10,000 cassettes and CDs: Inside Shaquie Ahmed's trove of Bangla music

It was 1997. 'Souls,' a popular Bangla band, released their 7th album 'Oshomoyer Gaan' in Dhaka. At the time, the news of the release of new albums quickly spread across districts. Shaquie Ahmed Ibn Safiuddin, a passionate music lover, was eagerly waiting for the album's arrival at a music cassettes shop in Sylhet. 

Brimming with excitement to experience the soul-stirring melodies of the popular band, Shaquie wasted no time in purchasing the album as soon as it reached the shop.  

"This is the story of just one album. But whenever a new album came out, I used to excitedly wait at the shop to become the first buyer of any new album," said Shaquie, who was born in Mymensingh city in 1983 but grew up in Sylhet. 

Shortly after his birth, his family moved due to his father's job as a lecturer at a college in Sylhet, who later worked as a professor in Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (Sust). 

From Saquie's love of music, he started a collection of band music cassettes and CDs. 

And by 2023, "I have nearly 10,000 music cassettes and CDs. There are many band musicians in Bangladesh who don't have all their own albums. But I have albums of all the famous band music artists. One or two [bands' catalogues] might not be complete," Shaquie told The Business Standard.

He has two shelves full of cassettes and CDs of Bangla bands in his room and the rest are scattered around. James, Bappa Majumder, Partha Barua, Ayub Bachchu, Agun, Icarus, Renaissance, Warfaze, etc, he has cassettes or CDs of them all! His collection also houses albums of solo music artists. 

A trove of music to the ears lives on in Saquie's home at Dhaka University Teachers' quarters.

There is also a cassette player at his home. "Listening to music is an addiction for me and it has been since my childhood. I work most of the time listening to music. A day without music seems like a day is incomplete," he said.

But Shaquie did not grow up in a family that nurtured music. They had a black and white television and a cassette player in their house since the 1980s.

So, how did his interest in music grow? "In those days, the control of the television was mainly in the elders' hands. It was the same in my family. But my elder sister and I got to control the cassette player. My sister sometimes got a cassette as a gift, which was a prized item in those days. 

So from there, I slowly started listening to music every day," Saquie recalled. 

And so forth, he spent his days listening to music along with his studies and kept accumulating one music cassette after another at home. After completing his HSC from MC College Sylhet in 2001 he moved to Dhaka to study Applied Chemistry at Dhaka University.

"In the 1990s, there was a song programme once a month on BTV called 'Geeti Bichitra'. There I once heard the song 'Keno Ei Nishongota' by Souls, sung by Partha Barua. And I kept thinking, how can a song be so beautiful? Since then I have been a big fan of Partha Barua and Souls. 

My love for band music deepened through Souls," he added.

Apart from listening to music, he has been writing songs since his college days but this endeavour was entirely for himself. When he went to take his second-year university final exams, he started writing about music as a contributor to various newspapers. He has worked in Dainik Samakal, Anandadin, Dainik Prabhat and Dainik Matribhumi as a contributor. Several years later, he started working as a copywriter in the advertising department at Radio Foorti.

The first song written by Shaquie was released in 2003, titled '16 Guti,' sung by Mizan from Warfaze. Although he wrote songs as a hobby, nonetheless they were picked up and sung by many famous singers, like 'Boro Ochena' by James, 'Choddoi February' by Bappa Majumdar, 'Bhabini Kokhono' by Balam. 

Habib Waheed sang many songs too written by Shaquie – the most famous one is 'Esho Brishti Namai.'

Shaquie has written around 250 songs so far. In 2022, a compilation book titled 'Din Gelo Tomar Poth Chahiya' was published with songs written by him.

He took a break from his studies to pursue working in the advertising company and songwriting. Although his graduation was originally scheduled for 2006 or 2007, he ultimately graduated in 2013.

"I have no regrets about the delay in completing my graduation. I made the right decision at that time. If I hadn't made that decision then, today I might not have worked as a creative consultant for various marketing and advertising agencies and might not have interviewed for a newspaper," he said.

In the digital age, Shaquie still listens to music through analogue players. 

"Although I miss the analogue days, our country's songs are reaching various parts of the world quickly because of digitalisation, which itself is a positive thing. On the other hand, a problem is that we listen to most of the songs for free. I think we should bring a subscription system to all the media of music listening sites very soon," he replied when asked what he thought about the digitalisation of music.

Although he has been collecting cassettes and CDs little by little since the 1990s, he ramped up collecting albums more seriously in 2020 during the Covid-19. He still continues to collect albums from various places.

"In 2020, I came across two Facebook pages named 'Shurer Akash' and 'Shonchari' which sell old music albums. I bought many albums from them and brought them into my collection. Moreover, I am grateful to a few other music album archivers like Robin, Sumon, Noman, Shubho and especially Wahid Zaman," he added.

Shaquie's knowledge of music, bands and artists is extensive. He can vividly recall details about albums, release years, band members and album covers – showcasing his deep understanding and passion for Bangla band music.

These days he has a new hobby. There was a time when CDs were released in clear, plastic boxes, commonly known as jewel cases. And some time after that, CDs came out in paper packaging. 

Shaquie had great fondness for the jewel case and the nostalgia it flows in pertaining to that era. He took it upon himself to create his own plastic album boxes in a design similar to the paper packaging and one that closely resembles the original.

Now, Shaquie can enjoy his music collection in a way that conjures acute nostalgia.