By Kumkum Chadha
Among the many other things that come to mind vis-a-vis Bangladesh are Jamdani sarees and hilsa fish. Therefore, when Bangladesh High Commissioner to India M Riaz Hamidullah celebrated both, it was no surprise.
There were two different occasions: one in the Crafts Museum in Delhi and the other in the high commission premises. The first was marked by the presence of celebrities like Muzaffar Ali and his wife Meera and architectural restorer and designer Sunita Kohli, and the second, by those who were dying to eat the hilsa which Hamidullah had specially flown down for friends and well wishers of Bangladesh. In fact, the guests got a peep into how the fish is scaled, cut and finally cooked through a mouth-watering recipe. And of course, who could miss the sandesh which was to die for.
As for the sarees, among the exhibits were 150-year-old treasured pieces which took one down history and its significance. Works and weaves of nation award winning artisans were on display showcasing traditional designs, including floral motifs, net and diagonal patterns: “Wear one and float in it” is what is said about the Jamdani saree.
Had it not been a casual conversation between the high commissioner and Kohli, the exhibition would perhaps have never happened here: “A poetry in thread” to quote Kohli. Hamidullah wasted no time to clinch the idea and actually make it happen. “Born from a serendipitous moment”, he said, displaying visible signs of emotion for a craft that is easily Bangladesh’s celebrated weave.
Hamidullah is not a stranger to India; nor is India an unfamiliar territory to him. He has been here in the past, as a student. In fact, a toss-up between India and the USA, saw him heading for India where years later he came as Bangladesh high commissioner: his current assignment. Even at the high commission, he had done a stint in 2003. Therefore, when he said he wants to “eat at a truck driver’s dhaba, and not a fancy air-conditioned one”, it is not surprising. “I actually want to feel the heat and dust and also eat golgappas by the roadside”, he said.
In a recent interview with a national daily, Hamidullah also recalled eating makki ka roti and mooli saag, cornbread and radish greens, along the highway while driving back from Fatehpur Sikri. “Nothing to beat that,” he said. Ask him if he would trade that with hilsa and he said: “Aha…hilsa is a different story” Like the “rain in Dhaka” which he misses deeply while away from home.
As for Aligarh and studying there, it was his father’s decision that led to his packing his bags and landing here. “Half of my class went to the USA, but it was my father who told me that he had chosen Aligarh for me. Apart from affordability, it was also his sense of valuing heritage which perhaps resulted in this decision,” he said.
The rail trip on Kalka Mail remains etched in his memory. “I still remember the train leaving at 7 am from Howrah platform and take 22 hours to reach Aligarh. It was a magical journey on a second class, three-tier train traversing different stations. And what has stayed with me is a remark by an aged man who told me that India is a country where people are adept in making more out of less,” he reminisced.
His introduction to the caste system was way back in 1990, when a student attempted self-immolation in University of Delhi to protest against the Mandal Commission reservation policies. “Self-immolation was a word completely unknown to me. And then one witnessed heated discussion on the backwards, scheduled castes and all else. Sunday conversations on theology, that I rarely attended, on one occasion led me to a chance remark that has also stayed: Jazbaat akal se aata hei, mehnat se nahin, emotion is a fall out of sensibility and not hard work. Everyone left, but I wanted to find out who this man was and I was told he is a delawalla, cart-puller, from Bulandshahr. So, there is a lesson that one can learn from anyone,” he said.
By his admission, he was introduced to what he terms as a “rude reality to life” following the Babri Masjid demolition and the subsequent riots that broke out. “Gruesome things happened and for someone from another part of Asia to be exposed to all this, was quite challenging. Those were the no-emails days and a call costing Rs 20 a minute. In a hostel of 750 students, there were only four of us left. It was dead frightening to say the least. In the process, I was exposed to the trials and tribulation and the entire debate and the challenges of staying secular,” he said.
During his India-experience, so to speak, Hamidullah was fascinated by the Chipko movement. “Hug a tree as they said. As a young person I was struck by people’s concern for nature. Today, there is alertness and sensitivity, but four decades ago for a community to stand up to protect and value nature was something else”.
Baba Amte and Ela Bhatt of SEWA were people who left a mark on Hamidullah’s psyche. “What they define is selflessness and looking beyond your own selfish interests, valuing values more than your interests. These movements and people define South Asia. We have forgotten voluntarism. South Asia, unlike many other parts of the world, was defined by voluntarism. You look beyond yourself, think of others”.
In this context, he remembered visiting Rajghat and remembering Mahatma Gandhi: “I stood there, just imagining the man,” he said.
Ask him about the “good and bad” about India and like a through-bred diplomat, he speaks only about the positives: “Two things are top of mind: one is the language that changes every few kilometres or miles. India is progressing in so many ways, but still the cultural attributes of India, the grassroots…for instance I am longing to eat in a dhaba, the authentic non-air conditioned truck drivers’ dhaba…Back in those days, in 1990, a question would be asked whether India would fall apart in aftermath of the riots and tensions and I then remember reading what economist and diplomat John Kenneth Galbraith said about India and I quote: “India is a functioning anarchy and it would continue to prosper”.
About the situation in Bangladesh, he spoke about the “younger demography”. Rewind to 1972 when only one percent of Bangladesh population was in the urban areas: “In 2022, about 40 percent Bangladeshi population are in the urban space and that number is expected to spike in the near future. And they are aspirational and global in their outlook. If these aspirations don’t get fulfilled and there are roadblocks or they feel that someone is usurping their rights then there is quite logically an outburst and that is exactly what we experienced in Bangladesh recently. But we are firmly moving to free and fair elections early next year. That is where we are now,” he said before signing off.
—The writer is an author, journalist and political commentator