most people even didn't speak the language properly, couldn't read or write. So why would they care about language, but they care about the fact that the children won't be treated equally because they do not know Urdu. So the primary focus shifted from language to our existence, our rights. So from that grew the demand for autonomy, we should be the ones to decide our own fate, at least within our territory. 1966 was a very important year, 1966, when, for the first time, the party called Awami League, formulated the so called Six Point Program. And the Six Point basically outlined a quasi autonomy. Or even I would say, I would go beyond that, had all six points been implemented, Bangladesh, East Pakistan would become almost like a federated state, like we have in the U.S. for example. There are, there are [unclear] in every sense, except for a few things that is controlled centrally.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1828.0,1904.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So 1966 is when we first formally launched a campaign to gain more than autonomy, but a semblance of political freedom from West Pakistan. 1966, the movement grew and grew. And 1969, it became really strong when Ayub Khan, I mentioned that before, Ayub Khan, the Pakistani military ruler, lost power. A new military ruler took over, but by that time, we have tested power. We understood that people have the power to defeat even the strongest, most powerful military ruler. Ayub Khan was a fierce military ruler, and yet we people from both wings managed to defeat him. So the new ruler, military government run by a man called Yahya Khan, was already politically weak. We had the upper hand and he had to start negotiations with us, with the people. And in, and the movement from East Pakistan was, was led by a man called Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Mujib was a nationalist in the sense that he understood unless Bengalis are granted their basic rights, including the right to language, he was among the very first leaders of the language movement in 1948 and 1952. Because language is more than language, language is the glue that binds us all together. But it also extends to other areas, the economy.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=1904.0,2008.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: And he became the real leader of the movement who fashioned these, new nationalism centered on culture, centered on language, centered on political, new political rights. And there was the election in 1970 in which Awami League won, Sheikh Mujib won, big. In fact, he won all the seats except for two in 1970 elections. And military was, of course, scared. Military was--and the political leaders in West Pakistan were scared too. Why? Because all these years they were the rulers, and suddenly, we being the majority, and being promised democracy, would become the new rulers. They would not let us become the new rulers. As a result, Mujib was denied the right to form a government. Instead, he was arrested. And the movement-­and military crackdown started on 26 March, 1971, the day Bangladesh became free, because our freedom was a Declaration of Independence, was proclaimed on 26 March, 1971, that started the war for nine months. So, beginning with language, using it as a catalyst, people of East Pakistan launched a movement that went far beyond language and culture, it embraced the idea of sovereignty, that we, as a people are sovereign.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2008.0,2108.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: Interestingly, why language? Largely because Bengalis for centuries, in both Bengals, life has largely been influenced by our culture, our music, our everyday cultural activities, our festivals, all that bound us together irrespective of our religion. So culture has been extremely, extremely important for us as a people. And Bengalis everywhere is known for being so protective of their culture. Here in New York, for example, I live and yet most of my time is spent in cultivating or working on areas of language. For example, I'm digressing, of course. For example, I mentioned that we have a book fair here for the last 30 years. Every year, we have a huge, it was one day, became three day, now it's a week long, the week long book festival, Bengali Book Festival, and that brings together people from all walks of life from all over North America. You see, we bring that tradition, we bring that culture from home and spread it here. Why? One, it reminds us of our roots. B, more importantly, it defines us as a people, language and culture define us as a people, that it acts as a glue. That's how it is.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2108.0,2193.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So as I said, even though the movement started with language, it grew, it branched out almost, almost immediately into other areas. Why students were among the vanguard? Because students had more stakes, their job, their political--their future, as leaders. And also because they are culturally and politically more conscious. So they, instead of the workers, the workers that we dreamed of, you know, as Marxists, it was the students who led us the movement, and students led all through even in 1971 students were the main force behind our campaign for freedom.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2193.0,2242.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about the book fair and just describe what it's like to be there. How do you put it together? And, you know, in a broader sense, whether it represents--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2242.0,2259.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: I told you about 21st February, right? 21st February is the day when young students in Dhaka were gunned down, five of them, which sparked a whole movement, which eventually became our campaign for freedom. So 21st February is an extremely important date in our history. It is in our cultural psyche, it defines us as a people no matter where you are, no matter how far you are, you always observe 21st February. I remember in Russia, February is a very cold time in Russia. I was in a city called Kharkiv in my first year. And February, Kharkiv was extremely cold, extremely cold, minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, or Celsius, sorry, there's snow all over. And yet on 21st, or 20th February at midnight, we'd go out and barefoot, remember, barefoot, we'd place flowers. There is no, of course no Shahid Minar, no monument for the martyrs of language movement. So we had the monument of Lenin. So we went all the way up to the city center, and placed flowers, and even--and sang all together. The song that we all sing Amar Bhaier Rokthe Rangano Ekushe February, famous song kind of hymn, for us, even in Russia.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2259.0,2346.