Nahida Nahid talks creating stories
Born in 1983, Nahida Nahid completed her graduation in Bangla Language and Literature from Jahangirnagar University. Besides teaching at Comilla University, she has also done extensive academic research on Bangla Literature. Her first book, Olokar Fu,l was published in 2017, followed by her book, Juthochari Adharer Golpo, in 2018, which won the Kali O Kolom Young Poet and Writers' award that year. Her latest book, Purush Paat, narrates nine stories, focusing on men in contrast to their societal gender roles.
"I have always been very fond of short stories and I love reading them. I started to write short stories for local publications from quite early on," explains Nahida. "After a while, I felt I had to bring all my published stories together. So, in 2017, I compiled six of my stories together in Olokar Ful."
Nahida's short stories are known for flipping the set and expected notions associated with different genders and professions and for their unexpected endings. "My story Pita from my first book narrates the tale of a young girl who studies history. The girl suddenly starts to see glimpses of barbarism and nomadic cruelty in her father," asserts Nahida. "At moments, people would want to hate her father wholeheartedly. However, in the last scene of the story, we see her father begging a doctor to cure his daughter as she is a patient of schizophrenia. "
Nahida's award-winning book Juthochari Adharer Golpo depicts 12 different shades of darkness where darkness is not seen as demonic or as a curse, but as enlightenment which emits beauty and radiates the essence of freedom. "Generally, people are afraid of darkness. However, for me, darkness has the capacity to recreate, deform, and reform," she states."These stories narrate tales of darkness. But if you look closely, they either narrate a tale of love or liberty from the darkness inside humans."
Nahida's newest volume, Purush Paat, gives an insight into the inner conflicts men face. "My stories in this book demonstrate the dilemma every male faces and according to me, their sufferings are no different than those of females. Feminism always tends to make way to any reader. However, feminism also 'otherises' the race of men, and ofen, fails to achieve humanism," she shares. Nahida hopes to publish a compilation of surreal short stories soon.
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