Humayun Ahmed (Bengali: 唳灌唳唳唰傕Θ 唳嗋唳唳�; 13 November 1948 鈥� 19 July 2012) was a Bangladeshi author, dramatist, screenwriter, playwright and filmmaker. He was the most famous and popular author, dramatist and filmmaker ever to grace the cultural world of Bangladesh since its independence in 1971. Dawn referred to him as the cultural legend of Bangladesh. Humayun started his journey to reach fame with the publication of his novel Nondito Noroke (In Blissful Hell) in 1972, which remains one of his most famous works. He wrote over 250 fiction and non-fiction books, all of which were bestsellers in Bangladesh, most of them were number one bestsellers of their respective years by a wide margin. In recognition to the works of Humayun, Times of India wrote, "Humayun was a custodian of the Bangladeshi literary culture whose contribution single-handedly shifted the capital of Bengali literature from Kolkata to Dhaka without any war or revolution." Ahmed's writing style was characterized as "Magic Realism." Sunil Gangopadhyay described him as the most popular writer in the Bengali language for a century and according to him, Ahmed was even more popular than Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Ahmed's books have been the top sellers at the Ekushey Book Fair during every years of the 1990s and 2000s.
Early life: Humayun Ahmed was born in Mohongonj, Netrokona, but his village home is Kutubpur, Mymensingh, Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). His father, Faizur Rahman Ahmed, a police officer and writer, was killed by Pakistani military during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, and his mother is Ayesha Foyez. Humayun's younger brother, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, a university professor, is also a very popular author of mostly science fiction genre and Children's Literature. Another brother, Ahsan Habib, the editor of Unmad, a cartoon magazine, and one of the most famous Cartoonist in the country.
Education and Early Career: Ahmed went to schools in Sylhet, Comilla, Chittagong, Dinajpur and Bogra as his father lived in different places upon official assignment. Ahmed passed SSC exam from Bogra Zilla School in 1965. He stood second in the merit list in Rajshahi Education Board. He passed HSC exam from Dhaka College in 1967. He studied Chemistry in Dhaka University and earned BSc (Honors) and MSc with First Class distinction.
Upon graduation Ahmed joined Bangladesh Agricultural University as a lecturer. After six months he joined Dhaka University as a faculty of the Department of Chemistry. Later he attended North Dakota State University for his PhD studies. He grew his interest in Polymer Chemistry and earned his PhD in that subject. He returned to Bangladesh and resumed his teaching career in Dhaka University. In mid 1990s he left the faculty job to devote all his time to writing, playwright and film production.
Marriages and Personal Life: In 1973, Humayun Ahmed married Gultekin. They had three daughters 鈥� Nova, Sheela, Bipasha and one son 鈥� Nuhash. In 2003 Humayun divorced Gultekin and married Meher Afroj Shaon in 2005. From the second marriage he had two sons 鈥� Nishad and Ninit.
Death: In 2011 Ahmed had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. He died on 19 July 2012 at 11.20 PM BST at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. He was buried in Nuhash Palli, his farm house.
This is not a story of Himu, i.e. Himalay whom we know.
Instead it is the story of an ordinary guy(who is also brilliant), Subhro, who aims to be Himu . . . . and how different incidents break-out through his household due to his decision and actions. Most of the story is covered from the viewpoint of a small boy, Togor, Subhro's nephew. It felt great to read what it is like to become Himu from an ordinary background, and the chaos it triggers is nothing less than hilarious. Apart from Subhro, Togor also seemed acting in a way Himu acts. In fact, he does much more what Himu does, creating chaos and confusion among people. His way matches much more like Himu. Togor is always on the run to neutralize his paap-n-punya and even maintains the records in a separated copy. We see his mother, the masterchef bent on feeding each family member with her terrible delicacies, his "dadiya", with her 'paan-chechuni' and stories of ghosts and peer-fakirs, his sister Neelu and her childish behaviour of getting certain things by admitting things she didn't even commit. We see his angry-headmaster and the so-called-gadha-psychiatrist, both of whom made me really made laugh out loud hard! This story is such a laugh-riot! All the time there was a smile on my lips, mostly due to the tricks of Togor and the confusion caused by it.
In philosophical terms, this story has little to offer. Even Himu's(here Subhro's) hard-hitting-truth seemed to cause a comic element that added to laughter and taking it in a lighter way, like the water-treatment and aim-or-life. I really enjoyed this!!
Probably this is the only book of Himu series which is not on Himu. It lacks the usual magical touch of Himu's philosophical views and opinions. But never mind, Togor, a boy of six standard keeps the readers engaged throughout the story with his funny and innocent activities that produces lots of Laugh-Out-Loud-Moments in the midst of chaos and confusions.
This was the first book ever that I read 11 years ago. Moreover, this is the only book I read twice in that year! This book worked like a magic and I fell in love with the lifestyle of Himu! Good book for anytime, anywhere! Cheers!
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Specially the character of Togor was so uncanny. His mischiefs are super cute and such a chaotic character. Loved the psychiatrist scene in the last page 馃ぃ