Nasrine Karim: A different type of social activist

Her first death anniversary has gone off quietly, hardly any notice of that except in very limited circles. Then again, she was not anyone who could easily be known, or merit attention. Our society has, incidentally and at times rather unfortunately, has taken a pattern that has somewhat unwittingly crept into the larger psyche in such a way that many matters have become unnecessarily, but undeniably stereotyped. Obituaries too are not an exception as many who preferred to keep a low-profile even though their involvement in various segments of the society deserves attention. But the harsh truth is that seldom are they mentioned, let alone acclaimed, since their pattern is different in a way and does not fall in the typical fashion and characteristic with which we are largely familiar with. Going by the Spanish adage, it is imperative that finer segments of the society and life be extracted and brought to the fore regardless of their commonly important status in various manners. Nasrine R.Karim died over a year ago in London and the news had come as a bolt from the blue to many since she was liked, adored and loved by many, way back at home. She gave the indication that a "killer disease" was approaching her, but she was confident to beating it. She went abroad for treatment and said she would be in the midst of her dear and near ones shortly. Sadly, it never happened. We received her body at the airport. Who would believe that the lively, physically well-built and charming, and vivacious Nasrine Karim would depart in such a way. It is difficult to reconcile with a terribly unbearable situation where Nasrine would never be seen with a familiar smile on her face! She was associated with different programmes, ranging from social work to remotely even politics. Her activities covered as diverse as areas like mitigation of arsenic contamination in drinking water to fashion shows. But she was very active. She was a newspaper columnist and secretary general of the Commonwealth Society of Bangladesh. She would give vent to her feelings fearlessly. She even bore an image of being an elite in the society. However, beneath all these, she had a nice mind that was rich in greatness. In some ways, Nasrine stood head and shoulders above many although she was among those who are hardly discussed. Coming from a well-known family of Sylhet, Nasrine was the only daughter of late seasoned diplomat and Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury. Her grandparents too were parliamentarians in the British and Pakistan era and as such she was not divorced from politics. But what endeared Nasrine to many is her social work and penchant for philanthropic activities. Once I was invited by her along with daily Independent editor Mahbubul Alam and others for attending a seminar in Sylhet on her late father marking his first death anniversary. After the programme, before we rushed for the airport, Nasrine took me in her car rather unbelievably to slum, where I found many distressed children were quite familiar with her. She distributed money and chocolates to them and told me that she does it whenever she came to Sylhet. Then in Dhaka too, she would often raise funds and would do something for the poor. "It is a small drop in the sea, but we all must alleviate the sufferings of the distressed," she would say, as I marvelled at her since her otherwise known image was in sharp contrast with such feelings. Nasrine herself went through deep agony and pain as she lost her Oxford educated only daughter at a young age and that shock came close on the heels of her father's sudden death. We visited her on both occasions without knowing that we would visit her residence again and this time on her death. A sister-like friend for me, we in the Commonweath Society of Bangladesh including its president Enam Ahmed Chowdhury, former president Mokammel Huq, secretary general Enamul Islam and treasurer Azizur Rahman felt Nasrine's death robbed us and the society of an able leader. She had succeeded me as secretary general of the society and surpassed whatever commendable performance I had because of her dynamism and inclination for work. On her first death anniversary, we once again express our heartfelt condolences to her husband Iftekhar Karim ('Rumi Bhai') and others in the family. Nasrine is gone, but she is fondly remembered by her friends, relatives and well-wishers. The writer can be reached at email: zaglulbss@yahoo.com