Driven by Curiosity

Musician Rafsan Risal
Talks to
Salman Rob

Courtesy: Rafsan Risal

My education started at Butterfly Kindergarten followed by Willes Little Flower School, Notre Dame College and finished off at BGMEA Institute of Fashion and Technology.

When I was in school, we came up with some awesome ways of bunking classes. During class hours, we used to roam around and 'addafy' outside the class rooms. We had a religious teacher who was always after us, and with him around it was more like a 'Tom and Jerry' chase. So while bunking classes, if sir was anywhere near by, we would always stand in a line outside the class room holding our ears so that it seemed to him like we were getting punished. Unbelievable as it may sound, he never found out that we used to fake that punishment throughout the school years.

Worst moments would always be the times when my results were out. I was never a dull student but I wasn't brilliant either. Another bad memory has to be when I, uninten-tionally, punched and broke the nose of a boy while fighting in class seven or eight and got suspended for a week.

There are so many favourite moments I can think of-- starting with bunking classes, cheating in the exam hall, messing with toads and cockroaches in the biology lab, to playing various kinds of sports during break time. It has been almost eight years since I left school and all I do now is miss those days and regret growing up. What makes these memories all the more precious to me is my crazy friends Jewel, Shaon, Nafis, Hasib, Rajorshi, Imrul, Tazim, Munaz, Erfan, Charu, Sami and many others.

By far, the best advice one has given me was to ignore taking advice and I am still sticking to that. I believe in what I think is best for me and try not to take too many suggestions. For many people it works out, but for me, life only gets complicated.

My university life was totally different from my school life. I never thought the crazy kid that I was in school would turn out to be such a serious one. Not that I'm very nerdy, but compared to what I was in school, I could actually say I have evolved into a person I never thought I would be. A personality I will never forget is our class teacher, Bimol Sir. He was a wonderful human being and loved us like his own children.

Honestly, I do not consider myself a true musician. I sing quite well and play guitar too, but not that well. The amount I can do with the guitar is all because of the inspiration and support that come from my parents, friends, my band members and of course from all the 'Germantown' fans out there.

My future plan in music is to continue singing as long as I can. Apart from music, I want to make it big in the business scene.

For the young readers and young musicians-- stay away from drugs, because not only does it hamper your health, it also hampers your role in the society.