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Classroom in tents

Published : Monday, 6 June, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 927

Classroom in tents

Classroom in tents

The joint camp was surrounded by shrubbery and ditches. No wonder its surroundings were abodes of snakes both venomous and harmless. In the winter they usually hibernated and did not come out in the open. Nevertheless, one frequently found non-poisonous variety of snakes such as dhora sanp in the periphery of the camp. On one holiday, boyish and restless Mamunur Rashid went out with his air gun to shoot birds.

In the end, he actually shot some dhora sanp and shouted to us, resting in the tents, 'I have shot to death as many as four'. Not knowing what his victims were and assuming that these were tasty birds, Shah Mohammad Farid ran out of his tent and shouted, 'Mamun, please, don't eat them all alone. Please give some to us also'. On hearing his plea, we all laughed to our heart's content.

Shah Farid fishes: Farid was fond of simple food such as fresh-water fishes, smashed potatoes, aubergine, fried okra, tomato and dal (lentils). He usually stuck to simple menu. He also used to share his simple eatables such as muri (puffed rice) and chira (chipped) rice.

One afternoon, an excited Mamunur Rashid told us that Farid was very sad, almost on the verge of tears. When we asked why. He impishly smiled and said, 'Farid had preserved four koi fishes in a water filled jar in his tent. The ides was that he would eat one of them every day. He has also named them, Jhoton, Noton, Toton and Foton. This morning, he found that somebody has stolen and eaten Foton. Hence, Farid was shocked and disturbed'. When asked how Farid knew which of the fishes was Foton. Manun replied that Farid had marked them with different signs and could identify each separately. We did not know whether to laugh or cry at this unprecedented event.

Classroom in tents: Theoretical training of the survey and settlement course was part and parcel of the routine in the joint camp. After our fieldwork and lunch, we gathered every weekday in a large tent which was designated as the classroom. All the trainees belonging to different services crowded the classroom tent for an hour for two of classes taken by the settlement officer Khan-e-Alam Khan and his colleagues. He later became director of land records and commissioner, Dhaka division.

He also became secretary, ministry of land in the liberated Bangladesh. He was an amiable man with a simple sense of humour and skilled in his job. His English often struck one as funny. For instance, when he found two trainees had shaved their heads to counter the boredom of the settlement camp, he blurted out, 'Both of you have cut off your heads, now it will be difficult for you to go out with your heads open.'

Again, Akber Ali Khan who used to silently read books not related to land settlement, survey and revenue in the class, he was flabbergasted to receive a strange notice. It was given by Khan-e-Alam Khan and said, 'Mr Akber Ali Khan, you have been found to read out books in the class. If you do it again you will be punished.' Taken aback, Akber said, 'I never read books out in the class. I only do it quietly'. Later it was found that the camp authorities meant by 'reading out book' not reading them aloud but reading books other than the ones prescribed for the survey and settlement training course!

Refinancing the indigent: On account of artificially high cost of meals in the joint camp (thanks to our wily orderlies-cum-cooks), some of us, liberal with their limited money, became the poor-trash of the camp. Shamsuddin and Wali were among these luckless ones. We decided that something had to be done to replenish our lean finances. Wali was a master card-player. In fact, his smoky tent was the hub of card players playing at small stake, who were also chain smokers.

Wali had a run of bad luck and lost two-thirds of his monthly salary at games of cards. The suggestion was his. He said that if he had only the return fair to go to Jessore, where he was assistant commissioner, he could win enough money at the Jessore Club by playing at cards. He also said that his luck never failed in Jessore.

Accordingly, we the poorer ones paid enough money to Wali to buy his train ticket to Jessore. It was one way and we told Wali he had to win enough at Jessore to bring money for us and also pay the fair from Jessore to Rajshahi! Wali confidently agreed. He returned on the third day with a hefty amount of some Rs 1,500, a king's ransom in those days. This was enough for us to see through the remaining few days of the joint camp.
Dr Mizanur Rahman Shelly, founder Chairman of Centre for Development Research (CDRB), and former teachnocrat Cabinet Minister of Bangladesh, Died on August 12, 2019. He contributed his
writeups to the Daily Observer which are being
published regularly as "The Symphony of Our Times"











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