PROF. M.H. GOONATILEKA

PROF. M.H. GOONATILEKA IS AN AUTHORITY IN SRI LANKAN TRADITIONAL THEATRE!

MOHAMMAD SAMAD: POET OF BANGLADESH

Dr. Muhammad Samad
Professor and Director
Institute of Social Welfare & Research
University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Muhammad Samad was born in a remote village in 1956 in the Jamalpur District of Bangladesh. He earned his Bachelor of Social Science (BSS) with honors and master’s degrees in Social Welfare (mostly known as Social Work) from the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (ISWR), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He completed his PhD on the participation of the rural poor in development programs of government and NGOs in Bangladesh.

Muhammad Samad has been writing poems since his school days. The first book of his verses Ekjan Rajnaitik Netar Menifesto (Manifesto of a Political Leader) was published in 1983 and won the Trivuj Literary Award in the same year among the young poets aged 25 years in Bangladesh. His other published books of verses are Selected Poems (bi-lingual), Premer Kabita (Love Poems) Kabitasangraha (Selected Collection of Poems), Aaj Sharter Akashe Purnima (The Full Moon in the Autumn Sky) Cholo, Tumi Bristite Bhiji (Let Us Be Drenched in Torrential Rain), Podabe Chandan Kaath (Will Burn Sandal Wood) Ami Noi Indrajit Megher Adale (I am not Indrajit Behind the Clouds) and Utsaber Kabita (Poems From Festival ed. Bengali poems rendered in the National Poetry Festival).

He has received number of awards for his contribution to Bengali poetry and literature that made him widely known and honored. Among them are Poet Jasimuddin Literary Award, Poet Jibanananda Das Award and the Poet Sukanta Literary Award. His poetry eloquently addresses the love, pain, plight and human life in many faces of the people of Bangladesh as well as other societies of the world. He has served as General Secretary of National Poetry of Bangladesh for 5 years (1997-2001).

Dr. Muhammad Samad is a Professor and Director at the Institute of Social Welfare & Research, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has done extensive research on the rural poor, indigenous peoples and the underprivileged classes in Bangladesh. He has more than 30 articles published in national and international journals. A well-known social scientist Dr. Muhammad Samad has authored and edited more than 10 books
in the field of social science and development. Highlights include The Invisible People: Poverty and Resiliency in the Dhaka Slums (2008; Jointly with Dr. Cathleen Jo Faruque), PublishAmerica, Baltimore, USA, Participation of the Rural Poor in Government and NGO Programs: A Comparative Study (2002), Awareness About the Role of UN in Bangladesh: An Opinion Survey (2000), The Santal Community in Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects (2003; Jointly), Human Rights: 50 Years of Advancement 1999, (Ed. in Bengali), The Fourth World Conference on Women: Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action (Ed. 1997 in Bengali), Role of NGOs in Rural Poverty Alleviation of Bangladesh (1984, in Bengali) and The Struggle of Poets and Poems (A collection essays ed. in Bengali, 1994).

In 2005 Dr. Samad has taught the course Globalization of Social Welfare as a visiting Professor at the Department of Social Work of Winona State University (WSU), Minnesota, USA. This summer (2009), he will teach the same course at WSU. He has worked as a Fellow of Katherine A. Kendall Institute of International Social Work Education, CSWE, USA in 2009. In Bangladesh, he teaches Social Development, Rural Development and International Social Work at his school. Dr. Samad has been serving as Secretary General of Bangladesh Council for Social Work Education (BCSWE) since 2007. He has visited India, Nepal, South Korea, United Kingdom and United State of America on invitation as poet and academic.

POEMS OF MUHAMMAD SAMAD OF BANGLADESH

Confession

Muhammad Samad


In my blood the tender dawn
In my blood the restless cowboy
In my blood sandalwood fragrance
In my blood rock's life
In my blood the music of the stars
In my blood the rising sun

In my blood Krishna's flute
In my blood Radha's longing
In my blood the Urubela hamlet
In my blood Sujata's passionate desire

In my blood the pride of power
In my blood the evil of supremacy
In my blood the fire of anger
In my blood slander and jealousy
In my blood abominable vengeance

In my blood homosexual urge
In my blood extra-marital affairs
In my blood youth's perversity
In my blood the ecstatic cry of sex

In my blood terrible hypocrisy
In my blood the bigoted executioner
In my blood the greed for others’ wealth
In my blood the joy of plunder
In my blood the delight of luxury

In my blood cold ice
In my blood the venomous snake
In my blood the killer's home
In my blood great distrust

In my blood volcano's resentment
In my blood quick sharp hatred
In my blood hurricane's fury
In my blood the tempestuous sea
In my blood Indra's bow
In my blood Noah's flood
In my blood the tiger's roar
In my blood the lion's cry
In my blood heroic protest
In my blood thirst for light
In my blood the message of freedom
In my blood the blood of the worker
In my blood the sweat of the peasant
In my blood the daily fight

In my blood the bright sun
In my blood Prajnaparamita
In my blood the mountain's contemplation
In my blood knowledge of all scriptures
In my blood hymn to the rains
In my blood graceful sunlight
In my blood clouds rivers water
In my blood the beauty of the grains
In my blood serene forests
In my blood the twittering of birds
In my blood young banana leaves
In my blood the garden of love

In my blood saints-sages-prophets
In my blood the creator poet
In my blood hermit's tapobon
In my blood pure Buddhagaya
In my blood holy Bethlehem
In my blood Hera's meditation
In my blood the silent Himalayas
In my blood all religions and verses
In my blood bow to Man.

Translated by Kabir Chowdhury


Love grows in darkness

Muhammad Samad

Love grows in darkness – love grows as it gets dark.

In darkness love lies with the beloved in its arms.
In darkness love rumbles all night long like the clouds of Ashaar.

In darkness love throbs impatiently at every point of its million hairs
In darkness love quietly treads along a thorny bush.

In darkness love shudders as it smells the long tresses of its beloved.
In darkness love runs gurgling like a mountain brook.

In darkness love kisses the kaash blossoms by the river bank.
In darkness love drips on the beloved body under the shewli tree.

In darkness love entireness itself around the beloved’s neck and throat and all her limbs
In darkness love knocks its head a begging at the golden door of heaven’s den.

Love grows in darkness – love grows as it gets dark.

Translated by Kabir Chowdhury