By Prof. Engr. Bilqis Amin Hoque, Ph.D.
In 1973, my father (Abbaji) took us to Prof. A. H. Talukdar’s (my father’s cousin) place at BAU during a holiday break, when I was bored at home in Dhaka waiting for my MBBS schooling (education/degree in medical science) to start at Sir Salimullah Medical College.
We met Prof. Biswas, then Acting Dean, during our campus visit. He said that BAU has started accepting female students for the first time, but his Faculty (school/college) still had no female student. Suddenly, Prof. Biswas (with Uncle) talked about the exciting side of studying/becoming the first female Agricultural Engineer compared to a physician. They convinced my Abbaji (a Civil Engineer) and me to consider attending classes at Agricultural Engineering faculty, while I was waiting for the MBBS classes to start.
By the Grace of Allah, that was the beginning of the turning point of my life! Biswas Sir (with a few other teachers) was always there for me -- particularly after my Abbaji had passed away.
May Allah grant him the highest level of paradise. Ameen.
Prof. Engr. Bilqis Amin Hoque, Ph.D., is President of Environment and Population Research Centre (EPRC), Bangladesh, and Adjunct Professor in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, USA.