Elona

Prof. Abdullah Abu Sayeed; a Teacher, a Pathfinder.

 _by Elona Taqwa, my daughter

 I do not know a lot about Prof. Abdullah Abu Sayeed whose Page on Facebook has been shared by me. I have listened many of his valuable lectures with proper attention posted in the Page by the Admin. Falling in attraction to know more about him, I searched some other sources to enrich my knowledge. So far I could understand with my knowledge and experience, I must say, it is not possible to study him with my insufficient learning and understanding. He stays far above my reach. His speeches are full of wisdom, wit, humour and directions for all ages of people from child to old. He is a candle of knowledge and education. What is the nature of a candle of light; it dispels darkness around it and passes direction of destination to the distant path seekers. He is no way less than of a candle of light for this era. He is a lifelong teacher who has enriched many students with inside to date. He was a long time Professor in Dhaka College, an echelon of excellence, a confluent of brilliance to Dhaka University (DU), Dhaka Medical College (DMC), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and many other renowned institutes.  His students are now contributing the nation residing inside and outside the country in different walks.  They being fortunate of his direct students could replace the darkness whatever they had with wisdom. Batches of students of Dhaka College who were near the Candle are more or less equivalent in their careers. We, the teens, are getting direction to reach the success and it has been possible for his frequent presence and speech in TV -Channels and for the contribution of social media like Facebook and You Tube.  It is evident when we see him as Chief Guest and principal speaker in many occasions. We can find a group of enlightened people as audience and Sir as speaker. 

Retiring from academic Professor he did not stop his journey rather has taken bigger responsibility with his venture, Biswa Shahitto Kendro (BSK).  He becomes a professor for this generation from a professor of Dhaka College. Students of our ages even junior are now with his touch. Tens of thousands disciples of all ages throughout the country could come into his benevolence and be warmth with the light of the Candle who could see him and get direction from a long distance. This is possibly the third phase of his life as the first was started with Bangladesh Television (BTV) with his multi-dimensional intellect.  So far I could know, he is the pioneer who added a new dimension in anchoring and it changed into an enjoyable event from a dry pace merging with relevant wit and humour. 

Our generation could not have the opportunity to enjoy those TV Programmes. I hope those are in the archive of BTV and should be brought to light to facilitate us to be aware of Sir’s first phase of life.  I intentionally term his TV programmes as first phase of his life though everybody knows that he started his career as a lecturer first. Besides this, I have excluded his student life. Cause I do not want to write his life sketch or a critical apprehension which is not possible for me. I will write whatever feeling I have studying him in a limited space. In addition, I am in touch with him through social and electronic media which mainly focus his speeches in different occasions. Naturally another important media, BTV, attracts my eagerness to know the content of those. I will never be able to store his academic part in my memory world where he was particular for his college students and not preserved in any public domain other than the archive of his students’ heart. He is a genius for particular and general and BTV Programmes here acts as a stage for his first part of his life. 

His speeches are full of humours but twisted with wisdom which control heavy laughter in the audience. In cover unveiling ceremony of his ‘Bhango Durdosar Chokro’ arranged by Quantum Foundation keeping Prof. Zamilur Reza Chowdhury as Chief Guest demand of laughter arises when he says that Prof. Zamilur Reza Chowdhury has ended the probability of huge sale of his book as he tells, he will need a long time to understand the book which must send the message to the readers not to purchase it because it might be too abstract to understand as a scholar like him feels so. The huge laughter in the audience is controlled with rational thinking when he adds at the same time that none leaves the country if he has merit, prudence and talent citing examples of many prominent figures where Prof. Zamilur Reza Chowdhury is one. Here wisdom follows humour and audience automatically shift to think about its depth. It creates laughter for his style of approach as everyone knows that Prof. Zamilur Reza Chowdhury dignifies the book which will rather increase the attraction of the readers to know a creation of the famous writer, Prof. Abdullah Abu Sayeed. This is the way how he creates measured humour in his speeches by using similes and controls it from heavy laughter adding wisdom and thought. We get the same message when he says that he loves trees, birds, green, rain, day, night etc. but meaning of the middle and last parts of his name is father of gang leader. 

