Kolkata, (UNI) The book Premer Chhithi, a Bengali language full colour coffee table book consisting of Bengali poems written in color calligraphy artworks created by Bangladeshi American author Shaheed Hasan Pijush, was released formally in India at Oxford Bookstore, on Friday evening.
The book is released in the presence of dignitaries like journalist and film director Aniket Chattopadhyay and publisher and writer Rupa Majumder (Deb Sahitya Kutir).
Author Shaheed Hasan, who has come to India from the USA via Bangladesh to release the Indian edition of his book, spoke about his journey as an author and why he came up with the present book which is a combination of calligraphic art and poetry, both created by him.
The chief guests discussed the subject of strengthening the political and business bond between India and Bangladesh through exchange of art, culture, literature and cinema. Bangladeshi books are releasing in India, Indian books are published in Bangladesh; Bangladeshi films are now releasing in India through OTT platforms and in theatres, generating much interest among Indian viewers; Indian actors and directors are working in Bangladeshi projects and Bangladeshi actors and directors are working in Indian film projects.
All these are strengthening the political and business bond between the two neighbouring countries.
About the book the author, Shaheed Hasan Pijush, said “This book is Premer Chhithi. The letters and poems here are written by me for my friends and some for personal use which was a long time back.
Four years back I felt like publishing a calligraphic book with my poems which will be handwritten. Also writing about love is nothing new but the effort is what matters, like this book, where the calligraphy took a lot of my time and patience.”
Aniket Chattopadhyay, journalist and film director, said “Every Bengali, once in their lifetime will fall in love irrevocably and write a love letter, it is a special characteristic of a Bengali to write a poem, doesn’t matter if it’s good or not. Also I had the privilege to read a book and it is definitely a piece of art which reflects how much effort and time it took to bring this book alive.”
The Indian edition of the book is published by Power Publishers, Kolkata.
