Tree Without Roots is the English translation/transcreation of Syed Waliullah’s classic novel Lal Shalu. With no land or skills to support himself otherwise, Majeed preys upon the simple rural folk by exploiting religion, becoming the self-appointed guardian of a mazar, which he claims is that of a saint. Not satisfied with his first wife, he marries again, this time a woman who is not as amenable as his loving first wife. The portrait of the two women and their relationship to each their and to Majeed balances Waliullah’s portrait of the charlatan. In the English version, now generally believed to be by Syed Waliullah himself, Majeed acquires a certain grandeur at the end, returning alone to the mazar in the midst of raging flood waters. A picture of rural Bangladesh in the early forties, Tree Without Roots also provides a picture of eternal Bangladesh, subject to the ravages of nature, of storms and floods, of cyclones and dying rivers. Though critical of the exploitation of religion, Syed Waliullah looks sympathetically at Majeed for whom religion means food and shelter. Told in Syed Waliullah’s simple, idiomatic and occasionally lyrical English, Tree Without Roots is imperative reading for any one interested in knowing the Bengali mind and the impact of religion and superstition on the rural populace.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Syed Waliullah
Syed Waliullah was born on 15 August 1922 at Sholashahar in Chittagong. After completing his Bachelor's from Ananda Mohan College in Mymensingh, he enrolled at Calcutta University but did not complete his Master's. Proficient in both Bangla and English, he worked for the Statesman during 1945-1947. After the Partition, he moved to Dhaka and joined Radio Pakistan as assistant news editor. In 1950 he was posted to Radio Pakistan, Karachi. From 1951 to 1960 he served as press attache at Pakistan missions in New Delhi, Sydney, Jakarta and London. It was in Sydney that Waliullah met Anne-Marie Thibaud, whom he later married and who translated Lal Shalu into French. In 1960 Waliullah moved to Paris where he served as first secretary at the Pakistan Embassy till 1967 when he joined UNESCO. Syed Waliullah did not live to see the liberation of his motherland, passing away in Paris on 10 October 1971. Syed Waliullah's first novel, Lal Shalu (1948), was followed by two other novels: Chander Amabasya (1964) and Kando Nadi Kando (1968). He also wrote short stories, some of which have been anthologized in Nayan Chara (1951) and Dui Tir O Anyanya Galpa. His three plays are Bahipur (1960), Tarangabahanga (1964) and Sudanga (1964). Waliullah received several literary awards, including the Ekushey Padak posthumously.
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