Arun Nandi: A great swimmer
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Md. Mahfuzur Rahman Siddique
THE nation is celebrating the 37th anniversary of the historic victory in the war of liberation on the 16th December, 2008. Along with all the national sport federations, other socio-cultural organizations also celebrate this historic occasion. Organizing a Victory Day (Bijoy Dibash) Championship of the respective discipline is a regular feature of the annual sport calendar of our NFs. Victory Day Championship is organized by the NFs under the directive of the National Sports Council and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. One of the NFs, Bangladesh Swimming Federation, will organize Victory Day Swimming Championship this year for the first time since the introduction of this event in the absence of a valiant freedom fighter Arun Nandi. He will never be present with his co-organizers in such future activities of this federation. His absence will only be deeply felt by those who knew him. His inevitable absence from all the future activities of the federation will not only be painfully felt by his thousands of admirers at home and abroad with a heavy heart but also by the whole nation. This world record holder swimmer swam across the turbulent ocean of worldly existence on the 16th November, 2008. On this day, he breathed his last in a Kolkata hospital just ten days before his 67th birth anniversary. His sudden death is an irreparable loss to the development of aquatic sport in Bangladesh. He is irreplaceable in this particular sporting discipline.
This legend in swimming was born in a village named Bagdi under the district of Chandpur on 26th November, 1941. Kumud Nandi fathered him while Kiran Bala Nandi was his mother. The mighty rivers of the Padma and the Meghna and the rivulets surrounding his birthplace and his home district of Chandpur attracted him in aquatic sport since boyhood. His high potential in this sport was mainly manifested through swimming though at some stage of his most successful athletic career, he also played water polo. While at school and college, he made remarkable success in national junior and national swimming championships. Nevertheless, financially insolvent Arun found it difficult to go to Dhaka or other places to take part in short distance competitive swimming. Moreover, in his time, there was no infrastructural facility in Chandpur to practice and take proper training in this event of swimming. As a result, he chose to exploit his inborn sporting talent in long distance event of this discipline. Strong determination, indomitable courage, incessant hard work, patience and perseverance ultimately took him to the pinnacle of success as the world-renowned long distance swimmer. He went on to create records one after another, sometimes breaking his past one. He continued to enthrall the sport loving millions by his astonishing prowess in long distance swimming one after another braving the turbulence of big waves and strong current of the mighty Padma-Meghna-Sitalakshya-Dhaleswari-Burignaga, endangering his life more often than once. His long distance swimming covered the routes among others, Dhaka-Narayangonj, Daudkandi-Narayangonj, Chandpur-Narayangonj, Dhaka-Chandpur etc. His name and fame as a long distance swimmer spread far and wide within a short time by dint of his hard labour as he was a great genius in swimming.
As a freedom fighter, he used his talent as a swimmer to the great cause of the War of Liberation in 1971. The performance that turned him into a world celebrity in swimming took place in a calm pond of Kolkata instead of the mighty rivers of Bangladesh where he was accustomed to swimming. Arun Nandi exhibited this wonderful feat of prowess not in his habitual long distance but in long duration swimming.
As a dedicated swimmer, he decided to play his part in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh by swimming. He expressed his idea to another legendary swimmer of Bangladesh, Mr. Brojen Das who created world record in crossing the English Channel more than once in record time.
To materialize this noble idea Arun Nandi started vigorous training under the guidance of Mr. Das in the Boubazar gymnasium of Kolkata. The main objective of Arun's plan of non-stop swimming was to mould public opinion and obtain support for the War of Liberation of Bangladesh. Having finished all preparations, he started non-stop swimming at 8.30 am on 8th October, 1971, in a tank of College Square, Kolkata. It was inaugurated by Mr. Hossain Ali, the first defecting diplomat of erstwhile Pakistan who showed his allegiance to Bangladesh. At that time, he was accredited in Kolkata by the then Pakistan government. Brojen Das was his manager. The rescue squad comprised of famous swimmers of India such as Mr. P K Sarker, Mr. Dilip Dey and Mr. Paresh Dutta. This unbelievable performance of Arun was witnessed among others, by the Honourable Prime Minister of the Bangladesh Government in exile, Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, Minister of the said Government Mr. AHM Kamruzzaman, Oscar awardee film maker Mr. Satyajit Ray and the best ever romantic hero of Bengli Filmdom Mr. Uttam Kumar. At 2.35 pm on the 12th October, 1971 after a non-stop swimming of 90 hours and 5 minutes, tired, exhausted Arun exclaimed with joy, 'Glory be to Bengal!' Thus he created a world record in non-stop swimming breaking the record of B.C. More of U.S.A. This extraordinary athletic feat of Arun Nandi was widely covered by the Indian press. It gave him unthinkable world wide fame and at the same time familiarized Bangladesh and its people throughout the world. This brilliant performance of Nandi contributed to a great extent in mobilizing world support in favour of the people of Bangladesh fighting against Pakistani occupation army for independence. As a confirmed bachelor he dedicated his life to the cause of this aquatic sport. Depending only on strong determination, he established a swimming club in Chandpur with his very small income. He served in the executive committee of Bangladesh Swimming Federation more than once.
