“Every birthday means another year added to your age. I loved birthdays as a child. But then I realised growing older isn’t necessarily a good thing. It’s better to remain young.”
These were the words of eminent Bangladeshi artist, filmmaker and puppetry pioneer Mustafa Monwar, spoken on his birthday seven years ago. Today, they stand as a reflection of the philosophy that defined his life.
Monwar passed away on Monday morning while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Dhaka. He was 90.
He had long been suffering from pneumonia and prostate cancer and had remained in the intensive care unit (ICU) since the middle of this month.
As news of his death spread, tributes poured in across social media. Many remembered him as the creator of the beloved children’s television programme Notun Kuri. Others paid tribute to the man widely known as Bangladesh’s “Puppetman” or to the creative force whose work inspired Meena, South Asia’s iconic animated child character. Countless admirers also recalled his paintings, television productions and lifelong contribution to the country’s cultural landscape.
Yet beyond these achievements, Monwar saw himself through a different lens.
He believed that a person’s true age is not measured by numbers but by their ability to love the world, remain curious, and never lose their sense of wonder.
Speaking on a television programme marking his birthday on September 1, 2019, he said, “There are two kinds of age. One is numerical; the other is about inner fulfilment, about how you see the world and how deeply you love it. That kind of age never increases.”
He also reflected on birthdays with characteristic humour.
“A birthday simply means another year has passed. As a child, I enjoyed it. But later I realised growing older isn’t always better. Staying young is.”
Those few words encapsulated the philosophy that shaped his life. Even as he grew older, he refused to lose the childlike curiosity that fuelled his creativity. His love for art, nature, children and humanity remained at the heart of everything he did.
He was equally optimistic about the younger generation.
“We often see more in the darkness of night than in the brightness of day,” he said in the same interview. “Our young people carry many dreams. Those dreams will keep the country alive and take it forward.”
Monwar earned international recognition for his work as a painter. While studying at the Government Institute of Arts, his watercolour paintings drew praise from legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray, who admired his ability to express profound ideas with remarkably few brushstrokes.
Despite such recognition, Monwar rarely spoke about his own accomplishments. Even in the final years of his life, he was planning another watercolour exhibition.
Few people know that music was another of his lifelong passions.
He received classical music training in Kolkata under Santosh Roy, a disciple of Ustad Faiyaz Khan. He later performed with the troupe of renowned folk singer Nirmalendu Chowdhury. During Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971, he travelled with a cultural group led by Wahidul Haque and Sanjida Khatun, performing patriotic songs to inspire people.
Yet he never chose music as his profession.
In an interview, he explained that mastering music demanded a lifetime of rigorous discipline, while he never felt comfortable confining himself within strict artistic boundaries.
Monwar also played a pioneering role in popularising puppetry in Bangladesh.
His fascination with the art form began after watching puppet performances in Hooghly, Bankura and Kolkata. One of his own puppet characters, Parul, later inspired UNICEF’s creation of Meena, the widely recognised animated character that has educated millions of children across South Asia.
His commitment to social causes was equally remarkable.
As a school student during the 1952 Language Movement, he was imprisoned for a month for drawing political cartoons in support of the movement. Later, he resigned from his teaching position at the Faculty of Fine Arts to join Pakistan Television’s Dhaka centre, believing television could bring Bengali culture into people’s homes.
His contributions to Bangladesh Television remain significant. From directing productions of Rabindranath Tagore’s Raktakarabi and Munier Chowdhury’s Mukhra Ramani Bashikaran to creating the immensely popular children’s programme Notun Kuri, his creative vision helped shape generations of viewers.
Mustafa Monwar may have departed, but the philosophy he lived by endures.
He believed that age is not defined by the passing of years but by one’s capacity to love the world. Even after nine decades of life, he remained forever young through his art, his dreams and his unwavering sense of wonder.
