I, Md. Abul Kashem, son of the late Jamsher Ali, son of the late Majamuddin Sarker, son of the late Belal Uddin Dak, son of the late Nasiruddin Dak, was born on the 29th of April, 1935 A.D. (Bangla date: 5th of Baishakh, 1342) in the village Amiandanguri under the police station Trisal of the district Mymensingh. I am the 5th issue and the 2nd son of my parents. My father was the eldest and only son of his parents. He had three young sisters who were left behind when their parents embraced premature death. My father was only ten or twelve years old when his parents died.

Only a few years before, (approximately six or seven years) my grandfather Majamuddin Sarker had migrated from Char Maslanda or Joyer Char, his native village under the Gafargaon police station, to the village Lakhchatal or Kaoraid under the Sreepur police station of the Dhaka district. In those days the entire area of Kaomid was covered with deep forests. The forest abounded with tigers, monkeys, poisonous snakes, bears and various kinds of birds like roosters and cranes. In such conditions my father's maternal grandmother took charge of the orphans. Being afraid, the old lady left Kaoraid with the orphans and migrated to her father's native home at Amiandanguri, leaving the vast area of landed property of my grandfather.

Sadaruddin Akanda, a religious teacher (Pir) who had many disciples, was the maternal grandfather of my father. My mother's maternal grandfather was Jan Mohammad Akanda. He was also a religious teacher (Pir). He had also many followers. Both my father's maternal grandfather Sadaruddin Akanda and my mother's grandfather Jan Mohammad Akanda married two daughters of Moulavi Barkatullah Famjee, who left his native village Shakchara under the Gafargaon police station during the farayejee movement of Hajee Shariatullah against the British rule in India. So my father and mother were cousins to each other. Thus both my father and mother had the bright heritage of the 'Sharif family,' according to the Orthodox Muslim culture.

I would like to mention here that my father was the only son of my grandfather, who was also the only son of his father. My great-grandfather was also the only son of his father. My father was a man of strong personality. He was a lover of truth. He was a literate man. He told me once that his father was a deed writer, so he could have been accepted in the same profession. But as ill luck would have it, he could not accept the same profession as there could have been some pressure to perform misdeeds. I never found my father and mother gossiping or laughing. They were very conscious regarding their conduct.

My beloved mother Rahimunnesa was the only daughter of her mother. She had two younger brothers. Her father Hajee Sayed Ali was a very pious man. He performed Hajj in Mecca and Medina, going on foot from his home to Mumbai (one of the best sea ports of India) from which he boarded the sea-going sailing ship bound for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. My mother also lost her father while she was only six or seven years old. Her maternal grandmother (wife of Jan Mohammad Akanda) took charge of her widow daughter along with the orphans. She was a very strict guardian.

My mother was allowed to go to school, which was on the premises of their own house. But when my mother completed primary school, her higher study was stopped. Her grandmother did not allow her to be admitted in a high school for girls in Mymensing town, though the head men of the village recommended that she do so. My mother had a serious panic from not having had the privilege of further education. I have inadequate language to express the good qualities that my mother possessed.

She brought up her children with much care. In my childhood I learnt about the various qualities of food like milk, fruits, fresh vegetables and leafy vegetables, which contain subtantial food values such as vitamins, calcium, and iron. She advised us to eat half-boiled, rather than full-boiled curries. She taught us primary education at home, and at our bed time she recited many ideal poems. I would like to mention here a poem of only two lines without vowels:

Chala chala hala dhara oi el jal

Jhar jhar jham jhmn sab hata tal

My elder brother Dr. Fazlul Huq L.M.S. was an efficient and experienced physician. He had three sons and only one daughter, leaving them behind when he died in 1992. I am the second son of my parents, and the third is a commerce graduate. He is an income tax adviser. The fourth is now on retirement from the Bangladesh Naval Force, and the fifth is a school teacher like me. We have two sisters in between my eldest brother and me.

The cause of the migration of my grandfather Majamuddin Sarker from Gafargaon to Kaoraid was that his dwelling house, along with a portion of agricultural land, was grasped by erosion of the mighty river Brahmaputra.

When I was eight years old I fell seriously ill. In those days malaria and kalazar (another kind of fever) were common diseases in our country. Quinine was only the antidote for malaria, while the Brahmmachari injection, newly invented by Dr. Brahmmachari of India, was the only antidote for kalazar. But the injection was rarely found and was very expensive. At a loss, my mother gave me a juice every morning to drink. This juice was made from some kind of vines and leaves. After a month I was fully recovered.

A few months later cholera broke out in our village. My mother lost her mother, her younger brother, a nephew and a niece. Within three days, four members of the family were gone forever. Only mother's other younger childless brother, his two wives and the widow of my late uncle, along with a son and a daughter, were safe.

During that critical time I was sent to the house of my maternal uncle, where I had to work with him in the field. My task was to tend cows. My elder brother was then serving in the government hospital at Gafargaon as a male nurse. He came home on leave and saw my situation, and told my parents to send me to school. So at about nine years old I was sent to a primary school, where I completed two years of education in one year. In the annual examination I stood first in the class. After completion of primary education, I was admitted to Dhalia high English school in 1948. The school is about four kilometers from our house, and I had to go on foot. I passed the matriculation examination from that school in the second division in 1954. In that year, only thirty one thousand students from all areas of Bangladesh (it was then called East Bengal) appeared at the examination under the East Bengal Secondary Education Board in Dhaka (which was the only the Education Board in the country).

