Rashid Karim

Rashid Karim (14 August 1925 – 26 November 2011) After the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, he published his epic novel, Amar Jato Glani, in 1973. This novel helped his fame reach its peak. Till this period he was known as a gifted writer who wrote less but wrote very well. But from then on he wrote and published regularly. Prem Ekti Lal Golap was published in 1978.

Karim had battled paralysis for nineteen years before his death. He died at Ibrahim Cardiac Centre in Dhaka on 26 November 2011.

Published works

Novels Uttam Purush (The Best Man, 1961) Prasanno Pashan (The Happy Stone, 1963) Amar Jato Glani (All My Fatigue, 1973) Prem Ekti Lal Golap (Love is a Red Rose, 1978) Sadharan Loker Kahini (A Tale of an Ordinary Man, 1982) Ekaler Rupkatha (A Fairy Tale of This Day, 1980) Sonar Pathar Bati (Gold Plated Cup of Stone) Mayer Kachhe Jachchi (A Journey to Mother) Chini Na (Unrecognized) Boroi Nissongo (So Lonely) Podotolay Rokto (Blood Underneath the Feet) Lunch-box (Lunchbox)

Short stories Prothom Prem (First Love): a single collection of scintillating short stories

Autobiography Jibon-moron (Life & Death, 1999)

Critiques of his novels

Uttam Purush Through the character of Shaker of Uttam Purush, the Muslim mind of the then Kolkata has been exposed. The Pakistan Movement, which was nourished wholeheartedly by all Muslim people for their identity, takes an upper hand in the novel. Shaker is the embodiment of all characteristics available in the Muslim society – not even the political and cultural attitude go beyond. He supports the Muslim League and is a great fan of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and eventually relinquishes a sort of detest against Mahatma Gandhi and other Hindu leaders, though he is in the belief that Pakistan would be a country irrespective of Hindus and Muslims. Possibly, for that very reason, the narrator ‘I’ of the novel speaks about himself at the outset: I am not an ideal man…. Not only for lack of power of character but the diversion of my mental attitude. The novel ends with Shaker's migration from Kolkata to Dhaka. In the novel, Karim has delineated the subconscious mind of the humans more acutely than the picture of the society and the compactness of the story. If we look into his swan song, Jibon Moron, we will find the presence of some similar incidents that the novelist himself experienced in his own life. He himself also went through an adolescent love affair with a girl whose name is not even exposed in the swan song. The marriage of the girl imprinted a great shock on his mind, and resultantly he gave up any sort of writing. Though the novelist has confessed that if this girl had not appeared in his life, he would never have been able to be a writer. Once upon a time he had relations with two girls, which is also a common subject in his novels. The shadows of this girl or their marriage are not very faint in Karim's novels also. The shifting of Karim's family to Dhaka from Kolkata is another significant autobiographical element that has taken up a large space in his novels.

Literary style Karim's novels explored modern individuals and themes related to love, identity, and human behavior in Bengali fiction. Writer Mofidul Haque stated that Karim was confident about his writing and wrote according to his beliefs.

Awards Adamjee Literary Award (1969) Bangla Academy Literary Award (1972) Ekushey Padak (1984) Lekhika Sangha Award (1991)