‘Dreams of Dhaka’ revives memories

The mother learnt more about her author son from his first book than in real life.

‘Dreams of Dhaka’ chronicles the time when Towheed Feroze was a vibrant young man in search of adventure, joy and excitement, mystery, new gadgets and the world around him in the 70s and 80s.

He worked as a journalist in almost all English newspapers including bdnews24.com and later became a communication specialist of the IFC, the World Bank Group.

But he is still writing spellbinding stories for different English newspapers.

His book launching ceremony on Tuesday brought envoys of many countries including the US, UK, Russia, Egypt, ASEAN countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar, editors, eminent personalities and former government officials.

Writer and social scientist Dr Mizanur Rahman Shelley was present as the chief guest.

“His dreams of Dhaka touched our mind,” Shelley said, “He has ‘spellbinding magic’ in his description of Dhaka”.

It was a “real trip down memory lane” for the British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert Gibson, who also spoke on the book as a special guest.

It also resonated his own childhood in the UK.

Gibson said he read the book. “It was very clever, interesting and fascinating book … because it evoked what Dhaka was like for ordinary people living ordinary life.”

“It has lots of memories that he had which for me resonates my childhood in the UK. We did very similar thing, we watched the same TV programme.

“We were excited when we had colour TV when we had video recorders and all things like this.

“It was nice to read this about what the Dhaka was like that the city that I would like to have known,” the envoy said.

Feroze also worked with the High Commission for a brief period.

Born just after Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, Feroze, in his book, carefully stayed away from campus fights during the iron-ruler HM Ershad’s rule.

He has touched on things that he remembers distinctly – the one BTV channel with some marvellous films and serials, advent of VCRs, speed driving on relatively empty roads, football games, Bangla thrillers, exam preparations, appearing for TOEFL tests, romance, and going abroad.

“In the eyes of his friends and indeed himself a colour TV is the epitome of luxury, just as a cassette player, new cars and chinos were items to be desired,” his mother Prof Selina Mohsin, a former ambassador to the Maldives, said.

His mother said he had finished the book in one sitting.

“The author has reminded me of some of the best periods of my own life as well as his.

“His book provides information on many aspects of his activities which I did not know and at times his escapades are eye openers for me.

“I have learned more about him from his book then I had known before,” the mother said.

She said Feroze was prone “to get into trouble and usually quick to wriggle out of them”.

He has portrayed a Dhaka “when most of us lived in individual houses with gardens”.

He, however, also gave a salacious detail of his watching blue films and looking for sex and desire “to be macho man”.

“If you don’t have sex, you can’t sell something. This is the mantra,” Feroze later quipped, speaking on his own book.

He said he was inspired to write the book after one of his newspaper articles on 70s and 80s Dhaka last year evoked huge interest.

“There was time of celebration that we lost,” he said, remembering a Dhaka - one of the world’s most densely populated cities - that once had a sparse look.

Feroze’s interest in journalism first sprang from watching a Bangla TV series on a fascinating investigative journalist.

He concludes his book with the expansion of the media from the mid 1980s.

The book also made the former election commissioner Brigadier General (Retd) Shakhawat Hossain who chaired the launching ceremony “nostalgic”.

He remembered his childhood in the 50s when there was no hustle and bustle like today’s Dhaka.