Sheikh Iraj

Throughout the ages, poets have left their imprint on society. They have inspired us in various aspects of our lives. Poetry always has a special place in our hearts. Young or old, we all love to read or hear recital of good poems.
Every year, March 21 is celebrated as World Poetry Day. One of the main objectives of the day, adopted by Unesco in 1999, is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and offer endangered languages the opportunity “to be heard within their communities”.
World Poetry Day is not that familiar in our country as we celebrate our own national poetry festival in February, ahead of International Mother Language Day on February 21. Many poets and individuals who are associated with the poetry scene in Bangladesh don’t even know that such a day exists.
Amirul Islam, 54, a children’s writer and poet, told Y&I: “I don’t believe that celebrating a specific day is going to do any good to poetry. Promoting such a day is part of globalisation. If anyone wants to promote poetry, then they should arrange poetry recitation competitions, and encourage youths to read poems by great Bengali poets like Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Ananda Shankar Ray, Abdul Mannan Syed and others. “
“The quality of poetry depends on the age we are in, for example, after the Liberation War, we got some good poets. Today they are considered as some of the most prominent poets of our society,” Islam said.  “It’s a great honour if your poem is included in school textbooks. No poem of mine has been selected yet for textbooks. But my short story ‘Bichar Chai’ can be found in the class-7 Bangla book,” he added.
Lutfor Rahman Riton, 57, another children’s author and poet, told this correspondent: “It was 8 to 10 years back when I got the news that my poem ‘Song of February’ was selected to be included in the class-7 textbook. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has a panel which selects poems for schoolbooks and they asked for my permission. I happily said yes. The poem is about the significance of Ekushey February. There are no specific guidelines on how to write poems. When I write children’s poetry, I emphasise on using simple words and I focus on contemporary issues.”
For many of us, when we think of poets, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Sufia Kamal, Jasimuddin, Ananda Shankar Ray,  Shamsur Rahman, Abdul Mannan Syed, Al Mahmud and others come to our mind. Their poems never fail to amaze, enlighten and entertain us.
“I am in class 6. I read all kind of books, but I especially like poetry books. This year, my parents bought me a book of poems and said if I do well in the annual exams, they will buy me more. We have to read a few poems in class and memorise them,” said Siam Khan, a student of Shingair Pilot Model High School.
Tanjib Mahmud Tamim, a student of class 9, recently visited the National Book Fair with his uncle. “I didn’t buy any poetry books at the fair, but my sister did. She lets me borrow her books. I like the colourful pictures in the poetry books. I have a plan to save some pocket money and buy some poetry books. My teacher told me it’s better to read books instead of watching cartoons,” Tamim said.  
Every year in Bangladesh, many young poets come out with different kinds of poetry. Out of all genres of children’s literature, poetry is the most popular of all. Even though many young poets appear on the scene, only a few continue and gain success.
Mamun Sarwar, 30, a poet, told Y&I: “Before someone attempts to write any form of children’s literature, he or she first needs to understand child psychology. I personally always try to make sure the subject matter and the words I choose to use in my poems are simple. Since I write for children, they are my biggest fans and I love it when some of them remember my poems. It’s a feeling that can’t be expressed in words.”
“Today, children’s poetry is becoming popular because of demand. Publishers and poets have realised that children comprise a large portion of book buyers. That been said, the quality of poems has not changed overnight. Many young poets are emerging, but most of them are men. There is a crisis of women poets. Compared to other branches of literature, there are few women writing poetry,” Sarwar added.        
Arif Bokhtiar, 31, who works in a private firm and also writes poetry, said: “I have been writing poems since I was in class nine. So far, two of my books on poetry have been published. Writing children’s poetry is a hobby and I never think of taking it up as a profession. It’s not possible for everyone to earn a living by writing poetry, only prominent poets who can do that.”
Asad Jobayr, 31, another poet, said: “This year my first poetry book was published. The name of my book is ‘Botam Khola Dupur’. I got interested in writing poetry when I was in school. I believe it takes a lot of time and maturity before one can write good children’s poetry. I have only started my journey as a poet and I hope to continue it. Today not everyone gets rewards for their talents. There are even some poets who pay publishers to publish their books.”    
Masuma Ruma, 23, a children’s writer and poet, told this correspondent: “I am still a student at Dhaka University. I started writing for children about eight months ago, before that I used to write for all age groups. I always wanted to contribute to society, some people teach for free, some volunteer in different humanitarian work. For me, writing poetry is my way of expressing gratitude to our society.”
“My first poetry book ‘Gramer Taney’ was published recently at the Ekushey Book Fair. I plan to continue writing poetry, but I am not sure whether I would be able to do so or not. So far, I have received warm feedback from my family and friends and I hope they will continue to support me in the future. To involve more women in poetry, the organisations and publishing houses that are associated with poetry should come forward and take necessary steps,” Ruma added.  
Ashique Mustafa, 27, a children’s writer, said: “Besides writing short stories for children, I write children’s poetry, too. It’s not easy to get your poems selected for textbooks. The NCTB panel that decides which poems to include in textbooks gives priority to prominent poets, and that’s how it should be. Many of the poets whose poems are in textbooks have been writing for a long time, like Al Mahmud, Lutfor Rahman Riton and Aslam Sani. It is not easy for a young poet to get his or her poem selected for a textbook, although there are exceptions, like poet Jasimuddin. His poem ‘Kabar’ (The Grave) was included in the entrance (SSC) Bengali textbook while he was still a student of Calcutta University.”
There are no formal guidelines when it comes to writing poetry. But poets always give more importance to the subject matter and rhyme when it comes to children’s poetry. They always try to use simple language, so children can understand easily.
“For subject-based curriculums, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has a committee. The job of the committee is to monitor and develop curriculums. The committee consists of school and university teachers, as well as experts. For example, which poem is appropriate for which class is mentioned in the subject-based curriculum, and the committee sets that guideline,” said Mohammad Abdul Mannan, member (primary curriculum) at NCTB.
“There are many schools that teach extra books outside the curriculum. Some of those books are not authorised by NCTB and we would like to inform you that we are not associated with those in any way,” Mannan added.
Khaleda Islam, a teacher at Bangladesh International School and College, told Y&I:
“Every year, we organise a poetry recitation segment in our annual cultural programme. Besides the poems in textbooks, we don’t ask our students to read other poems. Of course, we have a rich library and it’s mandatory for our students to visit it. There they can read poetry books that are appropriate for their class level. Our librarian helps them in choosing suitable books.”
“We teachers personally never discourage students if they want to read more. Nevertheless, we also understand how much pressure they can take. Every day students have to attend classes, then they go to coaching centres and when they finally return home, they again have to study. Normally it’s not possible for students to have so much energy, but if they want to read, we are here to help,” she added.
Sirajul Islam Asad, who teaches at BAF Shaheen College, said: “I teach English. I personally have an interest in poetry, and that’s why I always encourage students to read poems. Besides textbook poems, officially we don’t ask our students to read any others. But I feel poetry has a connection to cognitive development. Although I don’t have any scientific prove of that, I have seen students who are interested or read poetry go on to have successful careers in creative fields.”
“We regularly organise interschool poetry competitions and we give books of poems as gifts to the winners. We also have an annual publication, named ‘Abahan’, where poems, along with different types of literature, are also published,” Asad added.

Photos: Courtesy