Nowazesh Ahmed: my naturalist friend and mentor
Dr. Nowazesh Ahmed with WTB family.
I fell in love with Nowazesh Bhai in 1975 when I had the opportunity to look at his first photo album on Bangladesh, which was adjudged as the book of the year by the British Geographical Society. Later, in 1983, it was called Portrait of Bangladesh.
Most of us who knew Nowazesh Bhai intimately will remember him for such a wonderful book. I would love to call it Nowazesh's Bangladesh. His Wild Flowers of Bangladesh, with Ali Zaker in 1997, inspired many of us to look at wild flowers more closely. In the middle of 2000, when he was making Rabindranath Tagore's Chhinnapatra and On the Bank of Dhanshiri, we met several times, and I discovered in him a passion for man and nature.
His work reflected optimism and a sense of joy in human life. All his life he aimed to develop a positive view of the universe and the place of humans in it, one which contributed to the progress of human knowledge, individual freedom and human well-being. At the same time, he wanted to devote his time to conserve the country's biological diversity.
I, together with Nowazesh Bhai, Professor Harunur Rashid, Professor Md. Anwarul Islam, Enam Ul Haque, Philip Gain and Barrister Ishrat Mahmud formed an organisation called Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB) in 2003. I proposed Noazesh Bhai's name as the chairman, which he politely refused. He made me the chairman and-remained as the vice chairman.
Nowazesh Bhai always wanted to make WTB a national institution committed to conserving the biological diversity of Bangladesh. He believed that by doing so we could protect the natural heritage of Bangladesh. Nowazesh Bhai's dream was to put Bangladesh on the road to attaining sustainability and educate people with values of sustainable development practices. It was his dream to develop WTB as a centre of study and research of biodiversity and sustainability.
To me, Nowazesh Bhai had always been a source of learning and inspiration. He was a designer of extraordinary versatility. He had visited all spheres of life; social, cultural, natural, ethical and what not. With Nowazesh Bhai one would have never felt tired. He was our think-tank on many issues. He visited half of the world and could narrate a vivid account of the light and colour of what he experienced!
I take it as an untimely death. He was only 74 and we always found him an energetic and ever-creative human. He was one of the architects of Banglapedia, the Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. He told me that he had yet to finish one more thing, which was the history of the 400 years of Dhaka. I hope others in the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh will complete his unfinished job.
Thank you Nowazesh Bhai for giving me an opportunity to work with you. You guided the WTB crew to help conserve tigers, gibbons, elephants and bears in the country. You helped us develop human resources in this organisation. I give you my word of honour that we shall take WTB a long way and try and fulfill your dreams some day. May Allah bestow peace upon you.
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