The passing of a master storyteller

Humayun Ahmed aged 64 breathed his last in a New York hospital on July 19 after a prolonged fight against cancer. The writer will no longer enthrall readers and viewers with his uncanny ability to weave stories around everyday lives that touched the hearts and minds of millions of the middle class and the common man. How does one pray tribute to Ahmed? A professor of chemistry, he made the transition successfully to fiction writer extraordinaire. Ahmed won the Bangla Academy Award in 1981 and Ekushey Padak in 1994.
What made him stand out from many others was his portrayal of the little things in life which often go unnoticed. The intricate relationships that exist within the family, the conflict of ideas between the older and younger generations, Ahmed excelled at bringing out ironies and pretences that exist in our society and weave stories rich in mirth that won him devoted followers who bought his books in their hundreds of thousands. Ahmed's writing extended beyond novels and he was an accomplished playwright. Some of his memorable plays include Ei Shob Din Raatri where one of the characters Baker bhai, a hoodlum with a difference, acquired a cult-like following. It was his ability to touch deep rooted emotions of society that made Humayun Ahmed's works bestsellers.
It was Ahmed who was able to produce stories that the whole family could read and his greatest contribution lies in the fact that here was not only a brilliant teller of tales and a commercial success, but who went on to amaze with his direction of award-winning films. Aguner Parashmoni, Ahmed's first foray into the silver screen won him the National Film Award in eight categories, including Best Picture and Best Director. There will always be those who will contest whether Humayun Ahmed fit the role of a model writer. His fans will tell a different story. They will remember him as the one who broke the mold and inked the lives of the unnoticed in his many books, for he was a man of all ages.