Social harmony in Poet Jashim Uddin’s works

Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Jashim Uddin is called Palli Kabi. There are three important Sources of themes in Jashim Uddin’s works. The first lies in the tradition of Bengali literature, which is poetic by origin, The second source of subject matter lies un his intimate contact with rural life. The third source of Jashim Uddin’s subject matter lies in essentially poetic humanism. Jashim Uddin’s poetic humanism renders a realistic approach to life and art. The poet’s own words are:- “I have sung about the beauty and joy of my people in my early works. But now I am writing their pains and exploitations and I think my pen is getting bitter and bitter.” Jashim Uddin’s poetic humanism enables him to reach all people. His readers are not selected; they belong to all social classes. The ease with which he expresses his sympathetic understanding of both Hindu and Muslim traditions is among his best qualities as a writer. He believes that Bengali culture is the joint product of Hindus and Muslims. He has written many poems using allusions form Hindu and Muslim mythologies. It is this composite culture that he tries to reflect in all his works. And this evokes a sympathetic response on both sides of Bengal today.
Jashim Uddin was really pro-poor and he had done a lot for them. Jashim Uddin in his student life did many other social works for the betterment of rural people which we may call a real sacrifice. Jashim Uddin felt joy and had a pride taking part with activities from where he got nothing in return. We found Jashim Uddin arranging funerals of the deceased. When nobody came forward to do the same, Jashim Uddin set an example of this type of humanity for which he will remain ever memorable to the heart of present and coming generation.
In his childhood Jashim Uddin witnessed the ups and down of his grandfather, he visualized his ideal father from very close. His heart was broken to pieces with the fierce of the river Padma, for which many villages have been lost, many have become homeless and shelter less. The poet is very part and parcel of this dangerous Padma and the very character of Jashim Uddin is moved to tears by sharing the sorrows and sufferings of the floating and haven’t people in the cannel and its branch. This poet is influenced by the very nature, this life style, culture, love, sorrows and happiness. This power has given him the immense potentiality for establishment to be a popular poet. Nature behaves in a same manner to all. The poet himself and his neighbors has lost his abode for the cruel action of the river Padma.
Every man is equally victimized by the cruelty of the river Padma. High and low rich and poor everyone gets the equal treatment by nature. The river Padma has helped him to be a friend of nature and this cruel river Padma has helped him a lot to make him non-communal. When Jashim Uddin’s family became helpless, one of his friends, Mr. Direndranath came forward for his help. So a close relationship developed with Direndranath and his family, as if they belong to same family.
In his autobiography, Jashim Uddin tells much move about village life as he knew it. Jashim Uddin knows every facet of village life in Bengal and is partial to rural people. The heroes of his poems and stories are farmers, fishermen, ferrymen, boatmen, weavers, and cowboy, even road side barbers, wandering gypsies, palmist and astrologers. The poet Jashim Uddin could be classed as social realist. His poem “Gypsy Wharf” deals with an idealized and timeless peasant society a rural paradise in the process of decay, where land lords exploit religious differences and inflame them for their own ends. Despite his travels in many countries, Jashim Uddin sees himself as a pastoral poet and is very close to the village people, who figure so widely in his poems. Among his greatest pleasure is to invite groups of country singers to his house or to go out into the country to collect new songs and to take part in local song festivals.
In the poem named Invitation, the poet has idealized a beautiful countryside of Bangladesh where an earthly paradise like environment invites the urban dwellers to come and visit to share the essence of nature. In the very first stanza, the poet invites someone to come with him to visit his small but beautiful village where hills and dales are covered with green trees and plants. The love and apathy of the people gets an equal resemblance with the natural harmony. The nature itself is an embodiment of friendly symphony and sequential.
Jashim Uddin uses rich allusions from both Hindu and Muslim mythologies in the manner Shelley and Keats used from the classical tradition. The poem “Dhamrai Rath” is a famous example where he depicts tales from the carved bosom of the wooden-chariot many tales from Hindu mythology. Jashim Uddin’s poetry gained popularity because of his choice and felling for his subject matter, his intimate knowledge of classical Bengali literary tradition, his intimate depiction of village out of his contact, and his love, empathy, and great compassion for humanity. In his poetry, he created a new style by returning to his roots, the village and its people. Rabindranath Tagore remarked on his new styles, ”Jashim Uddin’s poetry has a new style or beauty a new taste and a new expression.”
The story of “Nakshi Kanthar Math” itself spread out in front of us like a beautiful quilt. One can almost see the fields, the young girls, the villagers and the still night. It is the story of Rupa and Shaju of the two villages separated in the middle by a river. When the draught hits young girls including Shaju, it rains and Rupa and Shaju are in love.
Jashim Uddin is one of the best known contemporary Bengali poets and “Gypsy Wharf” is one of his most popular works, written in 1933. Although set in the closing years of the British Raj, the poem deals with an idealized and timeless. Peasant society is a rural paradise in the process of decay, where landlords exploit religious difference and inflame them for their own ends.
Every man is equally victimized by the cruelty of the river Padma. High and low rich and poor everyone gets the equal treatment by nature. The river Padma has helped him to be a friend of nature and this cruel river Padma has helped him a lot to make him non-communal. The poetry of Jashim Uddin is growing excitement and the readers have returned to it again and again to be delighted with its simplicity, its charm, its humanity.

(The writer is former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar & VDP).