The Life in the Family
My father who was a school teacher died when I was five.
Following the Muslim Sufi tradition, pictures of human forms
were forbidden in our family, and hence there is no picture
of my father, or of any of my ancestors and older relations.
However my father relaxed this ban and took a picture of his
children when I was perhaps five, but I cannot find that
picture any more. These days there is no longer any ban.
My reluctant mother was persuaded to allow me to take
her picture when I visited her in Bangladesh in 1978. I had
many photographs taken of me when I was in school and later,
but all lost. The earliest picture of mine that I could find
is the one below taken in 1955.
Note: My oldest surviving picture (left) taken in 1955 in Sylhet, with my closest friend Satyendra Prasanda Dev (right). He, a Hindu, immigrated to India and I came to England, after which I lost contact with him. I always missed him – he was a great friend.
My Sister and Brother
My Mother, Brother and Sister
When five, I gave my sister the name Khukomoni, Khuko
(female baby), moni (jewel) from a poem of Tagore, that I
used to recite to her in my mother’s lap.
She has many other
names as well. My father was still alive at that point.
