Abdul KadirJibon: Nobel Laureate Kabiguru Rabindranath Thakur has said about teacher, “The bridgebetween those who will impart education and those who will receive it is the bridge of relation built up by respect and affection. Without that relation if there is the relation of duties and business, then those who offer and those who receive are unfortunate.” Besides, another utterance can be recalled, “The teacher who contributes is an enlightened man; it is the hope that illumines his life.”
I am fortunate to come in contact with many an extraordinary and potential teacher from my boyhood learning period to my university life. Of them, three teachers came to my life as beloved ones—one at primary school named Sajbeen Akhter madam, at Secondary level Mawlana Monir Husain hujur and in my university life Prof. Dr. Gazi Abdulla-hel Baqui, formerly Dean, Faculty of Arts and Modern Language. The account of the former two teachers has already been penned by me and now I am presenting the brief biography of Gazi Sir.
Gazi Abdulla-helBaqui, an emblem of light, was born in February 1951, at Kaliganj, Satkhira, Bangladesh. Hisfather was late GaziMoinuddin Ahmad who, after having pension from Bangladesh Railway Dept., used to serve Kaliganj Girls’ High School as a teacher till his demise. His mother’s name was late Begum Nurnnahar Khanam. Dr. Baqui attended Dhuliapur Adarsha Bidhalaya, Nalta High School, Hanny Railway High School and Govt. Brajalal University Collage. Hedid his Hon’s and Masters in English from Chittagong University and PhD from Dhaka University. In this connection, it is mention thathe was a student belonging to the first batch at the university. He started his career in 1973 at Kaliganj Degree College, Satkhira, Ispahani Public School and Collage at Cumilla Cantonment, then Assistant Professor and Head of the Dept. of English, Jhenidah Cadet College, Jhenidah for about 09 years, Faculty of English, Fatma Zahra Teachers’ Training Institute, Libya for about 02 years and 04 months. In 1991 he joined Khulna University and served there till 2011 in the positions of Registrar and Director, Modern Language Center, and Part-time and Full-time Faculty of English Discipline, Khulna University. At Khulna University under direction of the authority, his initiative helped to establish Link Programs between Khulna University and Guelph University, Canada; Universities of Wales in England; AIT in Thailand. Also his initiative established English, Economics and Bangla Disciplines, and Modern Language Center and Institute of Fine Arts at Khulna University. He also served as Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Human Science, North Western University, Khulna, and Dean, Faculty of Arts and Modern Language, Leading University. Sylhet.Now he is associated with a Private university at Khulna.
Gazi Abdulla-hel Baqui is mainly a poet. He wrote a large number of poems, articles, book reviews, Haiku, Rubaiyat, etc. His Rubaiyat-i-Gazi-Abdulla-hel Baqui containing more than 1500 Rubaiyat is an invaluable addition to Bangla literature. A good number of Research Articles on different topics such as aesthetics, teaching, English literature, Persian literature etc., and his 20 Books including Translation Works have been published. A solo Cassette Album of English poems VISIONS was published by National Library of Poetry (NLP), USA in 1996. His Varied Gems in Thy Treasury is a famous translation work of sonnets of Samsur Rahman, Al Mahmud’s ‘Sonali Kabin’ and Gazi Sir.
He was awarded ‘Signal of Merit’ and ‘Prize of Merit’ for ‘A Poem for Peace’ in 1994, 1995, and 1996 competitions held at Torino in Italy, ‘International Poet of Merit’ by International Society of Poets, USA in 1995 and ‘Editors’ Choice Award’ by The National Library of Poetry, USA in 1998 for his poetic accomplishment. A number of his poems have been published In the Anthologies in USA and Italy. In Bangladesh, he got more than ten Awards by different organizations for his contribution to poetry, research and other literary works and as an academician.
He is now Life Member(1599), Bangla Academy and Khulna Shahitta Parishad (literary organization); Member, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka and Shilpakala (Fine Arts) Academy, Khulna; Distinguished member, International Society of Poets (ISP),USA after offering him nomination as ‘poet of the year for 2001’. In the country, he has been awarded by many organizations for his contributions to poetry, literature, research and education; some are Writers’ Club in 2001, Khulna Shahitta Parishadand M. A. Razzak Madinabadi in 2007, Nandini Shahitta and Pathchakra Dhaka in 2007, KHUSAS Mother Language Gold Medal in 20011, Media Vision Dhaka in 2017, Kaliganj International Conference in 2014, National Crime Observation & Legal Aid Society in 2011 and Khulna Cultural Society in 2019.
