A tale of finding the family origins

Bullying and ragging in educational institutions are problems generally ignored by the authorities and accepted by society. When it turns into a severe case, only then are some remedial actions taken. Otherwise, in most cases, the victims are left to absorb the intimidation and carry the scars for the rest of their lives.  Some, however, try to take revenge by bullying others at different times.
Defaming the parents is a common but serious type of bullying that traumatises many in educational institutions in Bangladesh. Every year, a large number of first-year students go through verbal abuse, especially at the dormitories of colleges and universities, by the seniors. In some cases, classmates also bully their peers for no reason, and mostly those who come from relatively modest backgrounds. An example is Shamyal, a farmer’s son who enters the university for higher studies. Soon, he comes under regular bullying by his four classmates – Prince, Dollar, Evan and Jenifer. The four come from lavishly affluent families and do not care about anything due to the money and muscle power of their fathers, to be precise. They persistently abuse Shamyal by calling him Chasar Put (A farmer’s boy) which hurts him deeply. Unable to tolerate the insult, Shamyal finally decided to seek the protection of the law.   The story of Mohammad Mufazzal’s novel Chashavushar Sontan (Offspring of Farmers) centred on the subject.
As Shamyal moves for legal redress, he is greatly assisted by a police commissioner, Saif, who is also the son of a farmer. With his unwavering support, a defamation case was lodged, and the four bullies were arrested. The court relieved them from the penalty of imprisonment and fine, but ordered them to stay with farmers for 15 days. To ensure compliance, the offenders are handed over to the police commissioner, and the story takes a twist.  
Mufazzal presents the dramatic and twisted events in an engaging manner, compelling readers to turn the page to discover what happens next. He shows that Saif and his officers work hard to find out the family backgrounds of the four offenders. The police officer reveals the history of their ancestors, leaving them dumbfounded. Prince, Dollar, Evan, and Jenifer are shocked to discover that their grandfathers are all farmers. They also find it shocking to know that their fathers have the same dark pasts. Moreover, a precise description of their attire and their production process links to farming, which heavily shakes them.  
As the story progresses, the readers learn that the four offenders are sent to a remote village in the Haor (wetland) area to live with a farmer’s family. Police staff in civil dress were also present there and nearby to observe them. In two weeks, they have gone through some unknown experiences. Prince, Dollar, Evan, and Jenifer also discover how farmers struggle over the years, despite marginal returns. Farmers’ families, especially women, have to go through more trouble and suffer a lot due to social discrimination. Readers will also feel that Mufazzal presents his own experience, as he also grew up in Netrokona and is quite familiar with the lives of farmers and rural areas.
In a positive note, Mufazzal depicts that the two weeks changed the four young people for the rest of their lives. They not only embrace Shamyal as a good friend with respect and honour, but also write their thesis at the university based on their transformative experience. This transformation, from a life of artificial aristocracy and effluences built on lies, exploitation and corruption, to one of pride in their farming and village roots, is truly inspiring. Readers may ponder whether such a transformation happened in real life or, if so, to what extent. It is, however, a fiction where reality mixes with imagination.
The success of the novelist in this work lies in his ability to stir the minds of readers, prompting them to rethink society’s attitude towards farmers in villages. Jenifer and her three classmates are successfully represented as the upper and effluent class of society by the author. This is a testament to the author’s skill in character development, as well as his thorough research on legal affairs, product markets, and value chains. The transformation of the four young people, the critique of aristocracy, and the development of characters like police commissioner Saif and police officer Laila all demonstrate the writer’s expertise and dedication to his craft.
Several avid readers will be disturbed due to some gross typos in the book. Nevertheless, some will find it almost unputdownable and some will read the book for the second time to grasp the intrinsic message of the story.

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