Khondakar Ashraf Hossain’s On Behula’s Raft: An Exploration into Socio-Cultural, Political and Economic Aspects of Bangladesh

Abstract

In the volume On Behula's Raft published in 2008 by Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, some significant social, cultural, political and historical aspects of Bangladesh figure repeatedly. This paper tries to explain how these aspects are reflected in Hossain's poems through text analysis of the primary material and some other primary and secondary sources. In this volume, Behula myth is found to be re-created and modified to suit Hossain's exploration into and celebration of, and commitment to Bangladesh, his beloved and beautiful motherland. Some important characters have been highlighted in this volume such as Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina, a victim of fanaticism named Noorjahan, a legendary Bengali female poet called Kankabati and a Dhaka rickshaw-puller named Abushama to present various socio-politico-economic aspects of Bangladesh. Moreover, Bangladesh's liberation war, political reality, problems and potentials have been depicted in most of the poems in the volume. The paper implies that in On Behula's Raft, Hossain (2008) upholds a Bangladesh consciousness on an epical scale which has rendered great significance to the volume.