But he was reduced to suffer an unfortunate defeat in the immediate past election of the Federation. This was a tremendous shock for him which aggravated his ailment. The reticent and modest Arun Nandi lived a lonely life without the company of near and dear ones most of whom had migrated to West Bengal of India in the aftermath of the 'great partition' of 1947.
But he never thought of leaving his beloved birthplace and be looked after by his blood relations in his old age. He used to say "I shall never leave my country. Neither will it do me any good." He kept his promise. He kept a very low profile and lived a lonely life in Bangladesh. Finding no other alternative, he went to Kolkata via Dhaka for treatment staying at his sister's house where he expired on the 16th of November, 2008. Thanks to the joint initiative of the Bangladesh Olympic Association and the Bangladesh Swimming Federation that his mortal remains was brought back to Dhaka from where it was sent to Chandpur for funeral. Before the final rites, his coffin wrapped in the national flag was given a guard of honour by the Chandpur police. Destiny took this brave freedom fighter of Bangladesh to Kolkata where he made his most outstanding performance in swimming and greatly contributed for the independence of his motherland.
Unfortunately, neither his performance in swimming nor his role in the liberation war was given timely recognition by us.
His national sport award was certainly belated. On the other hand, a swimmer of the stature of Arun Nandi was defeated in the election of the Federation which was the only home throughout his life beyond active swimming. After the death of Arun Nandi, we, in the sport arena of Bangladesh, should take the solemn vow so that in future we will vote judiciously with righteous choice of candidates in the elections of our NFs, in order to ensure that an eligible ex-athlete-turned-organizer may not have to face a humiliating defeat as it had happened in the case of the world famous swimmer Late Arun Nandi, who suffered as a result of injudicious exercise of our voting right. That will be the proper respect to the departed soul of this celebrated athlete who was really the portrait of a true patriot.
May the soul of this most illustrious son of our motherland rest in eternal peace. Let the athletic achievement and patriotic zeal of immortal Arun inspire the present and future generations of swimmers of Bangladesh to the service to which his great soul was dedicated. Would any of our sport organizers please come forward with the generosity of keeping alive the memory of this ever memorable athlete by doing something in his name?
THE nation is celebrating the 37th anniversary of the historic victory in the war of liberation on the 16th December, 2008. Along with all the national sport federations, other socio-cultural organizations also celebrate this historic occasion. Organizing a Victory Day (Bijoy Dibash) Championship of the respective discipline is a regular feature of the annual sport calendar of our NFs. Victory Day Championship is organized by the NFs under the directive of the National Sports Council and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. One of the NFs, Bangladesh Swimming Federation, will organize Victory Day Swimming Championship this year for the first time since the introduction of this event in the absence of a valiant freedom fighter Arun Nandi. He will never be present with his co-organizers in such future activities of this federation. His absence will only be deeply felt by those who knew him. His inevitable absence from all the future activities of the federation will not only be painfully felt by his thousands of admirers at home and abroad with a heavy heart but also by the whole nation. This world record holder swimmer swam across the turbulent ocean of worldly existence on the 16th November, 2008. On this day, he breathed his last in a Kolkata hospital just ten days before his 67th birth anniversary. His sudden death is an irreparable loss to the development of aquatic sport in Bangladesh. He is irreplaceable in this particular sporting discipline.
This legend in swimming was born in a village named Bagdi under the district of Chandpur on 26th November, 1941. Kumud Nandi fathered him while Kiran Bala Nandi was his mother. The mighty rivers of the Padma and the Meghna and the rivulets surrounding his birthplace and his home district of Chandpur attracted him in aquatic sport since boyhood. His high potential in this sport was mainly manifested through swimming though at some stage of his most successful athletic career, he also played water polo. While at school and college, he made remarkable success in national junior and national swimming championships. Nevertheless, financially insolvent Arun found it difficult to go to Dhaka or other places to take part in short distance competitive swimming. Moreover, in his time, there was no infrastructural facility in Chandpur to practice and take proper training in this event of swimming. As a result, he chose to exploit his inborn sporting talent in long distance event of this discipline. Strong determination, indomitable courage, incessant hard work, patience and perseverance ultimately took him to the pinnacle of success as the world-renowned long distance swimmer. He went on to create records one after another, sometimes breaking his past one. He continued to enthrall the sport loving millions by his astonishing prowess in long distance swimming one after another braving the turbulence of big waves and strong current of the mighty Padma-Meghna-Sitalakshya-Dhaleswari-Burignaga, endangering his life more often than once. His long distance swimming covered the routes among others, Dhaka-Narayangonj, Daudkandi-Narayangonj, Chandpur-Narayangonj, Dhaka-Chandpur etc. His name and fame as a long distance swimmer spread far and wide within a short time by dint of his hard labour as he was a great genius in swimming.