In a reunion of one of his batches of students of Dhaka College who were comparatively young he asked them why they came in half. One replied being well known of his style of using phrase that better- half of theirs are with little kids which refrained them from joining in such a gathering. Referring the sweet answer he in a reunion of possibly 1967 Students’ Batch of Dhaka College, he said, they are unlike the young batch and have joined in full. This time he was responded as they have come not only in full but also with extension, their grandkids. Sir wonderfully defines the extension as relation with grandkids is sweeter than the relation with kids. We generally administer kids, so relation is bitter and sometimes hostile as we often intervene in their liberty which we never do with our grandkids rather protect them from the harsh administration of their parents, our kids. So grandkids act as energy in our old age. Lot of examples can be given to show how he uses measured humours in his speech. 

I always learn whenever he says something in talk-show, interview, conference or any sort of gathering and it might be same to every listener. He was asked in a FM Radio interview the difference between enjoyment and entertainment. He evaluated joy as a pure demand of heart with soberness and entertainment as joy mixed with obscenity. Sometimes entertainment crosses even obscenity becomes chaos. So entertainment should be filtered by the self and guide if it is to accept in any case. In a speech in Teachers’ Day, he did not hesitate to criticise something in a teacher. Drawing an example from his life he said, he wanted to study Economics as his under-graduation and post-graduation course when a good Economic teacher taught Economics with depth in his college life but had to change his aim when an inferior teacher started teaching the subject because of the transfer of previous teacher. He not only changed his aim to study Economics but also started hating Economics only for the style of teaching of the teacher who taught latter. He wanted to mean how a teacher can influence his students and the difference between the two. It is alarming if a student is influenced by a bad teacher as he had latter. A teacher likes to be wished and addressed but ignores to wish or address others. Pride acts in a teacher in this case but Sir criticised it and wanted to mean that life is full of learning.  Here a teacher is a student also and he is to learn every day. So a good teacher should abhor pride.  He loved to be a teacher as teacher is a glorious and sacred profession. 

 He also said that all wise men of the world are teachers and teachers are the energy of the backbone where education is the backbone of a nation. We can learn a very good interpretation of teacher who should have multi-dimensional knowledge, like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. 

In a live programme of a TV Channel Sir was asked by one of his students on a phone call whether he could finish teaching ‘Srikanto’ to any batch of his students. This is a common question asked in many times by his students that he could not finish teaching ‘Srikanto’ in his life. Maximum of the questioners are from Dhaka College. Sir was found not to answer the question directly but to avoid in a very beautiful way. This creates a curiosity in me to know what happened on ‘Srikanto’ with his students. At last I got it from one who had literature as his under-graduation and post-graduation course. I could understand that it is not an allegation from his students rather a submission why he could not pass more time in their college life on ‘Srikanto’. He admits that every student after passing Secondary School cannot understand how literature is taught in college level. So students under Sir takes his teaching as full of humour only in first few months and can gradually reach to that level to understand the way of teaching of Sir and become so devoted to him that they cannot receive his departure from ‘Srikanto’ even at the end of their college tenure. To make me understand more, he added that literature at the college level is unlike of school not like something to read out the text and meaning line by line in the classroom rather it should be discussed on a bigger canvas including the author’s complete works and the events of his age where text might not be a maximum part. Sir did it in his lectures which his students can come to understand after a few months. Sir leaves them keeping in dismay what he has to at the end of the college tenure. So the submissions asked by his students in different times on ‘Srikanto’ are not from grievance but from their inclination. Promotho Chowdhury defines learning as an endeavour given to students through pleasure. It will diminish if someone tries to give within a type routine and it is the responsibility of the teacher to create the atmosphere. We find this reflection in the process followed by Sir. 

Anyway Sir admits that he writes less in print media when he was asked in the reunion of 1967 Batch Students’ of Dhaka College. Articles are different from speeches. We need to read his articles in print media very often. We know from him that he has to remain too busy with invitations of organisations which take maximum of his time taxing hugely on writing articles. But it is the demand of the upcoming generations and Sir has to manage some time for them writing articles in dailies.

Note : Writer is my daughter, whom the charity is instituted for. Please see the edited form published in the Daily Sun.