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So when we--when I was here, a small group of people in New York, had already started a kind of small movement to commemorate 21st February, midnight 21st February, in New York, right in front of the UN headquarters. I was working for the UN, and transferred from Dhaka to New York. So the monument that we use, they use, was just opposite my office building. And I was naturally drawn to that campaign because they're young people, students, writers, journalists, and every year on 20th February at midnight, we'd gather and sing songs just like we did in Dhaka or in Russia for that matter. And from that, a young man living in New York, who was a journalist, but also a book publisher, almost single handedly launched a book fair, almost single handedly, 1991 I believe. Yeah, 1991. In a small school in, in Brooklyn, a half day event. So he had a few books, maybe 100 books, and a two hour program in which we came, we spoke, we sang. That's it. Nothing really, it was just a moment for us to remember how things are done back home.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2346.0,2427.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: But then it grew. It gathered more people, more support, largely because more people started coming to New York. Immigration, because of immigration, Bengali population grew in New York City. And we become more organized. And more books were published. And we found among ourselves writers who wanted to publish books. So suddenly, we found ourselves writing books and publishing it in Bangladesh and bring it over to New York. The whole literary campaign or literary movement, almost in parallel, emerged in New York. We had at that time, early 1990s, I would say a very thriving cultural life emerged in New York City. Musicians from Bangalore would come and we would have our own musical school and schools where kids were taught Bengali alphabet. Several small schools, an interest school that I was part of is called Udichi. Udichi is a movement in Bangladesh. It is a cultural group in Dhaka in Bangladesh that is more political than cultural, I would say, because it is an offshoot of the Communist Party. And we formed our own Udichi here, which had a school, right in Jackson Heights, Queens, where every Saturday or Sunday, or both days, sometimes, we would have schools for kids. The kids would learn to read, write, but they would also learn music and dance.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2427.0,2524.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So it was a place where in an immersive way, kids learned to become Bengali. The parents would come, would wait for 3, 4, 5, 6 hours to see their children read, write, learn Bengali and sing music or recite poetry. So in a way, both the parents and children were becoming better Bengalis, because exile no matter how beautiful it is, in terms of comfort, is when you are cut off from your roots. And when roots are cut off, what happens? The tree gradually dies, right? And we felt that yes, deep inside, we were dying. And this was a way for us to rejuvenate ourselves. So several things happened. More people came. We discovered among ourselves writers. New York City had launched its first, late 80s, its first Bangla weekly, and we saw gradually more weeklies, now we have 16 weeklies in New York here, 16 weeklies coming out. So almost two weeklies every day. And we have right now we have three television channels, 24 hour around the clock, TV channels, Bengali TV channels. So, in other words, it has grown and grown and grown.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2524.0,2607.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: The Book Fair was a very big part of that. Because book fair afforded people a platform for writers, for intellectuals, for journalists, for musicians, for young kids. And so from one day, to two day, to three day eventually to a whole week long event. Originally we organized the event at a school, small school, then we moved to a big church in Jackson Heights that could accommodate about 1000 kids, people. Then we move to a school in Jackson Heights that became kind of center of our activity. And interestingly, about 10 years ago, we started inviting publishers from Bangladesh and India. We would invite writers and musicians, famous writers, famous musicians to come and perform, but not publishers. But about 10 years ago, we thought maybe we could have a full fledged book fair that, the way they have it in Dhaka on 21st February, a month long bookfair in Dhaka. Likewise in Calcutta also, their book fair in February, in January and February, big, very big book fair. So we model our book fair after these two book fairs in Calcutta and Dhaka, and we invited several book publishers. First it was 3, 4, 5. Now about 18, 20 book publishers come every year with the new books, you know, that their freshly published printed books. And our event is always in summer, when schools are over, school building is available, and the publishers are free.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2607.0,2704.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: They would come to New York for two purposes. A, to take part in the, in the book fair, but also to visit. Summer is a wonderful time in New York. And yeah, so, right now, because of COVID, that's a different story. Last year we had it online. In fact, we had a 10 day online show, 10 day online book fair. We created also an online book market, people can order books instead of coming to the book fair in person. We had this online book fair and people could order the same books that were just published in Bangladesh, in that year, you invite online from the book fair people. And I see the book fair as a place where for a few days, for a few hours, we can fully discover ourselves. We can understand who we are, we can understand how rich we are because when you are, when you are away from home, your links with home become weaker, you as a first generation. And then for the second generation, for my children for example, you guys for example, it is even weaker because it is not anymore your day to day experience. Language and culture.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2704.0,2779.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: If your parents are musical for example, they play occasionally a Tagore song, or have a book or two on the bookshelves. But they will not become part of your, I mean the second generation kid's life. But these bookfair days affords them an opportunity to come with their parents and become part of a whole way of life. What it is to be a Bengali. And I believe that leaves a deeper imprint in children's mind. If you have read the book called Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, there's a wonderful book that I always ask people to read. Why? Because initially the children always reject, they resist. I'm an American. Why do I need to speak your language or listen to your favorite song? But then as you grow older, you see what links are established between you and your parents, through your culture, through those books, through those music.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2779.0,2837.