A young voice from Tongibari has brought divisional honours home to Munshiganj. Jaba Karmakar won first place in recitation at the Dhaka divisional round of a nationwide, institution-based cultural competition held to celebrate Nazrul Year, beating competitors from all the districts of the division.

The divisional round, organised by the Office of the Divisional Commissioner, Dhaka Division, concluded with an awards ceremony and cultural programme at the auditorium of Azimpur Government Girls' School and College on Monday, 26 October. Cultural Affairs Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury attended as chief guest, and Cultural Affairs Secretary Yasmin Begum was also present. Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Md Moniruzzaman Mia presided.

Jaba had already won at upazila and district level before reaching the divisional stage. She is a second-year honours student in the English department of Government Harganga College and a first-batch trainee of Kanthokuri Recitation Academy, where she trains under its director, Jitu Roy. She also teaches recitation at a school in the Arial area of Tongibari and is a regular presenter on a podcast produced by the local outlet Amar Bikrampur. Her parents are Gopal Karmakar and Gita Karmakar.

Speaking after the win, Jaba said she was extremely happy to have taken first place while representing Munshiganj, and she thanked her college and her trainer. She asked people to keep her in their prayers so that she could uphold the district's reputation at the national level.

Recitation has deep roots in the cultural life of Bikrampur, where school functions, Pohela Boishakh programmes and national days are often marked with poems by Kazi Nazrul Islam and Rabindranath Tagore. A Nazrul Year competition is a fitting stage for that tradition, and Jaba's success is also a tribute to the small academies and dedicated trainers who keep it alive across the district's upazilas.

Her academy, teammates and supporters now hope she will do equally well when she competes in the national round.

Photo: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons