Ahmed Deepto tells the story of 19-year-old Jannatun Nayeem Prity, who is one of the youngest Bangladeshi autobiographers and a growing voice against social injustice
SONY RAMANY
Movies these days often sport scenes where the protagonist goes ‘This idea might be just crazy enough to work’. Likewise, there are numerous examples, in different fields, where crazy and bold ideas have worked. But how bold of an idea does it seem to write your autobiography when you are just a 19-year-old?
Jannatun Nayeem Prity has done just that. Her autobiography Unish Basanta (Nineteen Springs) has already caught readers’ attention at the Ekushey Book fair this year, making her one of the youngest Bangladeshis to write an autobiography.
‘Prity is the youngest author to have penned an autobiography. What she has written is very readable. Within five days, the book has already become a bestseller at my stall,’ says Iftekhar Amin, publisher of Shobdoshoily Publication and also the publisher of the book.
Nineteen-year-old Prity has also released two other books at the ongoing fair. Pencile Aka Golpo, a juvenile fiction from Priyomukh Publication and Ei Shob Ure Asha Din from Tritiyo Chokh Publication being the other two entries. That is not all, she has yet another book titled Jaroz (Bastard) in the pipeline which is scheduled to be unveiled on February 16 at the Ekushey Book Fair this year. The plot of Jaroz is based on the Liberation War and features a conversation between a Birangana and a war-child that takes place during a train journey.
Prity has received UNICEF Meena Media Award consecutively for two years. In 2014 she won the award for creative writing and the following year she received the award for her journalistic work in print media. The young author and journalist was also a recipient of Joy Bangla Youth Award last year for writing Liberation War based literature in the form of her first book, Bangladesh Namti Jebhabe Holo (How Bangladesh Got Its Name), which was a BanglaPrakash Publication bestseller at the Ekushey Book Fair in 2014.
There is however more to Prity. The multitalented prodigy has bagged numerous awards in drawing, debate, recitation and shone bright in musical competitions. She got Jatiyo Shishu Puroshkar three years in a row from 2002-2005.
She also wrote scripts for two short films titled Neglect and Poster. The latter won Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014, which is a prestigious film award in India.
‘As part of the Joy Bangla Youth award I was chosen as a brand ambassador of Microsoft. We give Information Technology training to entrepreneurs. It has also been a privilege to be a team member of Windows Women from Bangladesh,’ Prity tells New Age Youth.
The story of how Prity ventured into writing is interesting indeed. She has been quite imaginative since childhood and used to tell imaginary stories to her classmates and teachers. This habit of spontaneous storytelling has served her well later on.
‘The description of North Dakota’s snowfall in ‘Little Town on the Prairie’ by Laura Ingalls Wilder inspired me so much to tell stories. When I read the book I felt that snow was falling over my body and that was really amazing to imagine. The reading experience encouraged me to read more books, telling stories and eventually writing,’ Prity conveys.
Prity’s first writeup Pakshi Baniye Debo won an award at 2002 Anchor-Prothom Alo fiction writing competition when she was only a second grader.
In her autobiography, Prity has addressed issues about sexuality at her age. On the other hand she has also penned her experiences as a four-year-old who used to wonder about God.
‘People often appear shocked to hear that I wrote an autobiography at such a young age. My point is what if I am not alive tomorrow? And even if I live a longer life, my memory surely would get blurry when I’m old,’ she adds.
Prity also knows the language of Egyptian Hieroglyphics which she learned because of her profound interest in Egyptian civilisation.
‘I have an immense interest in archeology. I brought the books from abroad and learnt the language with help of internet. I can read any kind of Egyptian Hieroglyphs at first sight. I know more than half of 750 Egyptian alphabets,’ says the young lady.
Prity is the youngest among four siblings. Her father Mohammad Amzad Hossain, a retired government official and mother Mina Parvin a homemaker, live in Rajshahi. Currently, she is the first year student of department of Fine Arts at Jahangirnagar University.
‘A writer must have a good reading habit. I have a collection of 3,500 books which I have collected from my childhood and finished reading all of them,’ she adds. She is also very passionate about social causes.
Prity denounced her Prothom Alo awards and attempted to retract her write-ups from the newspaper in 2013 when ‘Meril Prothom Alo Awards,’ ceremony was organised a day after the Rana Plaza disaster.
‘We requested Prothom Alo to postpone the event, as it was unwise that people would accept awards when workers were still trapped under the debris of the building. But they went on with the programme anyways as postponing it could have cost them commercially,’ she says.
Prity informs New Age Youth that she has received several threats for upholding the value of freedom of speech. She also conveys that she is deeply concerned about the curbing of freedom of speech in Bangladesh.
‘I have been threatened so many times over phone, on social media and even in person. They hacked my Facebook ID in 2013 and my blogging ID. They have also said that they would cut off my head, but I will never stop writing about the issues that matter,’ says Prity adamantly. Celebrity writer Mohammad Zafar Iqbal has already dubbed Prity as a ‘Child Prodigy.’