INTERVIEWAnd the biggest hazard is ...

Sunil Ganguly, the septuagenarian writer, says he "realised in 1971 itself that relations between Bangladesh and India will never be normal".

Sunil Ganguly is one of India's most famous writers and president of the autonomous but federal government-funded Sahitya Academy, the country's highest literary council. He is a household name in the Bengali-speaking world and his stories and novels have been turned into films by eminent directors like Satyajit Ray and Goutam Ghosh.

S. N. M. Abdi

, a bdnews24.com Contributing Editor in India, spoke to Ganguly on the significance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh and the state of Dhaka-Delhi relations. Excerpts:

Q: What are the images Bangladesh conjures up for you?

A: I was born there! So I have plenty of vivid memories. I was born in 1934 in a village called Pub Maijpara near Madaripur. My father was a school teacher in Calcutta. But we regularly visited our ancestral home in Pub Maijpara during summer and winter holidays. However in 1942 when the Japanese were bombing Calcutta, my father despatched us to Maijpara for an entire year. I was even admitted to a school in Maijpara as schools and colleges in Calcutta were shut down because of the war.

As the Japanese were rice-eaters, the British government seized rice stocks fearing a land invasion by the Japanese army. We had to subsist on potatoes. Potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We carried fried potatoes to school in our pockets. During the lunch break, the school staff provided salt! And there were potato 'wars' in the classroom - children hurling potatoes at one another like grenades!

In 1943 we returned to Calcutta. It was the year of the Great Bengal Famine. But those who had money could buy food - including rice. I have been a frequent visitor to Bangladesh over the years. But I never went back to Maijpara until 2008. But that, as they say, is another story.

Q: From your perspective, what's the advice you would give Manmohan Singh and Shiekh Hasina ahead of Dr Singh's landmark visit to Bangladesh?

A: I realised in 1971 itself that relations between Bangladesh and India will never be normal. I was there after the liberation. There was euphoria. But everyone did not want an independent Bangladesh. A lot of people resented the defeat of Pakistan. There were many who argued that India had liberated Bangladesh for its own ends. Many insisted that the Indian army would never leave Bangladesh. Big brother is usually a suspect in the eyes of younger brother. I don't know how India can overcome this huge handicap.

Dr Singh should be very generous in Dhaka. India should not haggle. India should give Bangladesh whatever it wants. But even that might not solve the problem. But giving is our best bet.

Dr Singh and Sheikh Hasina must abolish visas. Just do away with visas. It will forge people-to-people bonds. I particularly want fundamentalists from Bangladesh to visit West Bengal and see for themselves that there is rule of law and democracy. Muslims in India may not enjoy all the privileges but they are not doing too badly. If there is stark discrimination or injustice, they can not only go to the courts but they can also turn to civil society.

But in Bangladesh Hindus are second class citizens after Bangladesh was declared an Islamic state. Even Sheikh Hasina has not succeeded in declaring it a secular nation.

Q: So apart from doing away with visas, what more would you recommend?

A: Political and diplomatic ties are not enough. Cultural relations must be forged. For example, Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary is now being observed in both the countries. Similar celebrations must be held in the case of Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Bangladeshi publishers are free to sell their books in the Calcutta book fair. There is a big pavillion for Bangladeshi books each year. Not too long ago, Shiekh Hasina inaugurated the Calcutta book fair. But in Bangladesh book fairs, India is totally absent.

Q: How often do you visit Bangladesh?

A: At least once or twice a year. Two months ago, I went to Chittagong where I was felicitated on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence.

Q: Isn't Bangladesh rapidly changing?

A: I have witnessed two phenomena in the last decade. The rise of women power and the growth of literacy among women. There are so many women in the workplace. They are earning incomes and running families. And the percentage of literacy among women is higher in Bangladesh than in West Bengal. It's a huge success story out there while we have failed.

I think the garment industry drew women out of their homes. And women haven't looked back ever since.

Q: So how did you revisit Maijpara in 2008?

A: The entire credit goes to a son of Maijpara - Razzak Howladar - a lawyer in Montreal. Reading my book jackets, he discovered that he and I hailed from the same village. So he got in touch and invited me to visit Maijpara. I initially declined. Then he cajoled my wife. He repeatedly asked her: Don't you want to see the land of your in-laws? Until she gave in. So we ultimately went there in 2008.

Razzak has rebuilt two rooms on our land which house a library and a clinic. A Sunil mela is held there on my birthday - September 7. I gifted the library 1000 books. And my doctor friends send medicines. Razzak is now a family member.

Q: What's the worst and best aspect of Bangladeshis?

A: If you stay in Dhaka for a week, you might die of over-eating. This is the biggest hazard of enjoying Bangladeshi hospitality.

Wherever I go in the world, I am showered with love by Bangladeshis. Whether it's Malaysia, Italy or Germany. During the Frankfurt book fair, a shy 35-year-old Bangladeshi came to me and said that I had saved her life. She was diagnosed with a fatal disease and was undergoing treatment in a German hospital. She asked the doctor about her chances of survival. The doctor said let's see. She told the doctor that before dying she wanted to finish reading Purbo Paschim - my novel in two volumes of nearly 1000 pages. There were tubes in her nostril and she was too weak to turn the pages of the book. A nurse would help her. Miraculously she was cured by the by the time she finished reading my novel. So she thanked me for giving her a new lease of life.

I turned to her and said: You have also given me something to treasure. She wanted to know what she had given me. The Nobel Prize, I told her.

Bangladeshis have retained their culture. Many Indian Bengalis, on the other hand, stop reading fiction once they become engineers, doctors or chartered accountants.

Q: Intellectuals in Calcutta and Dhaka talk about the composite culture of Bengal. But don't you think that all said and done religion has played a big part in keeping Bangladesh and India apart?

A: Yes. Religion is a big stumbling block. The two Germanys were able to reunite because religion was not an issue. Do I want a reunification of the two Bengals? No. There will be more trouble and violence until fundamentalism is stamped out in both countries. Until then let's live as friendly neighbours.