The autobiographical Tin Duarer Kole unveiled by Mr. Aly Zaker

Recently the launch ceremony of Tin Duarer Kole, the autobiographical memoir by Subhash Ghosh took place at the ABC Garden, Anwar Jong Road, Ashulia.

Mr. Ghosh is currently the Chairman of Associated Builders’ Corporation (ABC) Limited, who hails from Sujanagar, Pabna. He has led an eventful life as an innovative and conscientious businessperson, while being witness to the major times of turmoil; Partition, sectarian riots in the ’60s, the Liberation War. His memoir depicts the journey of an entrepreneur in a war-torn country, who happens to be from a minority community, and in documenting the details from his point of view in flowing approachable prose, the book becomes an important narrative for those interested in the social history of the land.

The special guest and speaker for the discussion session was the prominent actor and cultural figure Mr. Aly Zaker, also the group chairman of Asiatic 3 sixty. In discussing the book, he mentioned that while reading he imagined himself as being the author’s brother, and acclaimed the book as one of the best autobiographical memoirs written in Bangladesh, something he believes will be widely accepted as well. He also wrote the foreword to the book citing it as ‘Unputdownable’ (i.e. so engrossing that one can’t stop reading it); while a critical review was penned by eminent economist Dr, Debapriya Bhattacharya.

Other discussants of this session were Ar. Mostaqur Rahman, Mr. Kanutosh Majumder, Mr. D.N. Chatterjee, author’s brother Dr. Sujit Ghosh & daughter Srabanti Datta, along with the author himself while Mr. Rakhal Raha moderated the discussion. Mr. Kanutosh Majumder complimented the book, calling it literature and not simply an autobiography; through which Subhash Ghosh had transformed from an engineer into a writer.

Also present on the occasion was Mr. Mohiuddin Ahmed, UPL’s publisher and Managing Director who expressed his optimism in saying that such books will go a long way to reduce the dearth of good writers in this country; and requested the author to continue with his writing ventures.

The event included a discussion session with the aforementioned, followed by the formal launching ceremony and luncheon for the attendees. The event concluded with a very emotionally gripping performance which included reading of selected parts of the book accompanied by songs depicting the time and emotion captured in those.

In his foreword, Mr. Aly Zaker spoke about the author’s early years. He fondly related to the commonality of experiences between them, sharing the identity of two Bengali boys of that era of simple childhood or the painful experiences of riots & wars despite the differences in upbringing and religion.

Also in a laudatory message, renowned journalist and Editor of ‘Prothom Alo’ Mr. Matiur Rahman congratulated the author on delivering such a memoir enriched with his detailed personal accounts as well as the struggles behind his success; which will surely be a source of inspiration to many.