Nijer Shonge Nijer Jiboner Modhu

Nijer Shonge Nijer Jiboner Modhu (নিজের সঙ্গে নিজের জীবনের মধু, lit. 'The honey of one's life with himself') is a Bengali novel written by Bangladeshi author Humayun Azad. It was first published in February 2000 in Ekushey Book Fair by Agamee Prakashani. The novel tells the story of a boy's rural life of Bikrampur of 1960s decade and believed to be inspired by author's own childhood life as Azad was also born and brought up in Bikrampur which is now known as Munshiganj District, however the fictitious character Jalkador, who is the main protagonist of the novel, belongs to a farmer-family.

The main subject of the novel is about life-leading of a boy named Jalkador in Rarhikhal village of Bikrampur (the village is now in Sreenagar Upazila of Munshiganj District) in 1960s decade when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. The novel tells the story of his journey as a rural Bengali boy from boyhood to adolescence.

Author Humayun Azad dedicated this novel to his childhood's rural friends and compared the novel to Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's novel Pather Panchali.

Plot summary
Jalkador lives in Rarhikhal village with his parents and siblings; he has one brother and one sister who are named Abju and Moyna respectively. Jalkador comes from a farmer-family background; his father is a farmer and Jalkador raises cattle and catches fish who does not go to school and speaks local dialect of the Bengali language. He grows up gradually but his penis remains uncircumcised.

When monsoon comes, Jalkador observes flood, their whole village affects badly by the flood, for this reason flood also attacks their house.

Jalkador watches canoe sprint and kabaddi game in village. His friend Majid teaches him to smoke cigarette and they talk about circumcision, they see each other’s penis secretly though not in homoerotic gaze. From Majid, Jalkador learns basic knowledge about male-female sexual relationship.

In the last part of the novel, Jalkador feels sexual attraction watching female snake-charmers and other rural women. He learns to masturbate and before it, he faces nocturnal emission; he is already a teenager during this time.

Setting
This novel was set in the 1960s decade’s Bengali rural life of East Pakistan. At that time East Pakistani villages had no electricity, nor had any system of good sanitation.

Characters

 * Jalkador - The main protagonist of the novel, a Bengali rural boy
 * Abju and Moyna - Jalkador's siblings, junior to Jalkador
 * Majid - Jalkador's friend
 * Rokman - Jalkador's family's servant
 * Malti - The milkmaid