The novel was written in 1956, almost 80 years ago. Its motto is to create a world free from hunger, to establish cordial relations between people, to take care of the senior citizens of the state.
Translator Rafiq-um-Munir Chowdhury writes in the introduction to Marquez’s novel Colonel Ke Kew Lekhe Na, ‘Two names are forever associated with the world-renowned fiction writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the literary style of the much-discussed ‘Magical Realism’ and the epic novel Ekhund Yar Nizhsangat published in 1967.’ Actually so. Only readers of world literature know Marx because of his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.
No one wrote to the colonel during Marquess’s stay in Paris. Ten years before writing One Hundred Years of Solitude. Its livelihood is waiting, death, poverty, marriage. The main character is a retired colonel. He spends a long time waiting with his old wife for a letter. The letter that will give him financial assurance. The only child of this retired army officer was shot dead during a cock fight. Having lost their only earning child, the two are living a dehumanized life of hunger and poverty. The life of the colonel couple became miserable in the intense heat of poverty. The only memory left by the dead son is their time spent with the cockfighting. Looking at the cock, they wait for the fight day in January when it will bring them victory. That victory will free them from economic misery.
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At the beginning of this novel, we see the reflection of Marx’s poverty during his stay in Paris. While commemorating the Paris bus, Marques said in an interview, ‘After chewing the chicken meat, I boiled the bones in hot water; Then I kept it on the windowsill and used it for soup a dozen times.’
In this context, I can quote from Sardar Fazlul Karim’s book I Mandus, ‘In this world, some people eat rice without being able to eat, and some people are not able to eat.
At the beginning of the novel, rummaging through the bottom of the coffee pot, searching for a little bit of coffee and making coffee for his wife and not eating it himself, not being able to take medicine due to lack of money, assuring the doctor to pay the bill when he gets the pension money, letting his asthmatic wife eat properly. Not being able to, wanting to sell the last memory of their only child for the money to buy food, cooking food for themselves from the chicken feed proves that the old colonel and his wife, who served the country with patriotism and honesty, are cruelly suffering from the scourge of poverty.
In this context, I can quote from Sardar Fazlul Karim’s book I Mandus, ‘In this world, some people eat rice without being able to eat, and some people are not able to eat. In the novel, Don Sobas, a business friend of the colonel, opportunistically realizes his friend’s weakness and wants to acquire the rooster for a very small price. But he has no shortage. As the saying goes, ‘Greed is sin, sin is death’. Because of greed, people lose their sense of purpose. For them, the hardships of others become a wonderful opportunity to harvest their own sugarcane. Analyzing the character of the above friend of the novel’s central character Colonel, we can see that he is an extreme opportunist and greedy.
People usually want a little comfort in old age. Having worked hard all his life, the patriotic colonel wants the state to give him the status he deserves. So that his last days are spent in joy and comfort. But, no one in the administration of his country cares about him. He regularly visits the postmaster to check whether his pension letter has arrived. What the postmaster says in reply means no one writes to you. His waiting line gets longer. But, as in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Godot never comes. Slowly the colonel and his wife move towards death. The colonel believes they will not die without enjoying pension benefits. He obeyed two lines of Neruda’s poem “Slowly you die”. The poet says, ‘Don’t let yourself die slowly/ Don’t forget to be happy.’
The bond of conjugal love we see between the colonel and his ailing wife is exemplary in the face of poverty, waiting, untimely death of a child and neglect. Scarcity, grief, and neglect may soften their spirits somewhat, but at the end of the day, the dedication these two have for each other is truly enviable. The first two lines of Kahlil Gibran’s marriage poem say that they were born together and will live together forever. They will stay together even before Yamadoot comes and grabs his neck.
I find it relevant to mention here his comments on translation and translators. He said, “Translators are people on the border” on one side of the source language and on the other side of the target language. The translator’s job is to build a bridge between the two. It is hard work, but also a pleasure.” Readers will agree with me that no one writes to Col. that the above statement of the translator has been confirmed. This book by Spanish language teacher Rafiq-um-Munir Chowdhury will be an example of excellent translation.
We sense a silent but effective presence of loneliness in this novel by Marx. Everyone is around, but there is no one to talk openly. That is to say, there is no one for the colonel couple. Which Francis Bacon in his Essay “Of Friendship” puts it thus;’ For a crowd is not a company, and faces are but gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where is no love.” The colonel couple is passing the time half-starved, starving, yet unable to speak openly to anyone around. The real The world is getting better in technology and communication, but it is a shame for humanity not to be able to build a world without hunger.
The novel was written in 1956, almost 80 years ago. But, its essence is to create a world free from hunger, to establish a relationship of sincerity between people, to take care of the senior citizens of the state and above all, to understand the importance of responsible behavior towards the citizens who have given youth to the work of the state. Only then will this world become habitable.
