Do you ever see the red buses with writings which say ‘Alokito Manush Chai.’? Red buses filled with books which move around the city quenching the thirst of ardent readers. Magic on wheels.
The organization which owns these red buses, Bishwo Shahitto Kendra (World Literature Center) turned 40 last year. It is a non-profit organization which has worked with enlightenment as its motto, tirelessly for these many years. What started as mere book club or study circle, where a bunch of people got together to discuss about literary works in 1978 is now possibly the largest ‘book club’ in Bangladesh. It has not limited its operations to those of a mere book club.
Currently, it has numerous programs going about all around the country. Apart from the nationwide mobile library and enrichment programs, book reading program for primary programs, the center is also invested in cultural events.
Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed, the founder of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro is a legendary professor of Bangla, TV personality and an eminent writer who also ran the literary journal “ The Kanthashwar”. You only need to ask any of his Dhaka College students about him to know about his popularity as a teacher. He is one of those people who spear headed the Bengali literature movement during the 1960s.
Professor Sayeed often says ‘people are as big as their dreams.’
His dream of establishing these books reading programs and fueling the growth of progressive individuals who contribute to the betterment of the society may have seemed unachievable at some point but he never gave up. He had this marvelous dream of transforming the country and it is safe to say he has been more or less successful in his endeavor. Professor Sayeed mentioned in an interview that he can never think of a project in a small scale, he ends up doing some major large-scale planning and then goes about trying to execute it.
During the initial stages of its journey, BSK faced a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs.
It was nearly impossible to convince school authorities outside the urban areas about the benefits of reading books which were not textbooks. Any book which was not a textbook was known as an ‘outbook’ and many people in the small towns believed story books were unnecessary and would divert the students’ attention from the books that really mattered, the textbooks. Things got comparatively easier once BSK got government backing.
The illustrious institution celebrated its 40 anniversary a few days back. The organizers and the volunteers left no stone unturned to make it a grand one.
Preparations began a month ago with approximately 450 volunteers. The volunteers were selected through online registration and all these people have taken part in various BSK programs. The volunteers made wall paintings, special clothes that would definitely portray the culture of the country.
‘The Kendra has a reputation for well organized programs and the bar was set high. We rehearsed, went to multiple meetings, voiced the issues and by the end of it, we are absolutely clear about our roles regarding the event. By the time, the art and crafts department were done with their work, the BSK building looked marvelous from head to toe.’ — said volunteer Nadia Jasmine Rahman from 20th batch of college program.
The whole celebration kicked off with a never before seen rally. Prominent member of the society including the author Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam, singer Mustafa Zaman Abbasi, painter Mustofa Monwar headed the carnival like rally, wearing the colorful attire which depicted the various traditional elements of Bangladesh. The rally began at the Public Library in Shahbag and came to a halt at the BSK building in Bangla Motor. The festive rally included freedom fighters, fairytale characters, men and women dressed in notable figures such as Socrates, Begum Rokeya, Rabindranath Tagore and many others.
Volunteers were divided into groups and each group was responsible for a particular aspect of the event for example — attending to the guests, supervising the food stalls, etc. But that didn’t stop the volunteers from enjoying the cultural program being held in the other floors.
‘We didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy the program live because we were serving people from almost 7 in the morning to 10 at night but there was a big screen in our floor and we got to see the singers, dancers, reciters, etc on the screen.’ — added Nadia.
Musicians such as Saadi Mohammad, Kiran Chandra Roy, Chandana Majumder, Priyanka Gope graced the occasion with their presence. Dance troupes also performed classical dance such as Manipuri and Bharatanatyam.
‘This is hopefully the beginning of many more 40 years celebrations.’ — said Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed.
We hope so too.