Ruhul Amin Mazumder: A patron of the arts

Ruhul Amin Mazumder Photo: Collected

It was about ten or twelve years ago that Ruhul Amin Mazumder called me one day to say, "Ramendu, I am giving you a responsibility. You will circulate the news of my death in the media [when the time comes]." I didn't expect such a request from a man who was always full of life despite his health conditions. I remember I used to meet him from time to time at Dhaka Club. He was witty and friendly. But I didn't know that he had been bedridden in the last three years. I felt remorse at having fallen out of touch—in these three years, I never called him, but instead kept a one-way contact by sending calendars and New Year greeting cards.

I came in contact with Ruhul Amin Mazumder in the late 70s or early 80s when he was the Sales Manager of Bangladesh Tobacco Company Ltd (now British American Tobacco Bangladesh). Bitopi Advertisers was the BTC's communications agency and I used to handle their account at Bitopi. Mr Mazumder was our point of contact. We all knew that he was quite straightforward and didn't hesitate to tell anything bluntly to anyone's face. One day he behaved so rudely with me that I felt very offended. I came back to our office and told my friend Reza Ali, who was the owner of the agency, that I would not handle this account anymore. BTC was our major account. Reza Bhai probably talked to Mr Mazumder and Mr Zahed Husain, the Marketing Manager who was also involved in decision making. The next day, Mr Mazumder called me and apologised for his behaviour. Since then, he became very affectionate to me and we developed a friendly relationship.

I learned one important lesson from him. Referring to one of our mutual friends who didn't care to keep contact with anyone if there was no prospect of material gains, he told me: "Look, everyone pampers a person when he or she is in power, but doesn't care after he or she is retired. But the real PR is about maintaining contact with a person when he or she is retired or not in a position to favour you. People are very much touched when you do that."

He said this not just from a PR point of view, but also from his conviction and humane feelings too. I have tried to follow his advice all my life because I strongly believe that human relationships are built on sincere feelings and mutual respect, not on material gains.

Bangladesh Tobacco Company was a pioneer in introducing theme-based calendars in our country. Personally, I take pride in my close association with developing all these calendars. The person who inspired us in this regard was Mr Zahed Husain, who was senior to Mr Mazumder at BTC. Zahed Bhai was an engineer by training but had an unbelievable capacity to grasp anything new, and within a short time he developed the marketing team of the company and became a member of its policymaking team. Because of his upbringing in a well-cultured family, he was quite broad-minded and didn't care about petty things. He was a perfectionist. Mr Mazumder used to work with him closely and both of them guided us in our work. Mr Mazumder gave me an open cheque saying I could patronise any good publication with a BTC advertisement without his prior approval. That's why it was easy for me to help many publications in those days.

He inspired us to produce an audio cassette of Nazrul Sangeet by the legendary singer Firoza Begum and sponsored many audio cassettes of theatre plays. Once we arranged the famous play "Tumhari Amrita" by Shabana Azmi and Farooq Sheikh in Dhaka. BTC sponsored the play on behalf of our Theatre School. Mr Mazumder was very excited about this event which created quite a sensation in our cultural life.

He had a complication when he was having a bypass surgery for his heart problem. He lost his normal voice. Since then, he spoke in a low, husky voice. Before he was bedridden, he came to Dhaka Club to chat with his old friends. I could feel the warmth of his heart whenever I met him at the club.

He was a real patron of arts. He particularly liked our play "Payer Awaj Paoa Jay". Besides Ferdausi and Abdullah Al Mamun, he was a great admirer of Mohammad Zakaria. He always thought of doing something for this great actor. He appreciated us for introducing the Mohammad Zakaria Memorial Award.

Ruhul Amin Mazumder had a successful professional career. Before joining the Pakistan Tobacco Company (which later became Bangladesh Tobacco Company), he taught English at Dhaka College and Pakistan Airforce Collage at Lower Topa, Muree. He worked with the BTC for 24 years and retired as Director of Corporate Affairs. He was an active Rotarian and served as the President of Sandhani National Eye Donation Society. He was a member of the National Scouts.

His loving wife of 50 years was at his bedside when he breathed his last. His two daughters were in the US and Singapore. They couldn't come thanks to the present lockdown condition. He lost his only son four months ago, but good for him, he didn't have to bear the pain of the loss as he was in a state of coma then.

Ruhul Amin Mazumder, 84, left us in the early hours of April 7, 2020. His innumerable friends, admirers and, of course, his family will cherish his memory for a long time.

May his soul rest in peace. 

Ramendu Majumdar is Honorary President (Worldwide) at the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and Managing Director at Expressions Limited.