Page 296 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

FIRST GENERATION ARTIST 293

(probably he become certain that there was no necessity to pass the Secondary School
Examination to study this subject). On the way, to the Mrityunjay School he
discovered the whereabouts of the ‘Agfa’ studio, which was the regular haunt of some
connoisseurs of painting. The proprietor of this studio, Premranjan Dasgupta, had
connections with the renowned artists Hemen Majumdar and Prohlad Karmakar. One
of the brothers of Premranjan Dasgupta who lived in Patna was also a painter. Besides,
a few of the students from Mymensingh studying at the Calcutta Art School who
returned home on vacations were acquaintances of Zainul. With their encouragement
and cooperation, Zainul once went to Kolkata and visited the Art School (in about the
year 1930-31) without the knowledge of his parents. Though sympathetic to his son’s
heart’s desire, it was not possible for Zainul’s father, who had taken early retirement
from his job, to arrange for his son to stay in Kolkata and study at the Art School with
the limited resources of his pension (30 takas) after providing for his seven member
household. In the end, assured of a monthly scholarship of 15 takas from the
Mymensingh Zilla Board in 1932 it was without appearing in the Secondary School
Examinations that Zainul left Mymensingh with the intention of getting admission to
the Calcutta Government Art School. The money for travel expenses and staying in
Kolkata before obtaining the scholarship was collected from the sale of his mother’s
gold ornaments. 15
At that time the environment of the Calcutta Art School was also sufficiently liberal.
Mukul Dey, the artist nourished by the blessing of Rabindranath, was then the
Principal of the Art School. The news that a youth from the remote area of
Mymensingh belonging to the Muslim community, which was generally uninterested
in the practice of art, had come to Kolkata and credited himself by standing first in the
admission test, amazed Principal Mukul Dey as it did the majority of teachers.
Learning about Zainul’s poor economic circumstances, he sent the required letter of
recommendation for Zainul’s Mymensingh Zilla Board Scholarship infringing the
code of the institution. 16
On reaching Kolkata Zainul first took shelter at the residence of his maternal uncle
Jalaluddin, who was the chauffeur of the renowned Ghaznavi family of Kolkata. 18
17
Due to whatever reason, be it his uncle’s insufficient economic condition, limited
living space, environment, etc. Zainul took leave from the place. He spent some nights
like a vagabond in mosques and various other places, in the end he somehow found
shelter at the mess-house in No. 31 Wellesley Street. Due to the insufficiency of space,
his living arrangements in the first few days was made in an empty space under the
staircase of that mess-house. 19
At that time Zainul accepted even this demeaning arrangement with a grateful spirit.
Actually, the expansion of universal education had in those days established the right
for people from all religions and communities to study together in the same institution.
However, the environment and the mentality for all to live and eat together had not
grown yet. Consequently , housing problem became inevitable among the students
from minority religious communities coming to study in Kolkata from other areas.