Despite being merely a name, Kazi Shahid Ahmed itself is a massive identity. Very few people can completely remove the lion’s share of their work-life identity. Kazi Shahid Ahmed was one of them.
He started his career by joining the army. He fought in battles and commanded co-soldiers. He roamed many areas wearing army outfits. In military gear, he also served general people.
But when he entered the world of art and literature upon falling in love with the latter, Kazi Shahid Ahmed stopped using his military designation. He turned into a random commoner.
At the same time, we came to know that his grandfather, too, was pretty much into literature. Kazi Shahid Ahmed’s grandfather used to write on countless pages of ledger books. Kazi Shahid Ahmed preserved the ledger books.
Amid criticism and a series of incidents, the Ajker Kagoj finally started to be published. Then came Khoborer Kagoj.
Shahid bhai would give us different guidelines and speak with us every day at that time. At times, his suggestions sounded strange. But there was one thing very special about him – he would speak nicely and interestingly.
While talking to others, he used to represent his statements in way lovely way that everybody would listen to him with much attention.
Nobody would ever feel tired while working in The Ajker Kagoj. Shahid bhai used to change his looks often. He would be seen in a beard some days and with a stick in hand some other days.
He would appear in the office in pyjama and panjabi (traditional outfit) sometimes. He also used to wear suits. This is how Shahid bhai demonstrated himself to us, with the many sides of him.
As he has left us for good, I can definitely say one thing: he used to love his newspaper very much.
At one stage, he called all of us.
“You don’t need to give me anything. Instead, if you want suggestions, I’m there for you. I will help too if approached. But there is a condition: my name will be used as the editor.
“Getting out of bed every morning, I’d love to see an issue of the Ajker Kagoj lying at my doorstep. I’ll pick that up. I’ll smell that. I’ll thoroughly go through the newspaper. After that, I’ll debate with you as to what’s correct and what’s not. I’ll discuss the good and bad things. I’ll speak a lot on the issues,” he said.
Honestly, Shahid bhai was full of amusing chatter. There was hardly any subject that he never touched upon. He had the special capacity to make the discussion sound easy and enjoyable.
It was noticed that many of the things he would speak of were coming true.
He would gossip and say many important things on the pretext of a random conversation. He would speak his mind. We noticed that many of his predictions materialised.
Initially, we would see him driving a small car to the office. It was probably a Russian-made one. He would say: “How long do I ride the car? So, this tiny car works.”
After his sons grew up, he changed his car. He also changed his residence. He constructed an aesthetic farmhouse on his land at Savar. After that, the university was built and the Gemcon Group was founded.
He developed a tea estate in the remote hills of Panchagarh, from where the Himalayas can be seen during winter. We’re witness to all the developments.
Shahid bhai never used to make the employees of an organization work along with those from another entity.
He worked separately with staffers from different organizations by giving utmost importance.
Now moving to a tale. A man once stole a fish from his pond. Shahid bhai sacked him, leaving all wondering.
Sticking to his decision, Shahid bhai said: “What if he stole 10 fish?”
We told him that we, too, would terminate him in that case.
“Theft is theft. No matter if it is just a fish or a bucket full of fish. The thief should always be punished,” he said.
I can still remember more incidents involving him.
Anyway, people have their own dreams. But I won’t brand Shahid bhai as one of such dreamers. Those who dream a dream while asleep are not the ones who succeed. But those who dream of something while awake can materialize their dreams.
Shahid bhai was one such human who made his dream come true.
I saw very few people as enthusiastic and spirited as Kazi Shahid Ahmed. Our society needs more people like him. Needless to say, all of his three sons have also succeeded in their respective fields. Shahid bhai, stay good wherever you are.
The author is the managing director of Impress Telefilm Ltd and Channel i
