Ode to my friend Jessie

Late Shahnaaz Ahmed (Jessie)

Jessie alias Shahnaaz Ahmed breathed her last at a local clinic on December 11. She was fifty one years old. She was one of my dearest friends and was an Assistant Professor of English in the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB). Jessie joined in 1998, and as I got to know her in a professional capacity, I was so delighted to discover such a uniquely generous person. I can surely say that Jessie was one of the finest human beings that I have ever known.

I had met Jessie much earlier in the mid seventies. I saw her as a new bride, at twenty one she looked like the most stunning bride! Coupled with her physical beauty, her inner beauty shone through her face. She endeared herself to whoever she met, her friends, elders, colleagues, staff, and students all had a place in her heart. Her bubbly nature, always vibrant with words, passion, compassion, and sincerity are the yardsticks of what we seek to achieve but fail to do so. Jessie had not failed, she had set the standards and stood there for friends forever.

She spent a lot of her time doing social work, as part of which she held debates for poor students in a school where she did charity work. She was President of the Zonta Club. She asked her friends to contribute for the school.

Jessie possessed a serenity with which she could greet her friends, she could offer a smile and her golden complexion clad in a self coloured sari, remained the emblem of a welcome person for those who frequented through her life.

Indeed, once she brought me a photocopy of the poem Bonolota Sen to recite. I often wonder if in her favourite poem Jessie had ever seen herself.

Like Jeebonando Das, we the friends of Jessie have walked through the million waves that abound, have traveled many unknown islands, but Jessie had given us peace, she had brought in the joy of "mukhomukhi boshibar" Bonolota Sen.

Nashid Kamal is Professor of Population-Environment, IUB.