Premer Chhithi, a full-color coffee table book written in Bengali and illustrated with works of calligraphy in that language, was officially released in India at Oxford Bookstore, Park Street, by Bangladeshi-American author Shaheed Hasan Pijush.

The book launch was graced by journalist and film director Aniket Chattopadhyay and publisher and writer Rupa Majumder (Deb Sahitya Kutir).

In order to unveil the Indian edition of his book, author Shaheed Hasan traveled from the USA via Bangladesh. He spoke about his writing career and the inspiration for the current book, which combines poetry and calligraphic art that were both made by him.

The principal guests addressed ways to improve trade relations and political ties between Bangladesh and India through exchanges of literature, art, and film. Indian actors and directors work on Bangladeshi film projects, and Bangladeshi actors and directors work on Indian film projects. Bangladeshi books are published in Bangladesh, and Indian books are published in India. Bangladeshi films are now being released in India through OTT platforms and in theatres. All of these are improving the political and commercial ties between the two adjacent nations.

Shaheed Hasan Pijush, the author of the book, said “I wrote the letters and poems here for my pals and occasionally for my own use in the past. I had the idea to create a calligraphy book of my handwritten poems four years ago. Writing about love is nothing new, but what counts is the effort, as in the case of this book, for which my patience and time were greatly invested in the calligraphy”.

Journalist and director Aniket Chattopadhyay said, “Every Bengali will fall in love once in their lives and write a love letter. It is a distinctive feature of a Bengali to write poetry, regardless of whether it is good or bad. Additionally, I had the opportunity to read a book that truly is a work of art and illustrates the amount of time and effort that went into making it come to life”.

The Indian edition of the book is published by Power Publishers, Kolkata.

Grab your copy now.

Priyanka Dutta