This is a translation version of the original video documentary which was than transcribed and translated from Bengali to English. A book with the title of History of Bangladeshis in Greater Manchester has been published and it will be distributed to the libraries, schools and universities. The interview took place on 20 January 2009, so information about his personal family information may have been changed.
8.44 Alhaj Masrurul Hasan Choudhury
8.44.1 Life in Bangladesh
Alhaj Masrurul Hasan Choudhury was born in 1942 in the village of Parkul, Osmani Nagar, Balagonj, Sylhet. His father was a religious teacher; he was a head ‘Maulana’ in the ‘Hailakandi School’ in India. After India and Pakistan had been separated, his father came back to the ‘Moulvibazar High School’ in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
When Hasan was studying in class six, his father moved to ‘Sylhet Government High School’. In 1965, he gave his metric exam (S.S.C) from this school, but due to illness he wasn’t able to achieve good results. He also used to enjoy sports very much when he was young.
Due to him being well educated, he had opportunities of working as an official at the tea garden industries but his mother didn’t want him to work for any relatives. Therefore he didn’t take the job and he started to look for opportunities for coming to the UK. Right after the independence of Bangladesh, he migrated to the UK. Hasan mentions that the furious and frightening memories of the war still brings him pain and distress.
8.44.2 Journey to the UK & Immigration:
He first came to the UK with a student visa in 1962. Even though all of his arrangements for coming to the UK were complete, he still had to wait till he had been given the graduation exam because his father’s wish was to see his son as a graduate.
He first landed at Heathrow, and then he travelled to Manchester and from there he took a taxi to one of his relative’s places in Salford. The taxi driver demanded six pounds but after his relative bargained with the taxi driver, he was happy with only four pounds. When he left his home, his grandfather gave him 5 pounds as a present.
8.44.3 Early Life in the UK:
Hasan said that the social culture of Britain was really good at that time. Everyone was friendly and would always help each other. He said “Really this country was one of the best in the world”. He found the old Britain was much better than the present Britain. He also said that when he first came to the UK he felt lonely and sometimes tears would fall when he would think back his memories in Bangladesh.
Everyone’s lifestyle was really good in the past, there were opportunities for employments and people didn’t have to struggle for finding a job. He said that he came to know from some senior people who came before him; that there was job crisis in Britain for a certain time and it was really hard to earn money and maintaining the household.
8.44.4 Employment & Business:
Since he came to the UK for studying, he admitted in Salford Textile College. He used to go that college in the morning and in the evening; after class he used to work at a restaurant. At that time after taking the career advice to considering the catering sector, he was able to work in a famous catering in the UK. As time went on he gained more experience in his profession and later on in 1969 he became a general manager in a 5 star Hotel. He started a partnership business in 1969.
After coming to the UK, he was successfully able to find a job because he knew some Indian restaurants and the owners of the restaurants also knew him. Therefore he didn’t have to struggle to find a job. He kept working in the Indian restaurants for about four or five years, after that he started another business in partnership. The name of the business was ‘Bombay Restaurant’.
The business was running well and they were also making good profits from it but later on he became a bit physically ill and decided to retire from the business for few days. Due to this the business wasn’t making any profit. He had no other choice but to withdraw the partnership of the business.
Even though they were making good progress in the business in the beginning, it ended in an unexpected way as their partnership in the business broke down. He said “when a business was making good profit, one partner was happy with the other partners but when there was loss in the business, one partner try to blame the other partners”.
Some people don’t understand about the common practice that if you are willing to share happiness in a business, you must also be willing to share the sorrow. He said that lack of patience, experience, and the lack of trust; these are facts that might be responsible for the breakdown of partnership in most businesses.
Besides working on the Indian food, he also spend significant amount of time at other various types of catering. This includes-‘Fried Chicken’; ‘American Style Restaurant’; ‘Spanish Restaurant’. But later on he sells them all.
After his bypass heart surgery and staying in rest for five years, he started the business of Indian restaurant with the permission from his wife in 1989. The business still exists and it is also famous in the present time. Hasan said that he bought the building for about £70,000 and spent another £75,000 on setting it up.
8.44.5 Housing:
Hasan said that when someone works in an Indian restaurant, their living cost and their expenses of their food was free. Whereas someone has an English job, they had to bear their own expenses for the food and accommodation. He also said “during that time the only thing to do for entertainment was to watch a movie, usually at a cinema hall”.
At that time people didn’t had the facility to have a bath at home. They had to go to the public bath every week for having a bath or shower. Hasan also said that it used to get really cold during the winter. It also snowed heavily during the winter and the council had to clean the snow off the road so that the roads wouldn’t be blocked. He also said that in the summer in and around 80’s the weather was really hot, it can be compared with the summer of India. According to him, today’s weather in Britain is totally different from the past.
8.44.6 Social & Family:
In 1969, he went to Bangladesh to get married. His father and his father-in-law discussed that after marriage Hasan wouldn’t come back to UK. He didn’t know about this at first. During the war at 1971, he refused to go back to village for his own safety and stayed back at Sylhet town.
He has four children- two sons, who are both successful businessman in the UK; and two daughters, who are currently living in Bangladesh. All of his children have graduated. His wife was also a teacher in Bangladesh and after coming to the UK she was employed by the Salford City Council. Currently she’s doing an interpreting job.
In 1976 he brought his wife and his daughter to the UK. He was successful in performing Hajj with his mother in 1983. Hasan has reached the pension age, he still very active with his business and other things. His future plan is to go Bangladesh and spend some time there. He also has a travel plan to visit some places. His greatest wish is to perform Hajj with his wife. Besides that he also said that he’ll go Bangladesh for holiday every year as it is his birthplace and as he also has many sweet memories in Bangladesh.
8.44.7 Independence of Bangladesh:
Due to the business commitment, he couldn’t find the opportunity to get involved with any community, but he still tried to help in every possible way. After Bangladesh became an independent country, he became involved with the mosques and the ‘Greater Manchester Bangladesh Association’. He was selected as the Vice Chairman of the ‘Shahjalal Mosque’ and also became the Chairperson of the ‘Greater Manchester Bangladesh Association”.
He is trying to do everything that he could do; so that the future generation will be able to practice Islam and leave them an enlightening future.
He said that the respected elders from the past have always thought and worked for the benefits for the community instead of thinking about how they would gain power and argue amongst each other.
8.44.8 Conclusion:
Hasan said “I might go back to Bangladesh and settle there, this may be a correct thing to do”. Because most of our new generation are losing touch with the relatives and their relationship between the relatives are also breaking down. Many properties are left empty in Bangladesh as the owners of those properties have migrated and settled in the UK. He is worried that a time might come when people will lose the Islamic and Bangladeshi Culture. He said that if we don’t do something to protect the Bangladeshi and Islamic Culture, they will disappear for forever.
Even though he is happy about the fact that he was able to settle in the UK, he is still concerned about the future generation. He is frightened of the fact that they might lose the Bangladeshi and Islamic culture. Even though many families are following the Islamic and Bangladeshi culture, he is still concerned that if our future generation will be able to protect and hold the Islam and Bangladeshi Culture. At last, he wishes that the Islam and Bangladeshi culture will live within the heart of the Bangladeshi and that they shall be passed on from generation to generation.