As I enter her Dhanmondi residence, a pleasant aroma of cooked lunch greets me. As Shaheen Samad smiles, she silently gestures for me to sit while she prepares herself for the interview. All along, my mind can’t help wandering to the inner contours within, where I slowly build and paint a picture of 1971. There I see young Shaheen along with a number of other young boys and girls, moving from place to place, fighting injustice with their love for their motherland and an instinctive crave for their language. I can see them using music as their only weapon and winning the hearts all around.
Are you doing anything special this year?
Special? Well, I have a few programmes lined up for this month. I also have a few shows to be aired on Channel-i and ATN Bangla, for the 16th of December.
You don’t seem very excited about them!
Well, I just wish I could do something different. This is a feeling I get around this time almost every year. Maybe something little more than mere discussions, you know what I mean?
Today you are an eminent cultural personality. Did you see yourself on this very platform years back?
To tell you the truth, I had never planned anything as such. Music was within me. Cultural activities were always lingering around my family. As for me, I began my lessons with Ustad Ram Gopal at Rangpur. Then I moved on to Dhrupad with Shakil Mahmud. Eventually, I moved to Dhaka with my family and got into Chayyanaut. I got my talim from Ustad Phul Mohammed and Ustad Fazlul Haque. It was a family back then, with Sanjida Khatun, Wahidul Haque, Sohrab Hosian and many others who taught me what I know today. Now I teach at the institution myself.
Could you tell me something about your days from Muktir Gaan?
Let me ask you something first. How much of the film have you seen?
The whole film. It was about 40-45 minutes, I think.
Well, the actual length of the film was 30 hours, recorded by Lear Levin. But in reality, it was much more than that. I can still remember the night when I left home to join this mobile group, moving from place to place and sharing the feelings of the distressed. Can you imagine the amount of spirit and courage I possessed back then, which led me to leave my family and join the group of wanderers?
I let her play with the long gone memories, muse over her experiences, revive the unforgotten past.
I was just a 17-year-old girl. Clad in a burkha, I crossed the borders and reached the other side. On my way to the Indian border, I had to undergo the fear of the Pakistani army. Upon reaching Agartala, I was stunned at the huge crowd of people there. There were historians, writers, artistes, politicians, military personnels,, all waiting for the dawn of independence,’ She stops for a while, and stirs the leaves of her memories. ‘Almost immediately, I became one of the group and began to involve myself in all their activities. We were served food on banana leaves, and daal was poured from a big bucket, which would be passed around to all. On June 20 ’71, we reached Kolkata on an airbus. A total of 75 members began the Bangladesh Mukti Shangrami Shilpi Shangstha from the beginning of July. Sanjida Khatun was the president of this group.
We broke off in many clusters and traveled around the country, creating, writing and singing heart-wrenching songs for the people and the refugees. I remember talking to the mukti jodhas, who were leaving for the war. They didn’t know if they would ever come back to the country and be with their families and friends. Their strong words and love for Bangladesh inspired me and gave me the strength to continue with my journey to freedom. The truck had become home then, for all of us.
I could feel goose bumps all over my body. I can’t help but wonder about those soldiers and also the life that these wanderers led for months on a truck.
What did you do after independence?
I completed my studies and moved to England in 1974. I practiced my music and cultural activities there as well. I taught Nazrul songs to the children and had a community full of active Bangladeshis participating in all kinds of cultural activities.
Would you repeat what you did way back, getting on top of a truck and moving from place to place?
No, I wouldn’t. Times have changed. Back then, the feeling was different. We were all fighting for a cause, for one country and one language. Nothing seemed impossible then
When soldiers with weapons in hand marched ahead to face the enemy, Muktishangram wasn’t far behind. The group with the help of their musical compositions like Manush haw, Bangla Ma’r Damaal Santan gave strength and courage to all, and still do, even today.
Collected From: Daily Star