Not So Average After All

Cartoonist Nasreen Sultana Mitu
Talks to
Salman Rob

Courtesy: MITU

Since my father used to get transferred a lot, I had to change my school a lot too till I settled down in Mymensingh and got into Vidya Moyi Girls School. My school life was rather different from others; I cannot actually say I was a great student, but at the same time I wasn't a bad one either. I was always the average one. I never bunked classes much but that does not mean I was a nerd. Mostly I would end up not paying any attention and just chit chatting with friends during classes.

One of the best memories of my school life has to be with our Botany teacher. That was one hilarious teacher and I can never forget him. He had a slight accent problem which used to crack the whole class up like crazy. One of his famous accent mishaps was that he used to pronounce kush- 'KHUSH!', and that is not it. He used to say it at least three times. So, by the third time everyone in the class would end up laughing there lungs out. Also, while he used to say all this he used to walk around in a way as if he was in a parade. So the whole scenario was something that cracks me up even now!

I changed completely when I joined Dhaka University (DU). It was like stepping into a new world. All of a sudden I became the girl who was living at the dorm, hanging out all day and the bunking days had also begun! I became more of an extrovert. I studied in the IER department (Institute for Education and Research) at DU and I realise how much that subject is helping me now as a cartoonist and also in other fields.

My best university moment was during my first semester when I got to meet the editor of Unmad magazine, Ahsan Habib. I was a big fan of his and used to follow Unmad regularly. He is more or less the one who made me the cartoonist I am today. He had faith in me, which lead me to become a writer/ cartoonist of the magazine Unmad and since 2006 I have been working there. It was like a dream come true for me! Later on, I joined the New Age as well to gather more experience.

Cartoon: Mehedi Haque

Eid is one of my favourite days of the whole year because that is the day when I can sleep for as long as I want to and no one wakes me up before lunch. I usually do not stay in Dhaka for Eid but when I do, I usually end up going to a friend's place and hanging out. Eid shopping is something that I am not good at. So my sister is the one to pick out my clothes for Eid.

Five years is a long time and the Star Campus magazine has grown a lot too. A few elements that can be added to the magazine to make it more popular are more student views and reviews on subjects for fresh high school graduates other than BBA and Engineering. Lastly I would like to say that students nowadays are not aiming as high as they should. Start aiming big, chasing your dreams and it will take you no time to create a huge difference for the country.