Hello Sir, a very good evening and welcome to The Asian Age.

Thank you.

It is known to everyone that you made the Valentine’s Day popular in Bangladesh. Would you like to say something about it?

I actually didn’t make the Saint Valentine’s Day popular here. I popularized the Love Day. There is a big difference between Saint Valentine’s Day and Love Day. Saint Valentine’s Day was observed in the decade of ’80s in the West to encourage developing relationship between a man and woman, whether married or not, whether living together or not. When I thought of introducing the day in Bangladesh, I found the concept of Love Day more convenient. The reason was that the introducing Saint Valentine’s Day to the people of this region might face the attacks of conservatives of any religion except Christianity because of its western origin. That’s why I popularized the concept of Love Day which probably would not be much popular if I would introduce it as Saint Valentine’s Day. Again, I thought of proliferating the idea of love as in our culture the idea of love is more binding between mother and child, brother and sister and so on. Another reason behind the popularity of this day is, this is the single day which has a universal appeal irrespective of religion or politics.

Have you experienced any acute criticism because of such bold step of yours?

Very relevant question it was. I thought that the attack would come from the conservative people, but the real attack was from the people who were immersed in Bengali culture. These people regarded the day as an import of western culture. Another reason behind their outrage was my popularization of number of small gifts like cushions, view cards, cost-free kiss. So these people wanted to popularize Bangla oriented celebrations like Pahela Falgun. But as Saint Valentine’s Day had a universal appeal, it was not easy to ignore the effect of it in Bangladesh as well.

It is not like that the Valentine’s Day does not bring any negative vibes at times as some people just use the single day to declare their love or reconfirm it ignoring the demand of everyday’s love.

It actually depends on the particular people who celebrate the day. People should know how to celebrate the particular day without blaming the existence of the day.

You made the Love Day popular through the weekly magazine Jay Jay Din. Would you please share the experiences of your journey?

No doubt, the Magazine was much popular. The first issue was published in 1993 on the occasion of Valentine’s Day. Everyone has a story of love to tell. I wanted people to express their stories. Afterwards, on 14th February, we published an issue printing those stories. Then the concept was further developed by Chaitali or Boishakhi love issues. There were four love issues on which the weekly worked.

You are a well-known film buff. Would you like to share anything regarding this?

I do not know whether I am a film buff or not. But I want people to watch movies. Watching movies is the only way to know about history or culture within the shortest possible time, particularly within less or more than three hours. So film is a medium which not only entertains you, but also provides you with education and information.

In Bangladesh we do not have any bold scene like the West has in Titanic or any other movie. What do you opine?

I would like to intellectually handle the question. I think that Bangladesh has not produced any good storyteller yet. And this is why improvisation of imagination cannot reach the level of producing movies like Titanic.

You have introduced a road named ‘Love Road’. What was the history behind this?

There is a place named ‘Love Lane’ in Chittagong. The young people use to roam around this lane. In Tejgaon, Dhaka, roads were named after number like 1, 2, 3, 4. People of this area actually requested me to initiate a trend like Chittagong. Then I officially proposed the then Mayor of Dhaka City Corporation to take initiatives to implement this proposal. On 14th February, 2006 the proposal ultimately saw the light of success. But one thing I could not do, that is, I had a plan for constructing a love park. The reason behind this plan was, lovers actually don’t have a place to date which is unfortunate. But love nowadays is much courageous. People have gained the courage to express their love. Now people take risks to keep their love alive and afterwards they fight the real life struggle for survival. This is something positive which is bereft of the touch of frustration. Tackling love and life in this way is celebratory. Falling in love is good; being in love is even better; and finishing with love is the best. Love is what is all about mutual understanding.

Thank you very much, Sir. SR: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come here.

This Interview was conducted by Muhammad Imran and  published in The Asian Age daily newspaper on February 14, 2016