Congratulations Mishu!

Morshed Mishu. Photo: Prothom Alo
Morshed Mishu. Photo: Prothom Alo

We arrange a cartoon exhibition every year from Unmad (a satire monthly in Bangladeshi). A few years ago, we were preparing for such a programme. Everyone was submitting their work. Some were sending their work by post or by courier too. In such a busy time, a boy came up, holding some A-4 size papers.

Have you brought a cartoon? I asked him. He nodded.

I found he brought some feature-type cartoons for Unmad. With an editor-like seriousness I said, "See, the dustbin is over there---throw those there." The young cartoonist was startled. I comforted him saying it was not what he thought it to be. We used the dustbin to keep the cartoons for the next issue.

This is the rule at Unmad office. The selected cartoons are stored in the dustbin there. We made this rule after an incident. I said forget about this cartoon now and rather paint a big cartoon for our exhibition. Our cartoon exhibition was due in two days. But I did not tell him that his cartoon could not be selected at all. I told him the subject. The theme of the exhibition was environment. He departed thanking me.

What a surprise! He returned in the afternoon with a big colourful cartoon. The idea was splendid too--a number of hands with an image of trees emerging out of the globe. It was an intellectual one. We loved it. It was placed in Unmad's special exhibition on environment.

This is how Morshed Mishu's inauguration in cartoons took place directly at the gallery. Then, his cartoons began being published in Unmad regularly. He painted better than that of his usual age. Our chief features were generally done by the senior cartoonists. I assigned him once to do this. He did it easily and did the cover too. I thought, he was improving so fast and he could do more. We recruited him officially as an assistant editor.

But all on a sudden he went missing. I arranged the search for him. One said, he (Mishu) was 'destroying' all the walls of Dhaka. I came to know that he was professionally illustrating the walls at certain expensive restaurants, auditorium, office, classrooms in Dhaka. They were huge tasks and could no be done with colour and brush. He was using peculiar things including nails, screws, trash iron and tires and so on. The restless young artist soon returned to cartoon. By this time his boyish looks changed into that of Che Guevara. The pattern of his drawing also underwent changes. He started sketching 'Global Happiness Series'.

We held an exhbition printing these in big volumes on the 40th year of Unmad. The rest is history. These cartoons spread into 26 countries of the world. Our 'Morshed Mishu' was named on the famous Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list. Abdullah Al Morshed is his full name.

It is not uncommon that people get stardom overnight in sports or music. But Mishu proved it was possible through cartoons too. Congratulations, Mishu!

*Ahsan Habib is an author, cartoonist and editor of monthly satire magazine Unmad. This piece originally published in Prothom Alo print edition has been rewritten in English by Nusrat Nowrin.