Nijer Shonge Nijer Jiboner Modhu ( bn, নিজের সঙ্গে নিজের জীবনের মধু, ) is a Bengali novel written by Bangladeshi author

Humayun Azad Humayun Azad (born Humayun Kabir; 28 April 1947 – 12 August 2004) was a Bangladeshi poet, novelist, short-story writer, critic, linguist, columnist and professor of Dhaka University. He wrote more than sixty titles. He was awarded the Bangl ...

. It was first published in February 2000 in

Ekushey Book Fair The Ekushey Book Fair ( bn, একুশে বই মেলা, Ekuśe Bôi Mela), officially called Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela ( bn, অমর একুশে গ্রন্থ মেলা, lit='Immortal Book Fair of the Twenty-first f February ...

Agamee Prakashani Agamee Prakashani () is a Bangladeshi publishing house located in Dhaka. It was founded in 1986 by Osman Gani. As of 2015, it has more than 2000 publications in both Bengali and English. Awards Agamee Prakashani has won several awards, including: ...

. The novel tells the story of a boy's rural life of

Bikrampur Bikrampur ("City of Courage") was a pargana situated south of Dhaka, the modern capital city of Bangladesh. In the present day, it is known as Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal and was a part of the Bhawal ...

of 1960s decade and believed to be inspired by author's own childhood life as Azad was also born and brought up in

which is now known as Munshiganj District, however the fictitious character Jalkador, who is the main protagonist of the novel, belongs to a farmer-family. The main subject of the novel is about life-leading of a boy named Jalkador in Rarhikhal village of

(the village is now in Sreenagar Upazila of Munshiganj District) in 1960s decade when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. The novel tells the story of his journey as a rural Bengali boy from boyhood to adolescence. Author Humayun Azad dedicated this novel to his childhood's rural friends and compared the novel to

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay () (12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was an Indian writer in the Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel, ''Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road''), ''Aparajito (Undefeate ...

's novel ''

Pather Panchali ''Pather Panchali'' (; ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali novel of the same na ...

''.

Plot summary

Jalkador lives in Rarhikhal village with his parents and siblings; he has one brother and one sister who are named Abju and Moyna respectively. Jalkador comes from a farmer-family background; his father is a farmer and Jalkador raises cattle and catches fish who does not go to school and speaks local dialect of the Bengali language. He grows up gradually but his penis remains uncircumcised. When monsoon comes, Jalkador observes flood, their whole village affects badly by the flood, for this reason flood also attacks their house. Jalkador watches

canoe sprint Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water. Overview Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. Canoe sprints are s ...

and

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

game in village. His friend Majid teaches him to smoke cigarette and they talk about circumcision, they see each other’s penis secretly though not in homoerotic gaze. From Majid, Jalkador learns basic knowledge about male-female sexual relationship. In the last part of the novel, Jalkador feels sexual attraction watching female snake-charmers and other rural women. He learns to masturbate and before it, he faces

nocturnal emission A nocturnal emission, informally known as a wet dream, sex dream, nightfall or sleep orgasm, is a spontaneous orgasm during sleep that includes ejaculation for a male, or vaginal wetness or an orgasm (or both) for a female. Nocturnal emissions ...

; he is already a teenager during this time.

Setting

This novel was set in the 1960s decade’s Bengali rural life of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

. At that time East Pakistani villages had no electricity, nor had any system of good sanitation.

Characters

*Jalkador - The main protagonist of the novel, a young Bengali rural boy *Abju and Moyna - Jalkador's siblings, junior to Jalkador *Majid - Jalkador's friend *Rokman - Jalkador's family's servant *Malti - The milkmaid

References

{{reflist

External links

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Nijer Shonge Nijer Jiboner Modhu
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Books by Humayun Azad Novels by Humayun Azad Bengali-language literature Bengali-language novels Bangladeshi novels Bangladeshi books 2000 novels Juvenile sexuality in books Novels set in the 1960s Novels set in Bengal Agamee Prakashani books