Pritish Nandy to be honoured in Bangladesh

Bollywood Hungama

Noted humanitarian, poet, journalist, photographer, TV host, painter,
editor, columnist, and filmmaker Pritish Nandy just added another
feather to his cap. The Government of Bangladesh has invited
Pritishfor a special State honour on the occasion of their 40th
anniversary of the Liberation struggle. The Foreign Ministerof
Bangladesh, who is also theNational Convenor of the Friends of the
Bangladesh Liberation Struggle, recently wrote to Nandy saying that
though it is forty years late, itis never too late to recognize and
honour someone who did so much for their freedom struggle.
The awards ceremony, which kick starts from this year on December 15,
is to honour those who participated in the liberation struggle of
Bangladesh and helped the nation become free. Nandy willbe attending
the event along with his wife Rina. Talking about the honour, Nandy
says, "The birth of Bangladesh was a miracle. Most wars end in
stalemate but Indira Gandhi won it decisively and with amazing
precision. I was proud to play a role in the making of a new nation, a
nation born out of the love for a language and a proud culture:
Bengali."
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of Bangladesh.
Nandy, barely entering his twenties then, was one of the most ardent
campaigners for a free Bangladesh. He reported first hand on the war
for freedom, translated the works of the then little known poets of
the Bangladesh movement who are now iconic figures in Bengali
literature across the border and got them publishedfrom London,
Chicago and other parts of the world to bring focus to their war
efforts, and was one of the central figures of the movement when he
lived in Calcutta in the early seventies. All the leaders of the
freedom struggle were hispersonal friends, including Sheikh Mujibur
Rehman who became the first Prime Ministerof Bangladesh.
Interestingly, the man who subsequently assassinated him, Major Dalim,
was also known to Nandy during the freedom struggle days when he came
to Calcutta as a young army officer for medicaltreatment after a
serious grenade injury. Nandy was a leading poet then and some ofhis
own poems in the book 'Madness is the Second Stroke' were inspired by
the Bangladesh war. The famous British painter Feliks Topolski
collaborated with Nandy to bring out poems from Bangladesh, a book of
poems from London. Nandy is one of Indian poetry's most celebrated
names whose books, record albums and readings have drawn him an iconic
following and won him the Padma Shri and the EM Forster Literary Award
at an age most people barely begin their literary career.