He was formerly editor of The College Chronicle of Jhenidah Cadet College; Associate Editor, Khulna University Studies and one of the two Editors, History of Khulna University; Executive Editor, North Western University Journal; Executive Editor, Journal of Business, Society and Science, and Editor, The News Bulletin, Leading University, Sylhet and Member, Editorial Board, IRA Publications, New Delhi and Bharat Publications, India. He participated in a good number of Workshops, Seminars and Conferences, at local, national and regional levels. He used to deliver speeches on English and Administration as specialist and guest speakers in different institutions like RPATC, HSTT etc. Composing poems, Cultural activities, Research, Language & Literature Teaching, Doing translation, listening to poems and gazals etc. are his hobbies. He visited India, Saudi Arabia and Libya.
“Teachers are skilled makers of nations.” This pronouncement is an axiomatic true. Baqui Sir contributed to the making of careers of hundreds of thousands of students in his teaching life who completing their higher education are performing different activities at home and abroad. They are also contributing amply to the development of society.So,he is a very successful teacher in my view. Sir is the lighthouse of inspiration in my academic life. A symbol of light, he has kindled the light of hope in my life though we have had him for a brief span of time at Leading University.The aspect of Baqui Sir which impressed me most was that he never confined his teaching to the limited course only, rather as a student of English literature; he focused on various aspects, kindling the light of knowledge on English literature what our attention was drawn to. As a result, the total period would be stirred up and stimulating as well. The art of his classroom teaching and discussion created a profound interest and enthusiasm within me. I talked to myself why he did not join our university long before. The teacher-student relationship is a very significant matter. It is only a teacher who can detect the different streams of merit latent in a student and then he or she can act as a path-finder for blossoming them. I am really lucky as a student to come in close contact with such a teacher. In his personal life, Gazi Sir is gentle, sincere, peace loving, humble, pious, and helpful, an ideal teacher and a lighthouse of inspiration.
The list of books written by Gazi Sir:
- Patriotism: poems about Bangabandhu& Freedom-1972
- Existence of Allah and the Quran-1984
- Peace Lost and Reagained (A book of poems)-1995
- Book of poems :Peace has One Heart-1986
- “Visions” A solo Cassette Album of English poems (Published by the National Library of Poetry, USA)- 1996
6. Book of poems: Roes have Green Eyes-1997
(Thinking of the Squirrel-1998)
- The Beautiful Names of Allah-1999
- The Names of RasulSm-2000
- Rhetoric & Prosody with Literary Terms -2001
- A book of poems rendered in English-2003
- Allen Ginsburg’s “Semtember on Jessore Road-A critique
With bangla translation-2004
- Melodies of Hieroglyphs (A bi-lingual book of English poems)-2006
- Gifts of English-2007
- Subhanallah (translated in English)-2010
- English My English-2012
- Rubaiyat-e-Gazi Abdulla-hel Baqui-2014
17. Omar Khyaam’sRubaiyat: An Integral part of the heritage of Sufis-2015
- Green Cuckoo on the Branch of Autumn-2016
- Songs of Water (Haiku Poems)-2017
- Varied Gems in Thy Treasury (A bi-lingual collection of sonnets)-2018
- Bangla Translation of ‘Allah the Absolute’-2018
- Rhyme for Niha-2019-Translated from Bangla
- Ragib Ali: A Donorhero Turns Iron into Gold-Translated from Bangla-2019
- 24. The description of ‘head-to-foot’ and manners of RasulSm
At last, I want to say that the virtues an ideal teacher must possess are pursued by Baqui Sir and therefore, he is the best teacher at my university life. It is said that “after father and mother, then comes teacher”.Teachers illumine the future of students and show them paths in conducting their lives beautifully. So, teachers should be loved and honoured. I wish my beloved teacher long life and say Du’a for his continued sound health.
Writer:
Abdul KadirJibon, Editor, The Earth of Autograph