As a freedom fighter, he used his talent as a swimmer to the great cause of the War of Liberation in 1971. The performance that turned him into a world celebrity in swimming took place in a calm pond of Kolkata instead of the mighty rivers of Bangladesh where he was accustomed to swimming. Arun Nandi exhibited this wonderful feat of prowess not in his habitual long distance but in long duration swimming.
As a dedicated swimmer, he decided to play his part in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh by swimming. He expressed his idea to another legendary swimmer of Bangladesh, Mr. Brojen Das who created world record in crossing the English Channel more than once in record time.
To materialize this noble idea Arun Nandi started vigorous training under the guidance of Mr. Das in the Boubazar gymnasium of Kolkata. The main objective of Arun's plan of non-stop swimming was to mould public opinion and obtain support for the War of Liberation of Bangladesh. Having finished all preparations, he started non-stop swimming at 8.30 am on 8th October, 1971, in a tank of College Square, Kolkata. It was inaugurated by Mr. Hossain Ali, the first defecting diplomat of erstwhile Pakistan who showed his allegiance to Bangladesh. At that time, he was accredited in Kolkata by the then Pakistan government. Brojen Das was his manager. The rescue squad comprised of famous swimmers of India such as Mr. P K Sarker, Mr. Dilip Dey and Mr. Paresh Dutta. This unbelievable performance of Arun was witnessed among others, by the Honourable Prime Minister of the Bangladesh Government in exile, Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed, Minister of the said Government Mr. AHM Kamruzzaman, Oscar awardee film maker Mr. Satyajit Ray and the best ever romantic hero of Bengli Filmdom Mr. Uttam Kumar. At 2.35 pm on the 12th October, 1971 after a non-stop swimming of 90 hours and 5 minutes, tired, exhausted Arun exclaimed with joy, 'Glory be to Bengal!' Thus he created a world record in non-stop swimming breaking the record of B.C. More of U.S.A. This extraordinary athletic feat of Arun Nandi was widely covered by the Indian press. It gave him unthinkable world wide fame and at the same time familiarized Bangladesh and its people throughout the world. This brilliant performance of Nandi contributed to a great extent in mobilizing world support in favour of the people of Bangladesh fighting against Pakistani occupation army for independence. As a confirmed bachelor he dedicated his life to the cause of this aquatic sport. Depending only on strong determination, he established a swimming club in Chandpur with his very small income. He served in the executive committee of Bangladesh Swimming Federation more than once.
But he was reduced to suffer an unfortunate defeat in the immediate past election of the Federation. This was a tremendous shock for him which aggravated his ailment. The reticent and modest Arun Nandi lived a lonely life without the company of near and dear ones most of whom had migrated to West Bengal of India in the aftermath of the 'great partition' of 1947.
But he never thought of leaving his beloved birthplace and be looked after by his blood relations in his old age. He used to say "I shall never leave my country. Neither will it do me any good." He kept his promise. He kept a very low profile and lived a lonely life in Bangladesh. Finding no other alternative, he went to Kolkata via Dhaka for treatment staying at his sister's house where he expired on the 16th of November, 2008. Thanks to the joint initiative of the Bangladesh Olympic Association and the Bangladesh Swimming Federation that his mortal remains was brought back to Dhaka from where it was sent to Chandpur for funeral. Before the final rites, his coffin wrapped in the national flag was given a guard of honour by the Chandpur police. Destiny took this brave freedom fighter of Bangladesh to Kolkata where he made his most outstanding performance in swimming and greatly contributed for the independence of his motherland.
Unfortunately, neither his performance in swimming nor his role in the liberation war was given timely recognition by us.
His national sport award was certainly belated. On the other hand, a swimmer of the stature of Arun Nandi was defeated in the election of the Federation which was the only home throughout his life beyond active swimming. After the death of Arun Nandi, we, in the sport arena of Bangladesh, should take the solemn vow so that in future we will vote judiciously with righteous choice of candidates in the elections of our NFs, in order to ensure that an eligible ex-athlete-turned-organizer may not have to face a humiliating defeat as it had happened in the case of the world famous swimmer Late Arun Nandi, who suffered as a result of injudicious exercise of our voting right. That will be the proper respect to the departed soul of this celebrated athlete who was really the portrait of a true patriot.
May the soul of this most illustrious son of our motherland rest in eternal peace. Let the athletic achievement and patriotic zeal of immortal Arun inspire the present and future generations of swimmers of Bangladesh to the service to which his great soul was dedicated. Would any of our sport organizers please come forward with the generosity of keeping alive the memory of this ever memorable athlete by doing something in his name?