Eminent writer Syed Mujtaba Ali passed away on this day. He was 69.
Mujtaba Ali was a writer, scholar, traveller, linguist. His brilliant wit and sparkling prose have been lifting the spirits of generations of Bengalis. His erudition did not ever come in the way of his lucid style. At the same time he was an outspoken advocate of Bengali, which did not endear him to the authorities of East Pakistan when he was residing there after Partition.
Born in Sylhet, he received his early education there but went on to study at Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan, where he was taught by Rabindranath Tagore himself. He studied at Aligarh Muslim University for a brief period, worked in Kabul and went on to earn a PhD degree from University of Bonn.
After Germany, he lived in Cairo briefly and came back to India in the 1930s. He taught at Calcutta University, worked at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and All India Radio and later joined Visva-Bharati as teacher. He went to live in Bangladesh in 1972 after its independence. He died in Dhaka.
His travel stories extended to all the countries he lived in. Deshe Bideshe is the account of his Kabul days. Chacha Kahini is another exuberant classic, memorable for stories like Benche Thako Sardi Kashi. Shabnam is a beautiful love story.