Page 297 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

294 ART AND CRAFTS

Zainul had to stay in this same mess-house for the next two to three years after his
admission to the Calcutta Art School. He later went to live near the residence of the
artist Anwarul Huq family, at Bondel Road in the ground floor verandah of an old two-
storied building in a small room walled off by coarse bamboo-split mats. Before this,
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during his stay at the Wellesley Street mess-house he had to take the responsibility of
keeping his younger brother (younger by one year) Zayedur Rahim with him to study
for his I.A. in the Kolkata Islamia College. Moreover, from then on he also regularly
had to send an amount of money as assistance for the household of his needy parents.
These were the reasons why in spite of his getting a scholarship to earn money (from
the time when he was a student of the 2nd year) he was forced to expend a lot of time
and energy in various odd jobs like doing cartoons in the Hanafi magazine, drawing
designs on lamp shades, etc. The amazing thing is that, all this extra pressure could
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not create the slightest disturbance in the performance of his compulsory duties and
dedication as a student. Rather he always easily retained the recognition of being the
best student in the class. Thus, from his student life he did not avoid the cruel realities
of an adverse life; rather he faced them with an unwavering, firm spirit and gradually
made it his ideal in life to go forward in the face of adverse reality. This ideal and his
mentality are clearly reflected at a later period in various administrative activities
conducive to the growth of fine arts by overcoming religious and social obstacles in
the Muslim majority part of Bengal (present Bangladesh). It was also reflected in his
art works (in the selection of subject, presentation and the use of lines and colors).
We do not have enough information to put forward any indisputable opinion about the
person on whose encouragement and inspiration the boy Zainul was first attracted to
drawing pictures and the kind of attitude towards fine arts and artists he had when he
took admission to the Art School. However, it is a fact that the mental attitude of the
Bengali Muslims of that era was very narrow regarding the practice of art. This
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illiberal attitude was ingrained in them through their religious legacy. Specially due to
the Tarika-e-Mohammadia, Faraizi movements that had occurred in the nineteenth
century in the liberal Muslim society of this region, there was a gradual return to the
original and pure Islam along with which there originated the awareness of Muslim
separateness and disrespectful attitude towards non-Muslim beliefs. As a result of
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this mental attitude, although at one stage a large section of patuas or chitrakars
(painters) among traditional, hereditary folk artists converted to Islam, there was no
recognition or appreciation of their profession in Muslim society, and they had to
remain dependent on the Hindu community. Moreover, the manufacturers of utility
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art-products and craft goods created for daily needs, with the exception of weavers
(and in some regions the makers of copper and bronze utensils) the carpenters,
blacksmiths, goldsmiths and potters, though they all belonged to the Hindu
community from time immemorial, they also satisfied the day-to-day needs of the
Muslims alongside that of the Hindus. However, for all these artists and craftsmen,
there was only enough opportunities for expressing their ultimate artistic skills and
being appreciated through drawing pictures on religious subjects for the Hindu