Leading from the front

THAT our Sangsad has become dull and drab since the ascension to Bangabhaban of the previous Speaker would be discourteous to the existing fellows that constitute our house of parliament, but it is a fitting compliment to our president Abdul Hamid.

The former Speaker's wit and charm not only caught the House off guard, throwing also the many glum members into rapture, albeit intermittently, but also allowed national newspapers to light up their otherwise gloomy front page columns with titbits. So secure is his present abode that the seasoned politician's jocularity had been long forgotten, that is, until he broke the ice in this May heat at the third Convocation of Northern University Bangladesh last Tuesday.

After the usual salutations, the President as Chancellor of the University skipped his scripted text, (he spoke in Bangla, my 
translation):

"You all know that my speech is already written. (laughter) There is no scope for me to speak beyond what is written.(laughter and cheer) My health is in a very bad state, and there was no time, and so what the higher officials from my office have written, I did not see that by giving even one reading. (laughter and cheer) What I will say, that I myself do not know. (laughter and cheer) But, despite my health being bad, I had to come, because you know that there are lot of problems for the president and the prime minister. If I go out, especially standing on my right and behind is the SSF, (laughter and cheer)… Special Security Force. 

"I was a little reluctant to come, not feeling well, so I shall not go today. But the DG, Director-General of that SSF, Major-General Aman Shaheb, he also said, 'No, Sir, you have to go'. I thought, if I do not go, as it is the tight security which he maintains, (laughter) how much tighter he will make that there is no surety about that. (laughter and cheer) So, despite my sickness, I had to come. And, actually what I have said that has been rightly proven because here I have seen that General Aman Shaheb is present along with his wife. (laughter and cheer)

"And what my sickness is I do not understand that either because I have been given instructions that from after giving my speech I shall be taken to the CMH. (laughter and cheer)

"My greatest discomfort is in getting up, sitting and sleeping. (laughter and cheer) And, if I cough, then I feel pain in my chest and also a little in the back. (laughter) Many think that because it is chest pain, it could also be the heart. But, it is my belief that this will not be the heart. The reason is I married a long time ago. (laughter and cheer) It is now 51 years. Since right after my marriage, this lady says that I am cruel, unkind… (laughter and cheer) while saying it in English, she says . . . I have also been called heartless. (laughter and cheer) Therefore, if I do not have a heart at all . . . since I do not have a heart, I should not be having any problem in my heart. (laughter and cheer)

"In the meantime I have heard that soon after this programme, most likely there will be a concert. (cheer) With a concert forthcoming, this sort of talk is not supposed to be enjoyable.(laughter) But, since we are also people of the old times, that is why the concert that says, 'Melay jabey go? Jabey go? Jabey go?'(laughter and cheer)…that we do not like. We like the songs of the olden days. But, again, to you, especially those who are now students, they like concerts a lot.

"Whatever, the three-and-a-half pages, which I have been advised to read, I shall read now…" And then he read from the written speech." (laughter and cheer)

Link to the president's speech: (www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ2dpLgWWVk)

Now that was a great alaap before the designated speech, but no prizes for guessing which part the audience will cherish for a long time.

To us it may be something new, but US presidents have been known for their humour and wit. Jimmy Carter once joked: 'I have often wanted to drown my troubles but I can't get my wife to go swimming', while Obama has said: 'I'm so over-exposed I'm making Paris Hilton look like a recluse'. There's more: John F. Kennedy once said, 'When we got into office the thing that surprised me the most was that things were as bad as we'd been saying they were'. And Bill Clinton jibed, 'Being president is like running a cemetery. You've got a lot of people under you and nobody's listening'.

But, I think our president beats them hollow when wit is the measure. He is truly the president to the people. Salute, Sir!

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The author is a practising Architect at BashaBari Ltd., a Commonwealth Scholar and a Fellow, a Baden-Powell Fellow Scout Leader, and a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow-cum-Benefactor Rotarian