Feature
“Staring Straight into the Sun” Reading Doris Lessing
Fatima Tuz Zahra
 ON the 16th of April, Department of English, University of Dhaka held a programme on the works of the Nobel Prize winning writer Doris Lessing at the British Council auditorium. The eminent professors of Dhaka University and teachers and students from other public and private universities presented their works on Lessing and discussed them amidst the presence of a large audience. It was an endeavour by the English Department faculty to recognise the contributions of such a gifted and powerful writer as Lessing in the world of literature.
The programme commenced at 9:30 in the morning with the Inaugural Speech by the Convener of the Seminar Committee, Associate Professor Ms. Tahmina Ahmed in which she thanked the British Council for its support in holding the seminar. Later, Professor Kabir Chowdhury announced the programme on Doris Lessing open. In his speech he enlightened the audience on the different aspects of Lessing's life and works. He called her The Golden Notebook, “The bible for the emancipation of women”. After his speech, a video clipping of Lessing's reaction of receiving the Nobel Prize was shown which gave the audience a chance to watch the old lady. The Chairman of the Department of English, Dr. Khondakar Ashraf Hossain in his speech thanked students and colleagues for arranging the seminar.
Before long, reading from Lessing's much acclaimed The Golden Notebook by Protiti, Farha, Sanjeeda and Shihab, students of English Department enthralled the audience and set the mood for the rest of the sessions right after the tea-break. The sessions of paper presentation were divided into three parts; the first session was chaired by Dr. Khondakar Ashraf Hossain and the keynote speech was given by Dr. Firdous Azim, BRAC University on the account of introducing Doris Lessing to the general audience who were getting ready to explore the world of Lessing. She left a question for the succeeding sessions by asking “How feminist is the feminist The Golden Notebook, a really unique piece of writing?”
 Later on, the second session was chaired by Dr. Syed Manzoorul Islam of Dhaka University. The paper presenters of this session were Mr. Mashrur Shahid Hossain, Jahangir Nagar University, Mr. Saiful Islam and Ms. Tasneem Tayeb from Stamford University and Dr. Mahmudul Hasan from University of Dhaka. The subjects of the papers were respectively “The eye of God in Paradise”, Ben in the World and The Fifth Child, London through Welded Eyes and Dr. Mahmudul Hasan argued to which extent Lessing's work can be termed as works of Feminism. Amidst the lively debate that was initially sparked by Dr. Firdous Azim, Dr. Manzoorul Islam said that Feminism as a term is very problematic as a discourse and contextualization of Feminism is difficult. He added, in The Golden Notebook he finds sexuality as a search for knowledge.
Parallel to this session, reading from Lessing's The Golden Notebook continued in another quarter of British Council where Dr. Rebecca Haque of Dhaka University acted as the Chair and the paper presenters were Ms. Tahmina Tania from Jagannath University, Dr. Zahirul Islam, BRAC University, Associate Professor Ms. Zerin Alam and Professor Dr. Nuzhat Amin from University of Dhaka. The papers were respectively on “The Golden Notebook and Urukku”, “Madness and Women in The Bell Jar and The Grass is Singing”, “Memories of Cats: An Alternative Lessing” and “Erecting Boundaries:
A Reading of Martha Quest and Four Gated City”. A student of 4th year of English Department volunteered reading the paper by Ms. Tahmina who was absent on the occasion. The presentation of Cat as a symbol in Lessing's works drew great enthusiasm from the audience where Ms. Zerin Alam presented an interesting parallel between Lessing's and T.S.Eliot's use of the cat symbol to represent realism.
Between the third and the last session, Rehana, Rajib, Shoibal and Shuhash, the students of English Department Drama Society amused the audience with reading from The Grass is Singing, a compulsory text for the students of 4th year in Dhaka University.
The fourth session was on “The Grass is Singing: Unsettling Notes” chaired by Professor Dr. Niaz Zaman and papers were presented by Mr. Md. Sarwar Jahan, Khulan University, Mr. Md. Salah Uddin Al Faruque, The People's University and Dr. Kazal Krishna Banerjee, University of Dhaka. Mr. Sarwar and Mr. Salah Uddin presented papers on “Death is the result in The Grass is Singing” and “The Unsinging Mary in The Grass is Singing” respectively. Dr. Banerjee presented a paper on “Lessing's First Novel and her exposures to Female Power”. After the papers were read, Dr. Niaz Zaman commented that there is “No one feminism, there are feminisms”. She also added that Feminism is not always men-bashing and Doris Lessing is a feminist in the sense she writes with the women and celebrate them and explore their positions and experiences which men often think insignificant.
The overall management of the programme was outstanding. Ms. Tahmina Ahmed in her last word thanked everyone who made the seminar on Lessing a success. She specially thanked the Seminar Committee comprising of Dr. Nuzhat Amin, Mr. Golam Gaus Al-Quaderi and Dr. M. Mahmudul Hasan who worked along with her and she also lauded the students of the English Department for their hard work and enthusiasm.
It was an enlightening experience and a treat for anyone who is acquainted with the works of Doris Lessing. One is sure to long for further quest into the world of a powerful woman like Lessing after attending this seminar. The video clippings showing the reaction of this writer just after wining the Nobel Prize, the readings from her works and finely tuned background music that set the ambience for the seminar were largely appreciated by the audience.
Trivia about Mothers...
Tabassum Mokhduma
 Mother's Day, a day dedicated to the moms around the world, is celebrated throughout the globe on the second Sunday of May. Here are some interesting facts on this special day.
-There are 84 million moms in the U.S.
-The youngest mother on record was Lina Medina, who delivered a 6½-pound boy by cesarean section in Lima, Peru in 1939, at the age of 5 years and 7 months.
-The odds of a woman delivering twins is 1-in-33. Her odds of having triplets is approximately 1-in-539.
-August is the most popular month to have a baby.
-Kentucky has the highest percentage of women who are mothers at 67%. The U.S national average is 57%.
-About 4 million women will have babies this year.
The median age of a woman giving birth for the first time in the U.S. is 24.8.
-Daughters keep in closer contact with their mothers than do sons.
-There are more phone calls made on Mother's Day than on any other day of the year.
-The number of people calling their moms on Mother's Day has declined in recent years due to e-mail and other electronic means of communication.
-While nearly 80 percent of Americans will buy a card for mom this year, 83 percent of the cards will be purchased by daughters.
-Mother's Day is the third-largest card-sending holiday.
-Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants.
(Sources:Pew Research/American Greetings/Internet)
| 