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: And that's the book where you actually gradually discover, Gogol, the hero of the book, gradually discovers his roots are somewhere else, and he will not be complete person unless you can find those roots. That's how we do it here. That's how this book fair and not just book fair because it is now a whole way of life in New York. We have, as I said, we have 16, 17 weeklies, three television channels, dozens of schools that teach music and language. So it's a whole subculture that we have created within these big mosaic of languages and cultures in New York City, and we are very proud of what we do to enrich the multicultural mosaic of the city. I can't hear you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2837.0,2888.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: Okay, sorry. So how do you think we can make sure that the culture keeps growing in a place like Queens?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2888.0,2896.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So it is always a generational thing, always, you have to transmit it to the next generation. It's like a tree, branching out, how does it do? From one tree, you see several trees come out, the seeds fall from the tree. And the seeds grow into full fledged plants, after a while. It takes time, it needs some caring, it needs some watering, for example, and the book fair is--we serve, we the older generation, serve as gardeners. We are the gardeners. We are the protector of the garden, we are the, we were the people that help that seed be planted. And that seems to become a fully fledged tree eventually. So first thing is that you need--you meaning the older generation--need a strong commitment. And that commitment comes from a sense of pride. Without a sense of pride, you will never do it. Why I do it, for example? Because I know this is who I am, and I'm so proud of who I am. I believe it is with all generations, all people, Chinese, Japanese. But some people are weaker. For a myriad of reasons, I won't go into that. But Bengalis, for a host of reasons, cling to their language and culture to define their identity. And it has been for generations.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2896.0,2993.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So since I'm so proud of who I am. Since I'm so proud of my language and culture, since I'm so proud of Tagore, for example, and other poets, I would like my children to learn them as well. Why? Because like all parents, I see myself in my children, right? So as a community, we work towards making sure that our children find themselves in us. So that pride, sense of pride is transferred. So that's the first thing. B, it always takes a village, you know, it always takes a village. You can't do it all by yourself. So you need a community. It may begin with one individual or two individuals like our book fair. But eventually it becomes a village and that village creates all these little pockets in which everyone can find his or her little shelter. Whether it's music, or poetry, or recitation, or journalism, that village provide those little shelters. They're all connected. They're not, they're not separated, they're all connected. And yet, I can go and find my little nook and cranny and be comfortable. So how can I do it? First of all, you need really one or two enterprising individuals who would spread that sense of pride. That's number one.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=2993.0,3082.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: Number two, grow that thing into a village, into a community and include your children, include people of succeeding generations into that fold and create opportunities for them to thrive, you need to create opportunities. It is not just a place where you come and have samosas. It's a place where you can find opportunities to expand yourself. For example, with the book fair, for the last five years, we have a two day event just dedicated for children. It's a Bengali book fair, has a children's section run by children, where the children have paintings and recitation and songs and dances and debates and invite young role models to come and speak to them. So just five years, but now that we have a whole new generation coming up, we can rely on their leadership so we have given it entirely--beforehand it was older people organizing for children, and only a couple of hours. Now it's a two day event where young people come together organizing their two day book fair. It's called Young People's Festival, it's called, former is called Young [unclear] Festival. But it's part of the book fair.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3082.0,3168.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: So you see how a tree becomes a garden. It was only a tree, but now it has become a garden with so many plants, and they're all thriving. And if we have some support from the city, if we have some support from the wider community, so much better. And I think what we have done is we have shown a way how this can be done. Because we have managed to create the interconnectedness among different units of the society. People may not be as enthusiastic, for example, culturally, but the people may find benefit in it a large gathering. So, businesses would come to display their product, for example, to find their customers, for example. So, it's an opportunity for business people to come and share their products. That's one, but also to find themselves as part of a broader community. It's like a church. Why do you go to church? Not because you're religious, you go there because you find people who are like you, who speak your language, will share your thoughts, who share your beliefs, who share your culture.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3168.0,3244.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: Thank you so much. This has been so wonderful. And I really hope to go to the book fair next year when it comes out again.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3244.0,3254.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: Absolutely. Sometime in June, in June, July. Stay in touch, hopefully.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3254.0,3260.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: I would love to and if you need help organizing it as well, I would definitely be--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3260.0,3264.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: Fantastic. Fantastic.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3264.0,3265.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: --So many memories from my parents going to the boimela growing up and how that was really the biggest event of the year for the kids.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3265.0,3274.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Hasan Ferdous: Excellent. Excellent. Give them my best.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3274.0,3276.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870/transcript/62632/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Trisha Mukherjee: Yes, will do. Okay for the recording, if you hit stop--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/116587/file/220870#t=3276.0,3283.968"}]}]}]}