Mahmud was born on July 10, 1933, into a reputed family from Sylhet. He passed BA (Hons) in economics from Dhaka University in 1954, and started his career as an oil company executive in Burma Shell.

Mahmud paved a new path in the electronic and print media in Bangladesh. Not only was he the founder chairman of the country's first private terrestrial television channel, ETV, he was also the founder-director, and subsequently publisher and managing director, of The Daily Star, the country's most successful English-language newspaper.

He was also the founder director, and subsequent chairman, of the Reliance Insurance Company Ltd, a director of the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), founded by the World Bank and the government of Bangladesh.

Among the many positions held, Mahmud was formerly: president, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce; a member, the National Pay Commission; and a member, the World Bank's Industrial Development Council.

As Mahmud breathed his last on this day in 2004, many said aloud: "Dreams are dead too." Young and old, men and women, whoever had known AS Mahmud from far and near knew that not only had he dreams of his own, he also knew how to teach the younger generation to have its own dreams.

Once, in a television interview, he was asked to talk about his favorite hobby, to which he had replied: "Aami jege jege shopno dekhi (I dream while awake)"

Like all true dreamers, Mahmud was an intensely emotional man, and it was with such true emotion that he loved his country, the people he had worked with, and all the children whom he wished to see growing up to realize the dreams of a better Bangladesh.

Yet, AS Mahmud was not a politician.

In the early sixties, as a young executive of an oil company, Mahmud had to spend good many years in the areas of Faridpur, Rangpur, Dinajpur, and Chittagong. He had to tour by train, boat and on foot through the villages, river ports and railway stations of the country. He developed a strange affinity with the simple village folks who were, in his words, better human beings than the wealthy urban people.

In 1961, I had a memorable trip to Calcutta with him and Mrs Mahmud, my sister, to attend the Tagore centenary celebrations. It was probably after watching Satyajit Ray's "Tin Kanya" the trilogy and "Rabindranath," the documentary, that he had grown an obsession to produce a feature film.

On this trip, we could not make it together to Santiniketan due to shortage of funds. It was something we all regretted because we could not meet his maternal uncle Dr Syed Mujtaba Ali, then living in Santiniketan.

During the following four decades Mahmud never got rid of that obsession, and had often mentioned it during talks with friends or relations, young or old. When ETV went on air, I once reminded him of his longtime wish, to which he had said yes.

Now, after all, he could achieve even much more, but he wanted the younger generation to be able to use ETV as a platform for something bigger. Mahmud continued to dream with a vision for the future, but never became a dream merchant.

The political events of 1970 and early 1971 had already made him very sad. Often he talked of our immediate course of action for the future. Mahmud was then a deputy general manger of Pakistan National Oils, which was later named Jamuna Oil Co.

He had once confided to me that he would leave East Pakistan, rather than be a part of the system where he would have to ensure smooth supply of oil to the Pakistani army from the depots or terminals near Narayanganj.

A source close to the Pakistan army had tipped him off in time that his name was already in the list of people who had been under watch by the military intelligence. How he, with his wife and three children, fled the country for England is another story.

Mahmud arrived in London and was lucky to get a job in the accounts section of the noted London department store Harrods, where he worked for several months before returning to independent Bangladesh.

After his death in 2004, there were letters from all over coming to his family and friends.

There was one very touching reminiscence of him by a young man named Rashid Mamun of New York who had earlier worked briefly at ETV:

"It was great fortune that I got to know him from close distance. He was a man of great dignity and virtue. I used to work for ETV on commission. One of my documentaries, Shatibdir Alo, was telecast on ETV, (later on it was stopped for an unknown reason). During that time I got to know him better, always a well dressed man taking care of everyone and everything like a grandfather. When, at his age, the people of our country think about retirement or already go into retirement, he started a new venture called ETV where he promoted and inspired young people like me. Because of his leadership in ETV, everyone worked as a family. There was the kinship, a bond that made ETV an exception. As Mahfuz Anam said, 'ETV was a gift to the people of Bangladesh,' it really was. We come from a country where people don't dare to dream, but AS Mahmud was the man who taught us how to dream and go after it. If we dream, we can achieve those dreams and make a difference. ETV was a great example. But I wonder what we gave him back? Sorry, Chairman Shahib!"

Then there was one Ezajur Rahman from Kuwait who wrote:

"I never knew AS Mahmud. I would have loved to know him. He has given me something very intimate and very personal -- he has given me the confidence to try and make a difference. The Daily Star and ETV remain beacons of hope that good, on a large scale, can be done in the face of all odds. People like me, and there are many, grabbed ETV and The Daily Star as adequate justification for our physical and emotional investment in Bangladesh. Making a charitable donation is easy. But leading the way into the 21st century is the stuff of heroes. AS Mahmud is a hero and role model for me. I thank him on behalf of myself and the many we know who fell in love with ETV and The Daily Star. I will never forget the faces of kids in London when they watched "Desh Jure" on ETV. AS Mahmud was a great man. He is an inspiration to all those who believe in a better Bangladesh."

And there were many more. As someone close to AS Mahmud, I have always felt that the country had lost a true patriot and a dreamer three years back. In today's Bangladesh, we miss him more than ever. He was the one who made a lot many people believe that there must be a vision for the future, and for that we must also learn to dream of happier days and a glorious Bangladesh.

Dreams never die.

Reza Chowdhury, a businessman, is a relation of AS Mahmud.