The success of a person in terms of one’s relationship with other humans occurs when everyone thinks he or she has a special relationship with that person. Everyone who has come in close contact with that person feels he/she likes him or her, the most. This is a rare quality in a human being in one lifetime. AHM Moazzem Hossain was one such rare person—professionally and socially. We all thought we had a special relationship with him; we all thought as individuals, I was the one he liked the most.
I first met him when he was working with Daily Telegraph back in 1991. I couldn’t get to know him much. But when I was drawn to work with The Financial Express that he was about to bring forth in 1993, the journey of knowing him began.
I started as an Editorial Assistant directly working with Sabir Mustafa, Reazuddin Ahmed and Moazzem Hossain. I was quite scared and hesitant when I joined the first financial daily of Bangladesh. I never studied economics and was a student of literature. My entire entity was filled with and committed to literature even though I had worked with The Daily Star. All I knew was perhaps the language a bit.
However, my quest to learn business journalism and understand financial terms started to unfold when I began to sit with him with the editorial on a daily basis. In late evening hours daily, I would be sitting across the table, watching him provide the last touches of editing to the editorial that would appear in the next day’s paper. With me sitting in front of him, he used to read the piece loudly, analysing and explaining many aspects of what had been written.
Internationally, the times were very different then. A huge part of the world had recently come out of socialist economies and was in the process of adopting the policies of the new market economy. Bangladesh, too, was trying to catch up, according to its own needs. It was at that time, I came to know about the roles played by international institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, WTO and the UN agencies across the world economies. There were other people who were working with us and knew more than me, but it was only Moazzem Hossain who was teaching me whenever he got an opportunity.
I was amazed by the clarity of his thoughts. He knew exactly what was going on all over the world as well as in our country.
In my first stint, I worked with him for a little more than a couple of years which prepared me for my times ahead. My education while working with The Financial Express (FE) was two-pronged: Sabir Mustafa was teaching me the humanitarian values that a journalist need to cultivate and Moazzem Hossain was imbuing me with all the economic knowledge that I needed to master in order to enhance my skills.
After the demise of the first Ekushey TV, I somehow ended up with a new newspaper as a special correspondent in 2003. After working there for a month, one day I went to visit a friend in FE office where I also gave a courtesy call to Moazzem Hossain. He asked about what I was doing since the TV station had closed down. I told him. He excitedly said: “Why would you work with them? You should work with us – the FE! Come, join us again!” I was overwhelmed with the respect that he showed for me and the trust that he put in me. I told him: “Please give me a week and I’d join FE.”
My second stint with him started as a special correspondent. My responsibilities included writing for the news pages as well as for the editorial pages. I was also given the responsibility of publishing three weekly special pages. I never understood just how my editor made me write then I could write. When I look back, I think with awe that no one had encouraged me to write as he did. He had always given me an “I can” feeling when it came to writing professionally. He used to tell me:“Munna [he always addressed me with my pet name], I saw you always wanted to write back in the 90s; now, write; this is your opportunity.”
This was the time when I shed all my inhibitions about writing and became more confident. I would never forget this great soul who always wanted to help me; help his teammates. He wasn’t just a great editor who successfully made business journalism more attractive and mature in Bangladesh, he was also a fantastic business manager who made the FE successful in terms of business with his effortless devotion.
I may not be the writer that I want to be; I may not have the clarity of thoughts that my editor had; I may not become the writer that Moazzem Hossain was; but one I thing I can say when I go away from this world that I had lived in the time of a Titan named Moazzem Hossain and I am grateful for the role he had played in my life.