Eight years since Chotoo, four years since Nana Bhai
To write a piece on July 1 in remembrance of my loved ones is a challenge. The same day belongs to two of them, and maybe that's exactly what they'd want. My clever younger brother wouldn't have had it any other way but to be remembered on the same day as his Nana Bhai for eternity.
Remembering both Chotoo and Nana Bhai today, I think about what a 20-year-old could possibly have in common with his grandfather. It turns out, quite a lot. A calming presence that made everyone feel at home. A quiet confidence that exuded incredible strength, without ever being loud. A tenacious sense of right and wrong. Their refusal to back down when faced with adversity.
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One day, when Faraaz and I were kids, we went to see Nana Bhai and Nanu Ma the evening before the beginning of a new school year. That night, he told us the story of his first day of boarding school at St Edmunds. On a cold morning in Shillong, he landed up in school as the new kid, when a student a year senior to him decided to pick on him. The senior student, according to Nana Bhai, was "acting funny" and so he had to do something to stand up for himself. He gave this senior a strong shove to back off, and that's when he established himself as the kid nobody should bully. He told us this story to teach us that we must find the strength to fight back even in our most vulnerable state.
That young Latifur Rahman would then lead a life with the same spirit. Standing up for himself, his family and protecting his loved ones.
Faraaz would go on to stand up to fiends of a greater magnitude as a young man. On July 1, 2016, Faraaz found himself confronted by armed terrorists. With his life in danger, he chose to fight, to protect, to not cower to evil.
On July 1, to remember Nana Bhai and Chotoo is to keep standing by the same righteous values they both lived by. To remain steadfast in doing good while weathering malicious storms, undue pressure and dire circumstances. To honour them is to keep standing up the way they did.
Mr Latifur Rahman, business icon, industrialist, founder chairman of Transcom Group. Faraaz Hossain, the boy who heroically sacrificed his life during the terrorist attack at Holey Artisan Bakery. But to me, to my family, they'll always be Nana Bhai and Chotoo. Nana Bhai as a grandfather, a husband, a father, and Chotoo as a brother, a son, a grandson. Our beloved Latifur Rahman and Faraaz Hossain remind us to keep fighting for what is right.
Remembering both our guardian angels together on this day, the ultimate remembrance of both Nana Bhai and Chotoo is to live with the courage they would want to see in us. I pray their light shines brighter than ever and that the strength they give never fades.
To our family, friends, loved ones, and well-wishers, our deepest gratitude to you on behalf of our family for always standing by us.
Zaraif Ayaat Hossain, grandson of Latifur Rahman and elder brother of Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, is head of strategy and transformation at Transcom Group.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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