The Return of Laili: Selected Songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam

Kazi Nazrul Islam, known as the Rebel poet in Bengali literature and the Nightingale of Bengali music was one of the most colourful personalities of undivided Bengal between 1920 and 1930. He is the National Poet of Bangladesh. He may be considered a pioneer of post-Tagore modernity in Bengali poetry which includes his songs. His fusion of various words from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hindi into the Bengali language brought out a distinct dimension to the language as well gave birth to his own distinctive style. The style thus created in music also includes the incorporation of music from Persia, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Cuba and others. The issues he dealt with were also very different from those embarked upon earlier. In the form of poems, songs, novels, short stories, plays and political activities he is known to be a voice of both rebellion and love. On one hand he carried the flute of love, on the other he had the ammunitions of war. He spoke against various forms of oppression, slavery, communalism, feudalism and colonialism. His personal life was one of struggle and war. He was born in a village named Churulia, currently in West Bengal of India on 24th May 1899. At the early age of eight Nazrul lost his father and he started teaching in the village school and became a caller of prayers in the local mosque. In 1917 he joined the Indian army and almost for three years he served there and was promoted to the rank of Battalion Quarter Master Havilder. From 1924 to 1942 he wrote and published extensively and apart from other compositions, composed around four thousand songs. His songs bear proof of his versatile genius. In 1942 he fell ill with a degenerative disease which took away the sap from his life. He lost his power of speech and remained listless for long thirty four years and breathed his last in 1976. Nazrul’s songs remain as inspiration to the Bangla speaking audience even when his mortal self is no more./Nashid Kamal is popularly known as an eminent musician in Bangladesh. She hails from a well-known family of Bangladesh; her parents Professor Husne Ara Kamal (late) and former Chief Justice Mustafa Kamal are also well-known writers. Nashid has been a brilliant student all her life. Nashid Kamal earned her PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in ‘Medical Demography’. She has had a teaching career since 1986 starting first with the Dhaka University, and is currently a Professor of Biostatistics at a private university in Dhaka. She has been a visiting scholar at the Penn State University, Southern Illinois University in USA and University College of London, UK. She has received the Mellon Foundation award from the Penn State University, USA. The Return ofiaili (Selected Songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam) is one other remarkable books published by Adorn Publications.