Bangladeshi author and film-maker Naeem Mohaiemen was in the city, for the India release of his latest book Midnight’s Third Child at Experimenter. And as predicted, the launch gave way to a discussion of a different kind, an organic adda that touched on the topic of Bangladesh’s creative scape in the post-colonial era. “There have been four events in Bangladesh relating to the book and they have all been varied. And one of my friends asked me: ‘What are you going to discuss in Calcutta?’ So the assumption is already there that the alaap will be different in Calcutta. Good or bad, entertaining or serious, that’s unspoken. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the invisible context for all the conversation in the book is the reason for writing Midnight’s Third Child,” said Mohaiemen who was in conversation with singer, writer, researcher and The Telegraph She Awards awardee Moushumi Bhowmik.
Published by Nokta, Dhaka, in association with the University of Liberal Arts (ULAB), Dhaka, the book is an anthology of essays on artists and movements with a focus on cinema, literature and visual arts and introductory essays by Tanzim Wahab and Zirwat Chowdhury. “Midnight’s Third Child is a collection of essay written over the last 20 years and the earliest one is written in 2009. There’s a decision behind collecting them all together at this point in time. The bigger impetus was specific to visual arts, gallery and museum, films in a cinema hall, TV and now OTT, and finally literature.”
The title of the book is a polite translation of the Bengali phrase ‘chagol’er tritiyo baccha lafay beshi’ (the goat’s third child jumps more). Explaining it, Mohaiemen, who is also known for his book Prisoners of Shothik Itihash, said: “So, visa-vis India and Pakistan there is uncertainty in Bangladesh and the desire to prove oneself.” He also spoke of an event when Bollywood filmstar Shah Rukh Khan visited Bangladesh and the inability of a Bangladeshi to speak fluent Hindi enraged social media.
The author also threw light on the cover of the book, taken by Ali Morshed Noton with filmmakers Tareque Masud, Dhali Al Mamoon, Unidentified, Syed Sajjad Jyoti, Mishuk Munier, during the shoot of Masud’s Adam Surat at Audiovision office, Lalmaia in 1986.
The discussion was interspersed with a number of clippings on the screen and songs by Moushumi Bhowmik. The launch also threw light on why Mohaiemen didn’t revise the book, the impact of social media stifling voices and more.