Iffat Ara
Encyclopedia
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. Her literary career began in late 1950s when she started to write short stories and publish them in the leading newspaper of the country including the Azad
Azad
Azād means "free" in languages that belongs to the Indo-Iranian group like Urdu, Kurdish, Persian and Dari. It may refer to:-People named Azad:* Azad Shah Afghan, founder and first ruler of Azad dynasty.* Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Indian freedom-fighter...
. She continues to write defying her age and broken health.
Life and education
Iffat Ara was born to Maulavi Quazi Abdul Hakim and Mosammat Hajera Khatun in MymensinghMymensingh
Mymensingh , pronounced moy-mon-shing-haw, is a city of Bangladesh situated on the river Brahmaputra. It is the headquarters of the administrative unit Mymensingh District. Mymensingh is the anglicized pronunciation of the original name Momenshahi, referring to a ruler called Momen Shah. The cadet...
town in 1939. She struggled hard for formal education, first learning Arabic at home to be able to read the Quran. She then went to Muslim Girls' School for primary education. After her primary education was over, her father withdrew her from the school since, at that time, higher education for girls was not considered necessary. Desperate to continue education, she threatened to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
and was subsequently admitted to the Vidyamoyee Govt. Girls' High School of the town. But before she could complete the high school she was married to Abdul Latif Talukder, a young lawyer and politician. Luckily it was a short interruption and she could appear in the Matriculate examination the next year. Later, she passed Intermediate from the Muminunnesa Women's College
Muminunnesa Women's College
Muminunnesa Women's College , or Muminunnesa College in short, is a public university-college located opposite Town Hall of Mymensingh near the Brahmaputra river in Bangladesh. It was established in 1946 and was named after Muminunnesa Khan, mother of a reputed businessman M. R. Khan...
. In 1966 she graduated from the same college and proceeded to study for B. Ed. at the Mymensigh Women's Teachers Training College. When Ananda Mohan College
Ananda Mohan College
Ananda Mohan College is a national university affiliated university college of Bangladesh situated in the town of Mymensingh. It is one of the old educational premises of Bangladesh also.-History:...
was upgraded to a university-college, Iffat Ara lost no time to get admitted for her Masters
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Bengali Language
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
and Literature.
Personality and philosophy
To her, life is work, work is life. She believes in women freedom but does not think marriage is a stumbling block on the way. She is religious and believes that IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
does not stand on the way for Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
women to live a modern life. A very hospitable lady, Iffat Ara is near and dear to many in Mymensingh. She has mothered three children with utmost care and success. At her residence in Mymensingh town, she passes her time through writing, gardening and entertaining young authors and literary workers.
Women movements
Women movements in Mymensingh could not be thought of without the active presence of Iffat Ara snce 1960s. She became involved in social welfare activities for women with her membership of All Pakistan Women's Associaiton in 1966. After birth of BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
in 1971, she, in association with others like author Helena Khan, Sufia Karim and politician Mariam Hashimuddin took initiative to set up Mahila Samity (tr. Women's Associaiton). Later she organized the Mymensigh chapter of the Bangladesh Jatiyo Mahila Sangtha, an organization sponsored by the government. She contributed substantially in establishing Udayan High School in Mymensingh in 1988. Since her marriage she was in touch with politics but never opted for joining politics.
Professional career
In 1968, Iffat Ara joined Nasirabad Girls' School as an Assistant Teacher and retired from there as its Headmistress in 1972. Later she took up the job of Feature Editor for the women's page of the weekly Banglar Darpan publisherd from Mymensingh. When the same establishment started to publish a monthly women's magazine, titled Chandrakash, in 1973, Iffat Ara was appointed its editor. She worked as editor of 'Chandrakash' till 1979.Publications
Iffat Ara has published nine titles to her credit. They include novels, collection of short stories, book of knowledge for children and essays. She also edited Bangladesher Jonopriyo Kavita (tr. Popular poems from Bangladesh), a collection of BengaliBengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
poems since late 18th century. Her unique book of knowledge for high school goers Shona achey jana nai was highly acclaimed and has gone through many editions since 1990. Her novel Sukh jakhan shesh belay was published in 2000. Currently she is working on a book of short stories for young readers.
Dwitiyo Chinta
She set up a press in her house and started to publish a literary monthly magazine Chinta in 1986. Later it was re-named Dwitiyo Chinta in 1988. Soon Iffat Mansion, her residence in Mymensingh town since 1960, from where she published her magazine, became a hub of literary activities. The poet Jibanananda DasJibanananda Das
Jibanananda Das was a noted Bengali poet. He is considered one of the precursors who introduced modernist poetry to Bengali Literature, at a period when it was influenced by Rabindranath Tagore's Romantic poetry....
birth centenary edition of the Dwitiyo Chinta, brought out in 1999, remains an example of high quality editing and planning of a commemorative issue of a magazine. Dwitiyo Chinta has published writings of many eminent writers and poets of the country in addition to regional writers.