Helal Hafiz, ferrywala of dreams, hopes and rebellion

Afsan Chowdhury
Published : 6 Oct 2016, 03:33 PM
Updated : 6 Oct 2016, 03:33 PM

Few poets have captured an entire generation's hopes, angers and resolve as poet Helal Hafiz did with his poem, "The Banned Editorial". The opening lines "this is the best time for the young to go to protest processions/ this is the best time for the young of age to go to war " says not just what the young could do but also what everyone wanted to do.

Written in 1969, as present Bangladesh was exploding in a massive firework of collective rage and agitation that ultimately became the dress rehearsal of 1971, Helal Hafiz wrote the most memorable poem of Bangladesh's history. He was not just reflecting on a historic duty, he was counseling rebellion. He captured in a single poem what became the birth pangs of Bangladesh. So emotive is the poem that it gets a new life with every spring and rebellion in every decade. The poem returns to the angry streets and the young in age or heart with every rebellion.

It has become the national anthem of those who wish to protest, be defiant in the face of the adversity and welcome a showdown with history. If a single poem defines a nation and its people, it's this poem. Happy birthday Helal Bhai on your 68th birthday.

Although the poem crackles with flames, the poet is one of the least flamboyant of his generation which produced so many firecrackers. He has always been the gentle one quite, more fond of writing and disappearing from the centre stage and public bravado. He was as "bohemian" as his fellow young poets of the 60s who reigned over the 70s too but not with noise and heat.

He has always been quietly slipping away, a cloth bag hung over his shoulder, leaving his remarkable poetry behind. Today, he still walks with the same gentle gait as if he doesn't wish to disturb his environment. He has aged but is unafraid of his advancing years though the permanently single man worries a bit about being felled by an illness to be bedridden without a caregiver. But such thoughts do not blemish his smile.

Yet the poet of youthful rage and rebellion and call to war and protest has also written on love. His real or mythical lost love –Helen- lends a poignant shade to his poetry that casts a spell. To many, some of his love poems ring a stronger bell. His poem "Pain/ Tragedy/ sadness -"Dukkho"- is one of the most favourite poem of many.

There are several other such poems but his ouvre is very small. He has published only 71 poems and one volume of his poems which has gained legendary status. Titled, "Je Joley agun joley" ("The inflammable waters")- it is still a top seller in the verse list. Another volume may be published soon, carrying a few more. "Kobita Ekattur" carries his translations. It's always been quality with him.

This tiny output is in some ways what makes Helal Hafiz different. In a cultural world, when the quantum of output determines status, he has defiantly written very little. But that small harvest includes some of the choicest literary fruits of our time.

Helal Hafiz also represents the era when politics and the personal were both living in the same room. If he wrote about rebellion, then he wrote about love too. He lived at a time in history when the people had both of these lover and war and the poet and the lover were one. Nirmalendu Goon's poem, "Na premik, na biplobi" (Neither a revolutionary nor a lover") sums up the essence of his generation and its historical aspirations.

In contemporary Bangladesh, politics has become a sector to avoid, love is a subject of fleeting moments and many complications. He walked in a world where even losing one's love could be drafted into poems that called people to war in the same breadth. That is why he has become so special.

So Helal bhai, may you live long and may you endure in poetry, love and history. Our best wishes to you.