PROSE: Life and literature of Begum Rokeya

Life and literature of Begum Rokeya
Alok Acharja

Payraband, a village of Rangpur district. It was 1880s. When Begum Rokeya started her struggle, the time in the early twentieth century was the complete opposite. It was very difficult to satisfy the thirst for knowledge for the women that time. Her life span was not too long and her literary works are not more in number, Begum Rokeya is a majestic woman today. Her literary work and her self-sacrifice are huge. Begum Rokeya’s women’s liberty movement is still flowing. Her consciousness of thinking was far-reaching, benevolent and progressive. Begum Rokeya is called the pioneer of women’s movement. At the time of her birth, English education was far from being a girls’ education. The women’s work was limited to childbirth, upbringing and housework. It was difficult to express opinions even in one’s own family. The chances of getting out into the outside world were also very controlled. As he grew older, he discovered that the outside world was not for him. It is only occupied by men. He was taught Arabic and Urdu at home. Their family language was Urdu. Rokeya’s elder brother Ibrahim was a modern minded person. He was the one who taught Begum Rokeya Bengali and English . Her education is also started in the hands of her elder sister.
Although he was opposed to English education in his own family, he was able to come in contact with modern-minded people like her elder brother. Which later increased her thirst for knowledge. Because she had such a meditation for education, she has been able to awaken herself and become a pioneer of women’s awakening. While it is very difficult to wake one up, he has also done the job of waking up others with skilled hands. She has played a strong role in realizing women’s rights through her hands. However, I think the role of Begum Rokeya cannot be properly evaluated just by saying that she is a pioneer of women’s awakening. Because the environment in which she learned English and later wrote in Bengali and English must also be taken into consideration. Although most of them have played an active role in realizing women’s rights, the intense tendency towards reading also teaches. At the age of 18, she got married with Sayed Sakhawat Hossain, a deputy magistrate of Bhagalpur. Begum Rokeya was later associated with her husband Shakhawat Hossain and later became known as Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain. Their married life was not very long. He had to stop only ten years of conjugal life. Her husband died in 1908. This grief could not stop him. In 1911, he founded the Shakhawat Memorial Girls’ School. He started his school journey with only six students. She realized that only education could bring about change. In all this she made himself known in the literary world. She wrote poems, novels and women’s awareness articles in famous magazines. He has written short stories, essays, poems, novels, science fiction, satire, translations. He had his own characteristics. He made his literary debut in 1902 with ‘Pipasa’.
She was modern in social change, thought, and consciousness. The path of progress that he has shown in the face of social obstacles is still shining. The courage and generosity shown by Begum Rokeya more than a hundred years ago is still to be followed in the advancement of women. Begum Rokeya explained that age is not an obstacle; the obstacle is will power, the mentality of expression. And so, as a pioneer of women’s awakening, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain has been a source of encouragement to women and men throughout the ages. Because her activities were not limited to writing. He also engaged himself in social and organizational work. Sultana’s Dream (1905) is a unique creation of Begum Rokeya. He had an outstanding foresight. In feminist literature, it is one of the works in the awakening of women’s consciousness. She has also skillfully expressed her consciousness in the siege of Aborodhbasini, Padmarag, collection of essays Matichur etc. It is to say that the seeds of women’s free thought that Begum Rokeya has sown in her deeds, in her pursuit today and in the centuries to come, will be born by the women society.