In many ways, we grew up in the age of poet Shamsur Rahman 's poetry. It was basically the 60s that saw him burst forth and become the voice of a new generation of poets which included the finest and the best of a literary era. They not only were part of literature but also politics as well.

Not in the activist sense but of having absorbed and internalized the passions and aspirations of a society they hoped would become a new state. In its making, the Ekushe 1952 event was significant. It was not only their marching anthem; it was also a mirror of their collective soul.

Shamshur Rahman was born on 23 October 1929 in his grandmother's house at 46 Mahuttuly in old Dhaka. His ancestral home was at village Raipur thana of Dhaka district." He passed his matriculation exams from Pogose School in Dhaka in 1945 and IA from Dhaka College in 1947. He never finished his BA exams in English from Dhaka University English department though finishing his classes. In 1953 gained a BA (pass course) degree. Again, he began but never finished his MA in English from DU. he had the vibes of Du but not its formal tone.

His friends and his history

Shamsur Rahman's close friends tell the story of his identity. They include Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, Hasan Hafizur Rahman, Abu Zafar Obaidullah, Badruddin Omar and others.

Of the lot, he was particularly close to Hasan Hafizur Rahman, with whom he had shared a childhood. While that brought them close, what produced their collective soul was their participation in the Ekushe movement.

Hasan Hafizur Rahman had written about these fiery days describing skirmishes with the police gelling a generation with a common cause. However, more significant was the rise of a new literature which was a mix of protest and poetry, a resistance through literature and gaining branding of its own.

This was how the Ekushe anthology was born which had all the best minds of his generation present. Shamsur Rahman wrote an angst filled angry poem, "May I never see a kartik moon..." A declaration that nothing would ever be beautiful or matter anymore, all drowned by the weight of the February bloodshed. He never looked back after that. The angry young poet swiftly strode across to become the major voice of his poetic generation.

An early starter

By the time he was 18, he was a published poet and during his University days, there were more publications and recognitions. He was invited to Shankiniketon poetry festival and West Bengali writers also appreciated him. Given his space and time this was very important since most writers even now consider Kolkata to be their literary mecca. Nevertheless, even within that space and time, his own voice began to grow.

His first collection of poems, "Prothom Gan Dwitiyo Mrityur Aage" (The first song before the second death) was published in 1960, which was an explosive beginning. His imagery and mythological connections stood out including those with Western myths. In fact, his fascination with western arts and culture was lifelong and in every book of poem they form part of his literary ethos. It didn't make him beholden but enriched his work. His next book of poems "Roudra Karotite" (1963) saw him blossom in full as a poet.

The poet and the protestor

There were several other collections of poems before 1971 and Shamsur Rahman had by then become a legend. He had created a fantasy/real character "Bacchu" which I recently came to know was his own nickname. He would often use the alter ego in his poetry including having conversations with him. In his rather complex poems collected in "NIraloke Dibborath" (The aerial chariot in the darkness), this is well noticed.

The situation changed after 1971 as the new state didn't necessarily deliver the Ekushe's promised land. Many of his fellow poets went from celebration to criticism and though not an activist, he remained loyal to his soul. It was during the 1980's under Ershad that he became an iconic symbol of cultural resistance. He had remained a journalist almost his entire life and described himself as a "kolom sromik" (pen worker).

Yet he was always the poet and the one who captured the public imagination more than others. It's not ironic but inevitable that he is remembered for his lesser poems because the public chanted them and saw in such work their own aspirations. But Shamsur Rahman also lived elsewhere.

I was never close but knew him. One day we had discussed his poems and then read out to me a poem he had written that day. There was one arresting line. "The low caste man eats his meal of rice mixing with the colours of sunset." I mentioned the beauty of the line. He smiled and said, "isn't one decent line in a poem enough to justify its existence?" Best wishes O poet.

(Shamsur Rahman passed away on August 18, 2006)