Only about twelve thousand students could succeed, out of which about seven hundred were in the first division, and about four thousand were in the second division (the rest were in the third division). The percentage of success was only 42%. Nowadays, about a million candidates appear at the same level of S.S.C. Examination. Thousands of the students get star marks and get into the first division. But they are so weak that they cannot even write an application correctly. The present degradation of our education system is so painful.

I could not get myself admitted in a college for higher studies. Mother told me that if I continued my studies, my younger brothers would remain illiterate and ultimately they would become day laborers, so I should go into service to earn money for their education. Thus I abided by my mother's suggestion and began to try to obtain a job.

My eldest brother left his job in 1948 and began his practice as a physician. He also married in the same year. A piece of my father's land was sold to meet the extra expenses incurred for the marriage ceremony. In 1955 I also got married. I was then only twenty years old. My marriage ceremony did not incur any additional expenses because my eldest brother took dowry from my father in-law.

My father left the charge of the family to be maintained by my eldest brother. In 1955, I appeared before an interview board and was selected for training guided by WHO officers at the Tuberculosis Control and Training Institute in Dhaka. After completing the training successfully, I waited for an appointment but it was too late. So I went to another job interview and was appointed to the government's Department of Land Records and Survey.

I was posted to Sarisabari where I served only eight days. When I came home to enjoy Eid vacation, my father asked me the nature of job. I told my father that people pressured me to take money from them as bribes to forge their names in government records. Having been made aware of this, Father forbade me to go back to the job.

God blessed me, for within a day or two I received the awaiting appointment for which I had been trained. Father allowed me to join there saying that it was a humanitarian job and there was no possibility of being offered bribes. As it was a mobile job, I also got the opportunity to visit almost all over the country. I joined as a B.C.G. Technician in May, 1956 and left the job in January, 1969. After that I worked in a high school as a teacher-cum-clerk, with the thought that I should have a stationary job so that I could live with my children, with the goal of getting them an education.

That was a newly established high school, so there was heavy pressure to perform official work in addition to class work. I had to work from dawn to dusk, sometimes in the dead of night when there was an inspection. Yet I still had to earn additional funds as a private tutor. In such a struggling hardship I appeared at the H.S.C. examination and got second division.

I could make time for study only for a few hours for each subject (say midnight to 4 a.m. every night). My wife helped me by making tea in a flask, and she sat by me until I went to bed. I got myself admitted in a degree class in Jagannath College in 1970. In March 1971 our liberation war started, so our classes were suspended. Just as our liberation war was over, we had to appear at the examination. Thus I graduated in 1972 and I became an assistant teacher, and in 1986 a senior teacher. I was appointed an examiner in English by the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, Dhaka in 1974, and from then on I discharged my duties as an examiner until my retirement. I was also appointed a trainer for English teachers of all the schools under Sutrapur police station of Dhaka city. I was also appointed a tutor and examiner for English by the Bangladesh Open University. In all these cases I performed my duties with the entire satisfaction of the concerned authorities. I retired in January, 1998.

At the age of over eighty-five my beloved father died, on the 2nd of January, 1972, just as our liberation war was over. His fourth son Gulam Mostafa, who was a Naval Officer, was in Pakistan (on repatriation). A few days before he died, Father told us that he would not be able to see his son. On the 16th of December, 1971, our victory in the liberation war was declared. Pakistani soldiers surrendered to India-Bangladesh allied forces at 4:31 p.m.

I pray to almighty God for the salvation of the soul of my departed father. My father was honest, sincere and truthful. He never rebuked us or beat us. People of our locality loved and respected him for his fairness and truthfulness. During the young stage of his life he loved to recite folklore, which we call "Puthi." He was fair and good-looking.

(Here I am with my wife and grandchildren).

Meanwhile, I feel love and respect for my beloved wife, who has performed her duties and responsibilities toward her husband and children very sincerely and honestly. She was the only daughter of her rich parents. She was brought up with much affection by her grandmother and parents. She did not even know how to pour water in a glass.

At the tender age of thirteen, she came to our house as my wife. She was taught kitchen work by my mother. Our family was a big family consisting of ten to twelve members. My wife had to work until she went to bed at midnight. She got a little touch of me when I came home on leave. Yet, I found her not impatient. She never complained. She very carefully made the dry fish by her own hand as she knew that I love it to eat.

When I was away I used to write letters to her, and she replied to each letter without delay. I found no letter demanding that I bring anything for her. I knew that she had many complaints, but she concealed everything. She worked hard very sincerely all through her life, after she had become my life partner. She is so honest that she has never told a lie in her life. I feel pain in my heart when I think that I could not do anything for her in spite of her love and sincere service to her children and to her husband. I feel proud of her.

In May, 1956, our first child came into our lap. We were graced with four sons and five daughters. Our first child is a son who earned an MA, the second son earned a BA, and the third is a diploma engineer. Our youngest son died in 1976 at the age of six years old. Among the daughters, the eldest earned a BS. The second died in 1985. The third is S.S.C., the fourth earned an MA, and the youngest earned her BA. All of my sons and daughters are married, and they are happy in their conjugal lives. I wish them all to be happy and prosperous in their lives. I wish them to be fresh, frank and fair in life.

As I am an ordinary citizen of my country, so I deserve no credit, no share in building our new nation. Being a school teacher, I always tried my level best to uphold the ideal of a good teacher. I spared no pains to perform my duties to my students in order to help them achieve bright careers. I love persons in whom I find frankness, sincerity and honesty.