sympathetically at the stories of our flight from Pakistan. “Ilish mach,” (hilsa fish), she had informed me with a smile, holding the fish up in the air. From the Padma. “Taja (fresh),” she had added, pointing to a startlingly clear, protruding eye. And indeed, the sleek body, silvery as a sitar note, faintly bluish-green on its back, had winked in the vivid sunlight. It is a medium-sized ilish (“They’re small in the wintertime”), the downward slant of its mouth and the angular line of its lower jaw giving it a vaguely determined air. I cannot remember the last time I had seen one. Born and raised in dry, dun-coloured, sprawling Karachi city, all this, fish rivers, relatives, Dhaka’s sudden swathes of green grass and ty-sized post offices, is new to me. My grandmother is talking about 1971. Every Bengali in 1972 talked about 1971, about the war, refugees and subsequent release from the daily horror. “1971 was 1947 all over again,” she says as she holds both ends of the fish with her hands and vigorously saws it back and forth across the blade. Fish scales fly in all directions and a few sizzle upward, float momentarily at the top of their arc, aquamarine and topaz spangles, before gliding down on the cement, In 1947, during the Partition, my grandparents had fled from Calcutta (now Kolkata) along with other Muslims. Whole paras (neighbourhoods) slaughtered in a day, my mother had said. Babies thrown over walls. Trembling adults and crying children fleeing pell-mell. ………………………………………………………………………. “Taja,” she says again and nods approvingly, the corona of sprung hairs around her head stirring with the motion. Behind her against the wall are two empty flowerpots and a red earthen bowl with drained rice starch or crisping her saris. Their shadows, peasant-dark doubles, are sharply etched on the peeling yellow limewash. A column of ant is marching up the sides and round the rim of the bowl. From An Ilish Story Khademul Islam (Islam 2005) Passage2 *Easy to understand
Hindus and Muslims – in another words things of our own culture and country which will make our students feel a familiar world. Food is Western if you desire, but please try Local Moghul dishes – biriani, chicken pilau, dahi barra And sweetmeats – rashgolla, shandesh, chom-chom And many more to name a few. Sweetmeats give Sweet taste in mouth to take home For kissing near and dear ones sweetly. Many are the places of interest Like natural sceneries, rivers, Forest with royal Bengal tiger and deers (also monkeys) and longest sea-beach. Also because of ancient history heritage We are in many ruins, two very important, Full of Hindu and Buddhist idols. (From “Civil Service Romance”, Kaiser Haq) (Haq 97-99) Jibanananda Das’s poetry is known by almost every Bengali. “Banalata Sen” is his most famous poem. Therefore, it will be a good idea if we take Fakrul Alam’s translation of “Banalata Sen” or “I Have Seen Beautiful Bengal”. The theme of the poem is already known to most readers as well as the students. The Bengali words that are used inside make it wonderful. Some students are going to benefit from the translation and it will stimulate their imagination. Students are going to learn about sentence structure, use of direct/indirect quotation, capitalization, and use of punctuation marks etc. This extract from “Banalata Sen” can be served as an example of Punctuation and capitalization. Use of Punctuation and Capitalization For a thousand years I have walked the ways of the world, From Sinhala’s Sea to Malaya’s in night’s darkness, Far did I roam. In Vimbisar and Ashok’s ash-grey world
Ghosh, Amitav. (1999). The Shadow Lines. Oxford University Press: 125, 245-246. Haq, Kaiser. (2007). “Civil Service Romance”. Published in the Streets of Dhaka.Dhaka: Writers Ink: 97-99. _________________. “ms. bunny sen”. Published in the Streets of Dhaka.Dhaka: Writers Ink: 22-24. Islam, Khademul. (2005). “An Ilish Story”. From the Delta. Dhaka: University Press Limited. 76-80. Thiongo’O Ngugi Wa. “The Language of African Literature. “Colonial Discourse and Post- Colonial Theory: A Reader. Ed. Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. .Edinburgh Gate:Pearson Education Limited. 1994.439 Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. (1968). Penguin Books: 77.