I Remember Abbu

by Humayun Azad

March 26, 1971, is considered the official date on which the new nation of Bangladesh came into existence. The name of the country came from Bangla, the language, and desh, the Bangla word for country or nation. The identity of the new country was, thus, explicitly built around the language.

My friends are frightened of their abbus, staying out of their way. They slip out of their homes. When they return, they hesitate for a long time before fearfully ringing the doorbell. I’m not afraid of my abbu. I run into him all the time. When I’m going out this door. When I’m going out that door. When I’m coming back. We stand side by side on the balcony. When I hail a rickshaw, I see Abbu smiling at me from the balcony.

I was small, but I was a human. Does not being able to talk mean you don’t know what’s what? Didn’t Abbu know the sky even when he himself couldn’t speak? Doesn’t that cat sitting there know me?

deaths are part of the daily news in this country.

“Why do you part your hair on the right, Abbu?” I ask. “For fear of Baba,” Abbu says. “My father wouldn’t even allow me to comb my hair. A part on the left would have meant trouble.” “But I part my hair on the left,” I say. “Because your abbu is not my abbu,” Abbu says with a smile.

But can independence come so easily? Does it not need blood, unending blood?