To write a piece on 1 July in remembrance of my loved ones is a challenge, especially having written 10 of them now. 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 (Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain) and Nana bhai today, I think about what a 20 year old boy could possibly have in common with his grandfather. More than I expected, as it turns out. 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.
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 that story to teach us we must find the strength to fight back even when we feel most vulnerable, and I have carried it with me ever since.
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. 1 July 2016, Faraaz would find himself confronted by armed terrorists. With his own life in danger, he chose to fight, to protect, and to not cower to evil, and that choice is what I hold onto.
On 1 July, 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 honor them is to keep standing up the way they did.
Latifur Rahman, business icon, industrialist, Founder Chairman of Transcom Group. Faraaz Hossain, the boy who heroically sacrificed his life during the terrorist attack of Holey Artisan. 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 best way I know to remember 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. Your love is what has kept their light burning all this time, and ours steady.
