Google Doodle celebrates Shamsur Rahman’s birthday

Search engine giant Google Inc is celebrating the birthday of poet, journalist, columnist, and advocate for human rights and democracy Shamsur Rahman in a creative manner through its iconic doodle.

He was born in his grandfather’s house 46 no. Mahut-Tuli, Dhaka on this day in 1929. His paternal home is situated on the bank of the river Meghna, a village named Paratoli, near the Raipura upazila of Narshingdi district. He was the fourth of thirteen children. 

While studying English literature at the University of Dhaka he joined a student group known as the Progressive Writers and Artists Association, reading his verse at Madhu’s Canteen and staunchly supporting the movement to retain Bengali as the official language of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

After graduating with honors in 1953, he went on to make his living working for Radio Pakistan and editing the daily newspaper Dainik Bangla, he is remembered as the “unofficial poet laureate of Bangladesh.” 

Rahman published more than sixty books of poetry, ranging from love sonnets to patriotic verse to whimsical lines about his cat. His well-known 1971 poem, “Shadhinota Tumi” (“Ode to Freedom”), was written in the throes of Bangladesh’s battle for independence from Pakistan.

Rahman’s life and work earned him numerous accolades including the Bangla Academy Award, Ekushey Padak and the Shadhinota Award, the highest honor given by the government of his beloved homeland.