Bangladesh began celebrating the 101st birthday of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Wednesday.
Attending as the chief guest at a ceremony at the Scholastica school in Dhaka paying glowing tributes to Bangabandhu, Sheikh Rehana, his beloved younger daughter, shared some invaluable memories with him.
When young Mujib wandered around the rural landscape of Tungipara, leading his peers in all the swashbuckling activities including swimming in the murky water of Modhumoti and sports such as ha-du-du and volleyball, who in the world could even imagine that this youth would end up being the father of the nation and one of the greatest leaders having ever walked upon this planet?
Since childhood, he was unbelievably sharp and had endowed with a vision. The soil and people of his village filled his heart with love and he loved them too with all his heart.
At the age of only 10, he took off his shirt to donate it to someone else, epitomizing humanity. As a child, he was helpful and roared out loud against injustice. He reached out to the people who needed help and raised his voice whenever he spotted injustice.
Once he observed that the crops of farmers were damaged and their houses were left with not an iota of food. The entire village was encountering a famine. Young Mujib was burning to do something. Then he requested his father to donate rice from their barn. Without even knowing how much his father could help, he came up with this request. The only thing he had in his mind was saving the lives of the farmers, she said.
