I am the youngest son in my family Zahid Hassan

“I am the youngest son in my family. When I was a child, my mother used to make delicious dishes, including rice pudding, on my birthdays.

There would be cake, chanachur, bananas—so many things! After coming to Dhaka, I began living in a mess and a dormitory.

One day in 1989, I was sweeping the room when the father of one of my roommates came to visit. He was a lawyer. When he heard it was my birthday, he said, ‘Don’t be sad, Pulak.

A day will come when the whole nation will celebrate your birthday.’ Now, whenever I see discussions about me on the radio, television, and in newspapers on my birthday, I remember that uncle’s words.” — Zahid Hassan